Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Changes to Texas Mortgage Broker Licensing Law

Texas has a new licensing statute that takes effect for applications received on and after September 1, 2007. One of the changes is higher fees to license loan officers: the application fee is $275, $20 is for the recovery fund fee, and $39 is for the background check, for a total of $334.

A mortgage broker company principal will need to have 36 months of origination experience and 90 hours of classroom education taken within the last 2 years if the principal was not previously licensed as a broker or loan officer or 30 hours of classroom education if the principal was licensed as a loan broker. Loan officers must have 18 months of loan origination experience and 30 hours of classroom education taken within the past 2 years or 60 hours of classroom education if the loan officer does not have any origination experience.

Starting January 1, 2008, mortgage broker companies will have to be licensed (unless the company is a sole proprietorship) as well as having the loan officers licensed. The company will have to designate a principal as the company representative and that principal must be a licensed mortgage broker. The company will have to pay a $175 fee for the company license. There are no forms for the company license application created yet.

Additional parts of the changes to the law will take effect on November 1, 2007, however, the regulations to implement those parts have not been finalized.

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