Starting August 1, 2009, any individual who, for compensation or gain, takes a residential mortgage loan application or offers or negotiates terms of a residential mortgage loan application must be licensed or registered as a Mortgage Loan Originator.

The S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 does not provide any exceptions to licensing for individuals conducting above activities. Real estate brokerage, loan processing and loan underwriting activities are not covered.

Note: the S.A.F.E. Act requires a system of licensure to be in place by August 1, 2009 in all states. The Tennessee Department of Commercie and Insurance is currently finalizing their

Mortgage Loan Originators must:  

Provide fingerprints for an FBI criminal history background check

Provide authorization for NMLS&R to obtain a credit report

Input and maintain their personal Mortgage Loan Originator record in NMLS&R as their license in each state in which they wish to conduct loan origination activity

Pass a national mortgage test

Take 20 hours of pre-licensure education courses approved by NMLS&R. The education must include:

            3 hours of federal law and regulations 

            3 hours of ethics, which must include  fraud, consumer protection, and  fair lending

            2 hours of standards on non-traditional mortgage lending

Tennessee

State Regulatory Registry LLC - September 2009

Licensing Standards:

All state-licensed Mortgage Loan Originators must meet the following standards:

Never had a loan originator license revoked; and

Has had no felonies in the past seven years; and

Never had a felony involving fraud, dishonesty, breach or trust or money laundering; and

Demonstrates financial responsibility and general fitness; and

Scores 75% or better on a national test created by NMLS&R. The test will include:

Ethics

Federal law and regulation

State law and regulation

Federal and state law and regulation pertaining to fraud, consumer protection, nontraditional mortgages, and fair lending; and

Takes eight hours of continuing education annually. The education must include:

3 hours of federal law and regulations

3 hours of ethics, which must include fraud, consumer protection, and fair lending

2 hours of standards on non-traditional mortgage lending; and

Maintain licensure through NMLS&R.