Unbelievable Timelines

Requirements and Standards under the S.A.F.E. Act

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.

In Researching Mortgage Loan originators of Freedom MortgAGE CORPORATION’S COMPETITORS, IT CAN BE easily determined THAT ‘YEARS’ OF EXPERIENCE USUALLY PRECEDEs LICENSING. A SIX TO EIGHT-MONTH “ON-THE-JOB TRAINING PROGRAM FOR EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS” IS SLIGHTLY UNSETTLING TO ENSURE A WELL-INFORMED supervisory position burdened with great responsibility. This is the probable explanation for the extended term of the “First Flyer” training program.

The Freedom Fast Track^™ program is a six to eight-month on-the-job training program for experienced professionals looking to make a career change into the mortgage industry – specifically to become a mortgage sales professional as a Freedom Mortgage licensed Loan Advisor. While many positions require some amount of relevant experience, the Freedom Fast Track™ program is open to candidates who have several years of professional experience but don’t come from a sales or mortgage industry background.

“Our various First Flyer programs provide the training, mentorship and networking to have new college graduate participants soaring during their first 12-18 months, as they launch into a successful career at Freedom Mortgage.”

Licensing Requirements :

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:

o 3 hours of federal law and regulations

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

o 2 hours of standards on non-traditional mortgage lending

Steps to Getting a Mortgage License in North Carolina

Apply for an NMLS account and ID number.
Complete your North Carolina mortgage Pre-license Education (“PE”).
Pass a licensing exam.
Apply for your North Carolina mortgage license though the NMLS.
Complete background checks and pay all fees.
Associate your NMLS account with an employer.

Have the regulatory authorities failed us?

This is a table of the first 50 Mortgage LoaN oRIGINATORS FOR FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION RESEARCHED OUT OF CURIOUSITY BECAUSE OF THE QUICK TURNAROUND ON sZAKACS’ lICENSE IN nORTH cAROLINA. yoU CAN SEE THE TIMELINE ON HIS LICENSE AFTER BEING HIRED IS NOT UNIQUE FOR OTHER RECENT HIRES OF FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION. tHE DATES HIGHLIGHTED IN RED RECEIVED THEIR LICENSES THE MONTH AFTER THEY WERE HIRED, THE DATES HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW RECEIVED THEIR LICENSES WITHIN THREE MONTHS OF BEING HIRED, AND THE LINES WITH PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTED POSSESSED NO RELEVANT WORK HISTORY IN THE MORTGAGE LENDING INDUSTRY. iT APPEARS SOME HAD DIFFICULTY PROVIDing ANY WORK HISTORY, and some applicants’ self-reported employment histories appear to mislead. Upon further review, SOME that were previously licensed show questionable CHARACTERISTICS with those ORIGINAL licenses that will require additional investigation. the fact that most were recent COLLEGE graduates (or in that AGE GROUP) is undeniably the rule, not the exception. tHIS RESEARCH ALSO SHOCKINGLY HIGHLIGHTED THAT FREEDOM MORTGAGE CORPORATION HAS AN UNBELIEVABLE SECRET TO SUCCESSFULLY TRAIN THEIR PERSONNEL WITHIN AN ASTOUNDINGLY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME TO PASS A TEST THAT IS KNOWN AND INTENDED TO BE VERY DIFFICULT. oNCE AGAIN, THESE ARE ONLY THE FIRST 50 RESEARCHED.

Why Do So Many People Fail the MLO Test?

According to the NMLS, 48% of those desiring to pass this exam, overall, are never able to do so (Test Performance Information, SAFE MLO Test Pass rate, October 1, 2019 through September 30, 2021).

The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System & Registry (NMLS) most recently reported NMLS test pass rates, only 58% of individuals pass on the first try.

WHY SO MANY TEST-TAKERS (ESPECIALLY REAL ESTATE AGENTS) FAIL THE NMLS SAFE ACT MLO EXAM, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO AVOID BECOMING ONE OF THEM…

After the pre-2008 mayhem was eliminated, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), in conjunction with the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators (AARMR), needed to demonstrate that they are not admitting just anyone into the Mortgage Industry. Those lucky enough to be admitted earned their way into it and were dedicated to doing whatever was necessary to achieve the status of licensed MLO. As such, the test administrators created a licensing exam that not only required licensing candidates to know a significant amount of material, but they also structured the exam in a fairly tricky format to force successful licensing candidates to be able to critically think.

It is for this reason that understanding the material, and not simply knowing it, is also an extremely critical component to exam success. A reliable gauge of understanding the material is demonstrated when a test candidate can conduct articulate conversations about the knowledge points appearing on the Test Content Outline.