Effective September 1, 2020 Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending Director of Mortgage Examination, Tony Florence, also assumed the duties as Director of Licensing. Director Florence has already made several positive changes including adding additional licensing staff. Approximately 16,000 or 50% of all MLO’s have been already been approved for renewal during the first three
weeks. This percentage is much higher compared to any prior year’s renewal rate.
However, there are still issues that all MLO’s still needing to renew must consider:
- Roughly 8,000 Texas licensees have not yet completed their continuing education hours
for the year. - Each MLO should review his or her NMLS records for outstanding deficiencies. Any
information in the record that is no longer accurate, such as work location, needs to be
updated prior to filing for renewal. - Companies that have failed to file their Mortgage Call Report(s) or Annual Financial
Condition Report are NOT allowed to submit a renewal request until the report(s) are
filed. - Additionally, licensees should be aware that paying through ACH will delay the renewal
review and potential approval as much as 7-10 to days. Accordingly, ACH should NOT
be used late in December in order to ensure timely renewal of the license. - There will be no COVID-19 exceptions to the normal timelines and requirements for
license renewals.
If for any reason you find yourself requesting your renewal after December 31st, Do Not continue to originate loans until the renewal process is complete. Even though you have been previously licensed, the failure to properly complete the renewal process will cause your license to have become expired and you WILL NOT be authorized to conduct business. SML examination processes place a high priority on identifying unlicensed activity, including unlicensed activity from a lapsed license.
Take responsibility for your license and renew today!
Any new applicants needing to take the NMLS Test should make a test reservation AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!! Testing centers were shut down from March until May and as a result of this and high volumes of new applicants, many Texas test locations are currently booked into January. If you need an earlier date you may be able to locate another nearby location to complete the testing process more expeditiously.
PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU TEND TO THE LICENSE RENEWAL PROCESS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO PREVENT AN INTERRUPTION IN YOUR ABILITY TO ORIGINATE LOANS!!!!
If you have any licensing, examination, or regulatory questions or issues, please reach out to Doug Foster. Our team is also available here.