July 2010 is a busy month for many states to meet SAFE requirements.  Several state agencies have a deadline of July 30 or July 31 that MLOs must be fully compliant with the SAFE Act. This means they need to meet prelicense education, testing, and background check requirements by the deadline in order to continue working as loan originators.  The NMLS anticipates this deadline could impact over 45,000 mortgage loan originators.

NMLS is guessing that approximately 135,000 mortgage originators will be licensed through the NMLS by the end 2010. So far to date, only about 64,000 individuals have passed the National Component of the SAFE MLO Test. MLOs who do not pass the National and State test components before their state deadline risk having their license terminated.
Looking at the number of LOs that have passed the SAFE Test by month, April and May of this year were big months, with 10,000 – 12,000 loan originators taking the test each month. Of course California, New York, and New Jersey had their deadlines in those months.  June was just under 10,000, but then California kicked their deadline back a couple weeks into June, so I am betting there were quite a few California LOs in that number too. Read the rest of this entry »

As you’re probably aware by now, under the SAFE Act, mortgage loan originators need 20 hours of education. Oregon is one of many states that already required education, so the good news for Oregon loan originators is they have the opportunity to certify their hours.

Recap of what the Oregon certification process looks like: Loan originators must have completed at least 20 hours of MLEB-approved education prior to December 31, 2009 and they need to apply for an Oregon MLO license by May 31, 2010 (Important note: In order to apply for the MLO license, there are several other requirements that must be met and that’s just 10 days away. So if you haven’t gone through the checklist, do it now!).   Read the rest of this entry »

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ProSchools just got approval for two courses by the NMLS — the 20 hour West Virginia SAFE Comprehensive course and 2 hour West Virginia Law course.  Like other states, West Virginia mortgage loan originators need to complete minimum education and testing standards.

According to NMLS, all new West Virginia applicants on or after 1/4/2010 need to complete 20 hours of NMLS approved education, including 2 hours of West Virginia laws. Existing licensees prior to July 1, 2009 need to complete the education by 10/31/2010, unless the licensee already completed 20 hours of state approved education prior to 12/31/2009.  In this cases, they could get their hours “certified.”

Anyone approved between 7/1/2009 and 12/31/2009 needed to complete 20 hours of NMLS approved pre-license education, including the 2 hours of WV specific by 1/31/2010.  State approved courses are not longer accepted after 12/31/2009.

Important change: Effective June 12, West Virginia has increased the pre-licensing education requirement for MLOs from 20 hours to 22 hours and specified that two hours of the education must be related to West Virginia mortgage and consumer laws or issues.

ProSchools currently offers a 20 hour NMLS-approved National course, plus 20 hour NMLS-approved courses (containing state-specific laws) for Arizona, California, DC, Georgia Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan,  Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Mexico,  Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

In addition, ProSchools has state-specific law courses approved in Arizona, California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Idaho, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New York, DC, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Washington. We also have individual courses in ethics and nontraditional mortgage products approved.

Quick reminder on CE: The SAFE Act also requires loan originators complete continuing education annually. Most states won’t require continuing education in 2010 since loan originators are completing pre-licensure education this year. ProSchools has 5 continuing education courses NMLS-approved. Over the next couple of months, we will have state-specific CE courses approved for states requiring state-specific laws as part of the CE requirements.

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ProSchools just received approval for the 20-Hour CA SAFE Comprehensive Course. The California SAFE course includes California laws and national laws, so exam prep is not needed in order to prepare for the SAFE Test.  We also got a smaller course approved, 4 Hour CA SAFE: Review of California Mortgage Laws. California does not require state-specific hours for education, but we got it approved in case loan originators wanted to get credit for studying for the state component of the test and needed additional hours.

As I’ve mentioned before, the SAFE Act requires all MLO license applicants to complete 20 hours of prelicense education. In California, those who are currently licensed by DRE are able to get previous education certified, meaning the hours have been met based on the education completed when obtaining the DRE license.

