New York Licensing Timeframe

I just received the news that a client’s application for a New York mortgage broker license was just approved (if he submits his surety bond). I originally submitted his application over a year ago. Although there were delays by him in responding to requests for additional information that increased the timeline for an approval, I have other clients whose applications are also pending for over 10 months.
I am trying to make 2 points: it doesn’t help you to dawdle about submitting the information that a licensing reviewer has requested and New York takes many months to approve an application.

If your goal is to get a new license because you need the new business, you must make the time to respond to a reviewer’s questions about anything you have submitted or to get new documentation that has been asked for. If you show the reviewer that you do not care about the application (and to a reviewer, there is no other explanation for why you are not jumping when they contact you), they will put your file aside and get to it when they aren’t busy (which is almost never).

Yes, I know that it is very frustrating to hear that a license application will take many months to get approved. Some unscrupulous companies, in order to get your business, may tell you they can get it for you in a matter of weeks or that they know someone who will fast-track your application. When asked questions about approval timelines, I try to be as honest as I can within the framework of my experience. Even though I know many of the reviewers in the state banking departments, I can’t get a “rush” on every application that I send in. I use my relationship with the reviewers to help move applications through the process but I don’t beg a favor with every application. After awhile, the reviewers will stop responding. If you are checking around to find someone to handle your license applications, ask each of them about approval timeframes. If someone tells you something radically different from the others, find out why. It may be an unusual situation, or more likely, someone is telling you what they think you want to hear. Be realistic about the time it takes to get a license and start now.