Everyone will be required to complete 20 hours of NMLS-approved prelicense education, pass both the National and California components of the SAFE Mortgage Loan Originator Test, submit fingerprints for a criminal background check, authorize a credit report through the NMLS, and register with the NMLS.

The deadlines to complete the requirements depends on if you are an employee of a California Finance Lender, Residential Mortgage Lender or are a Real Estate licensee.

Employees of a California Finance Lender or Residential Mortgage Lender are regulated by the Department of Corporations and must do the following by May 28, 2010:

Read the rest of this entry »

New York mortgage loan originator’s will need to complete 20 hours of NMLS-approved education, including 3 hours of New York mortgage law, pass both the National and New York Components of the SAFE Mortgage Loan Originator Test and meet new bonding requirements over the next year.
To facilitate an orderly transition to licensing and minimize disruption in the mortgage marketplace, the deadlines to complete the education, testing and bonding requirements are:

•An individual who was engaged in MLO activities as of July 11, 2009, and filed an application prior to July 11, 2009, has until May 31, 2010 to meet the education, testing and bonding requirements.
•An individual who was engaged in MLO activities with respect to manufactured homes as of July 11, 2009 must file an application by with the Superintendent by December 31, 2009 and must meet the education, testing and bonding requirements by May 31, 2010.
•An individual who was authorized to act as an MLO as of July 11, 2009 has until August 31, 2010 to meet the education, testing and bonding requirements Read the rest of this entry »

The answer is yes and no.  Current Pennsylvania mortgage loan originators taking the required 20 hours of NMLS prelicense education will not have to do CE to renew this year.

However, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Banking, one individual from each licensed office of a mortgage broker, mortgage lender or mortgage loan correspondent that is not a mortgage originator, unless all of the nonclerical staff of a particular licensed office are licensed as mortgage originators, must complete 8 hours of continuing education. The CE must consist of 3 hours of federal law, 2 hours of ethics, 2 hours of nontraditional mortgage products and 1 hour of Pennsylvania mortgage laws.

ProSchools has two courses approved for CE.  We have a 1 Hour PA Mortgage Lending Compliance Laws CE and an 8 Hour PA SAFE Comprehensive CE course available. Both courses are offered online and are approved by the NMLS.  The SAFE Act requires a minimum of 8 hour CE per year and states can determine if they want to require more hours or require state-specific topics as part of the CE.

South Carolina loan originators will now have to complete 20 hours of prelicense education and pass the SAFE exam to be licensed. The exams will consist of a National component and a separate South Carolina component. The deadline for current and new licensees to meet the new SAFE requirements depends on when you were licensed. Read the rest of this entry »

Every state has a specific deadline to meet education requirements mandated by the SAFE Act. New Hampshire and Pennsylvania are requiring individuals complete at least 20 hours of NMLS-approved education by December 31, 2009. The rest of the states are requiring the education sometime in 2010, with most requiring NMLS education completion by July 31, 2010.

Just because your state’s deadline isn’t until 2010 — don’t wait until the last minute! The majority of state regulators are strongly recommending their mortgage loan originators complete the NMLS education and pass the SAFE Loan Originator Test well ahead of the deadline.  This will help ensure they have adequate time to process all the applications. Plus, if you fail the SAFE exam you have to wait 30 days to retake the test!

ProSchools, an NMLS-approved provider, has a 20 Hour SAFE Comprehensive course available for states that are not requiring specific hours in state law. If you are a licensed loan originator in a state that is requiring state specific hours, ProSchools currently has NMLS-approved courses in Arizona, Idaho, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Washington. Many more states will be available soon!

We hear it over and over from state regulators: DO NOT WAIT to take the SAFE Loan Originator Test! You can take the national component of the exam now and if the state component is available, take that exam as well. Currently there are 19 states that have the state component available in addition to the national component. All state component’s are expected to be available by the end of 2010.

The main reason for not waiting is the Test Retake Policy. The SAFE Act requires that if someone fails either the National component or the State component of the SAFE Loan Originator exam they must wait 30 days before they can retake that exam. That means if you wait until right before the deadline and fail, you can’t work as a loan originator until you pass. That would be at least 30 days of not working!

ProSchools has SAFE Loan Originator Test Prep products for the National component of the exam and the State component for Arizona, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Keep in mind, you only need to pass the National component once.

Definitely. In fact the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance says in their Loan Originator Update: “Loan Originators are encouraged to begin the pre-licensing education and testing early and can take the National requirements separately from the Georgia requirements.”

Georgia does not require state-specific hours for the prelicense requirement so loan originators can take the 20-Hour SAFE Comprehensive course and take the National component of the SAFE Loan Originator exam prior to completing the state-specific requirements.

ProSchools will have the Georgia state SAFE Loan Originator Test Prep available soon. In the meantime, Georgia mortgage loan originators can get ahead of the game with our 20 Hour SAFE Comprehensive course that includes exam prep for the National component of the SAFE exam! Stay in compliance with your originator license.

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The NMLS is anticipating 24 states will be able to take the state and national components of the NMLS exam by the end of the year. So far almost every state (47 states), plus the District of Columbia, have passed legislation that requires prelicense education, passing the NMLS exam, submitting fingerprints for a criminal background check, and demonstrating financial responsibility.

It looks like the majority of states are requiring that the license requirements be met by July 31, 2010, but some have a December 31, 2009 deadline. Even states that have the later deadline are encouraging loan originators to meet the license requirements by the end of 2009 to prevent a bottleneck. The only hitch is the background and credit check. The NMLS is working hard to add that feature to their system but it probably won’t be until 2010 before those requirements are done through the NMLS.

ProSchools encourages mortgage loan originators to check the NMLS website for frequent updates.

It really depends on the state. Many states required either prelicense or continuing education for loan originators prior to the SAFE Act. If you have already taken state-approved education, the general rule of thumb is: if you’ve taken at least 20 hours of state-approved education in the last 5 years, then the state will “certify” that you have complied with the NMLS prelicense education.

There is a “BUT” though. A few states required education BUT did not require the education to be state-approved. That is the case in Virginia. Legislation required loan originators in Virginia to complete 18 hours of specific education but the loan originator’s manager decided if the course was acceptable. Because the 18 hour course was not state-approved, Virginia loan originators will have to take the 20 hour SAFE Comprehensive course by July 1, 2010.

You will need to check with your particular regulatory agency to find out for sure if any education you took previously will count towards the SAFE requirement. ProSchools continues to track the SAFE Act transition plan for each state!