To be certified, licensees must file Form MU 4 by August 31, 2010. You need to hold a valid California real estate license and file your MU4 license endorsement application with the NMLS before August 31, 2010. DRE will submit a list of the real estate licensees to the NMLS. Remember, if you want to get your education certified, you must notify the state! Read the rest of this entry »

Imagine trying to keep it all straight –50 different deadlines with state-specific variations…and then you find a website that does it for you!! The NMLS has a great resource –the MLO SAFE Compliant Requirements Chart. It’s been around for a few months, but it really helps us monitor all the SAFE Act requirements and state-specific deadlines for loan originator across the country.

The best part is the NMLS updates the chart often, sometimes daily, so it’s very current. I try to keep track of what I see as major changes and updates, and then go to the state’s website to get all the details of the implementation plan. Often the state website posts a letter to licensees or a summary of their newly passed legislation.

One of my observations over the past month is that a lot of states have added language about certifying education hours or certifying the State Component of the test. What this means is loan originators that took 20 approved education hours in the past might get the 20 NMLS hours waived. If a loan originator passed a state test in the past, and that test meets certain testing standards, the LO might not have to take the State Component of the SAFE Test. No one gets out of taking the National component, however.

Here is a list of states that have updated certification information on the NMLS Chart:  Arizona, Alaska, California DRE, Colorado, Indiana SOS, Iowa, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina DCA, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia. ProSchools’ understanding is that there will be a total of 35 states certifying education and/or the SAFE Test, so that leaves 6 more to follow.  Will keep you posted.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… Rank: wait… Traffic: wait… C: wait…

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 »

In one word: maybe.

We have known for awhile, based on the SAFE Act, that existing state-licensed mortgage loan originators (MLOs) can use completed state-approved education courses towards the 20 hours required under SAFE. However, ProSchools just learned that the NMLS will not accept “partial hours” from existing licensees.

Here is a quick summary: A current state-licensed loan originator that does not have at least 20 hours of approved education accrued will not be able to get any credit unless they have at least 20 hours.  For example, if a loan originator has completed 8 hours of approved education a year for the past two years, the total number of accrued hours is 16. He or she is 4 hours short of the 20 hour requirement and would not get credit for the 16 hours.

Read the rest of this entry »

ProSchools is watching closely how the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) will implement the education and testing requirements set forth in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, referred to as “SAFE Act.” We get calls daily from mortgage originators, wanting to know what is happening in their state and how the SAFE Act will impact their business.

What We Know: Meeting Exam Standards
The national exam is supposed to be available by July 30, 2009, as required by the SAFE Act.  To get this roll-out plan in motion, there are twelve states developing state-specific exam components to be ready for the July 30 date. Those twelve states are:

Read the rest of this entry »

I keep getting asked my mortgage loan originators (MLO) who recently took a state exam (or will shortly) if they are going to have to take another exam when the SAFE Act and the NMLS kick in.  As I read it, the answer is clearly “YES”.  Sorry.  What I’ve read is real clear.  Essentially, if you have taken a state exam that meets certain psychometric standards, you will be given the longest period of time to satisfy the NMLS exam requirement which is until January 1, 2011.  No getting around this — you’ll have to take the national standardized exam (and the state portion for every state you are licensed in) by Jan 1, 2011.  Email me if you want the exact citation @ jeffw@proschools.com.   The testing company Pearson VUE is putting together now the exam.

19 states will be in the first batch of states who are adopting the SAFE Act requirements which mandate a license exam and 20 hours of prelicense education for all mortgage loan originators nationwide. 

The big question for you is probably, how does this effect me?  What’s going on in my state now?  To answer these questions, I suggest you follow two links.

Link 1:  Go to http://www.stateregulatoryregistry.org/NMLS/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Participating_States1  Here you can look up your state and see what is the status of NMLS mortgage loan originator licensing for your state.  This will give you some ideas of your state’s timeline.  If your state is not on this list, you are likely going to get a bit longer to comply unless your state voluntarily complies sooner.

Link 2:  Next, go to: http://www.stateregulatoryregistry.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Contact_Us1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=17604  Here you can find the web site link for your state to the agency that is responsible for NMLS compliance in your state.  Look for “new information” or updates at this site.  I’ve noticed that new rules are being created quickly and seemingly on the fly by states. 

Hopefully, if you put these two pieces of information together (national and state) — you can get a pretty good idea of how the new laws will effect you as a loan originator.  If you are still stuck, shoot me an email at jeffw@proschools.com and I’ll see if I can’t help.