Mortgage Industry Update

Consumer Loan Non-Renewed Branch Licenses

Consumer Loan licensees, check the license status of your Washington licensed branches. A number of companies have branch licenses that weren’t renewed in NMLS, but also weren’t surrendered. The Consumer Loan license is perpetual so the license must be proactively surrendered.

Any branch license with the status of “Approved-Failed to Renew” at the end of March will be invoiced by NMLS for system fees. Companies can run a report in NMLS to double check the status of their Washington licensed branches.

Consumer Loan Annual Assessment Filing Recap

A big thank you to all the Consumer Loan licensees who completed the annual assessment process ahead of the March 1 filing deadline. A record number of licensees filed the annual assessment and many were first time licensees. As of the middle of March, 98% of licensees completed the assessment process.

The Department is continuing to try to reach licensees who haven’t filed, sending out late letters on March 14. Licensees must file the annual assessment, even if they are closing or conducted no Washington activity. Failure to file can result in late fees, license expiration, and further enforcement action.

Visit the Consumer Loan Annual Assessment webpage for additional information about the filing process.

Additional Reporting Deadlines

An additional upcoming reporting deadline for Mortgage Broker and Consumer Loan licensees include:

• April 1 – Financial Conditions filing deadline
  • Applies to licensees filing the Standard MCR and who have a fiscal year end of 12/31

Closing Out the Renewal Period

Another renewal period ended on February 28 with the conclusion of the reinstatement period. All non-renewed Mortgage Broker and Mortgage Loan Originator licenses are expired. The Licensing Staff is currently working on resolving a handful of incomplete renewal requests..

Looking back at the end of the on-time renewal period, here’s a look at the renewal numbers for MLOs. As expected with the high application volume in 2022, the number of MLOs eligible for renewal increased by more than 5,000. By the end of December, more than 3,000 less MLOs submitted a renewal request compared to the previous year. Many who did not renew held inactive MLO licenses. The Department again used the auto-renewal functionality for MLOs. This allows MLO renewals which meet certain criteria to renew after a set amount of days. As of 12/31, the Department had completed 99% of renewals submitted and reviewed all requests submitted by 5pm on 12/31.

Mortgage Broker Forum

The twice-yearly Mortgage Broker Forum meeting will be held virtually on April 20 at 10am PDT. The forum is for licensees under the Mortgage Broker Practices Act and provides an opportunity for the Department to provide information and hear from licensees.

For more information, contact Bill Havland at (360) 671-8044.

Mortgage Industry Webinar

The Department’s Mortgage Industry Webinar is scheduled for April 13 at 10am PDT. The webinar is for all mortgage licensees. Hear updates from the Department’s licensing, examinations, and enforcement units.

Visit the Mortgage Industry Webinar webpage for information on the upcoming meeting as well as notes and recordings of previous meetings.