Get ready to use a new system for Mortgage Broker exams in the new year!
Washington, along with other states, developed an online examination system. The purpose is to gather various manual examination processes into a single system, to further the existing move to paperless examinations by moving them online, and to provide a single system for examination records. An added benefit is the system automatically stores records for legally required retention periods and deletes them when those periods expire.
The States Examination System, known as SES, is the result. The system was piloted with large nationwide licensees and has been used in Multi-State Mortgage Committee Examinations. It is being used by most states, and now is ready for use on all mortgage examination types. Starting in 2023, Mortgage Broker examinations will be conducted in SES.
If you are selected for an exam starting next year, the Department will provide assistance with onboarding into SES. The Brokers Questionnaire currently being used will be a series of Information Requests, or IRs, that will be responded to in SES by uploading documents. You are also able to download documents. You will be able to see the initial request, and when the Department receives your response. Correspondence with the examiner will be through SES. The Department will still maintain Box as a back-up to SES. The Report of Examination is also sent through the system and companies respond through the system.
To ensure you are ready to use SES, keep your NMLS point of contact updated so the Department can contact you and get you enrolled in the system. After that, the system notifies the company through an automatic e-mail when an examination event occurs.
Instead of an e-mail from DFI saying an examination has started and the broker’s questionnaire is due in 30 days, companies will receive a notification e-mail from SES saying an examination has started and the information requests are available in SES along with the due date. Then, the examination is conducted through the system via uploads and downloads.