Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Continuing education

About half of the states require continuing education for loan officers, branch managers and company principals after you get your license. The number of hours varies by state. The type of education also is dictated by each state's regulations.

Most of the states permit online coursework. This is very convenient for those who need the continuing education hours for a state outside their home state. You sign up, take the coursework, and then pass a test to show that you paid attention to the coursework. You must make sure you get your certificate from the continuing education provider to show that you completed the courses.

A few of the states require that you attend in-classroom education which means you need to travel if this is not your home state. Other states require that you use only approved providers.

The important thing to remember about the continuing education requirement is to complete it in a timely manner. Some states require that it be completed during a calendar year and other states permit you to take your continuing education anytime before you need to renew a license or to submit an annual report. For mortgage brokers who are licensed in many states this means being very organized about when to take the continuing education for each state.

If you don't take the continuing education, you might not get your license renewed - a very expensive lesson in compliance.

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