NY - Lender License Requirements

[Tzvi R.]

Hi - I'm a Hard Money/Private Lender who's been operating in NJ and am looking to branch out to NY. In my research of the lender licensing requirements in NY it seems that one would only be required to be licensed if they were making commercial mortgages in $ amounts under 50K and charging interest above the legal max allowed (currently 16%). I was wondering since I  plan on only lending in amounts above 50K and charging interest below 16% (including upfront points & fees) if I was exempt from being licensed? I should note that I will be filing mortgages against the collateralized property and in initial talks with my attorney he mentioned something about if I filed over 5 mortgages I'd be required to be licensed, not sure what his source was.

Thanks in advance!