Federal SAFE Registration Moves Forward

Federal banking regulators have issued a proposed rule that sets the parameters for federally supervised banks and their subsidiaries to register their loan officers on a national licensing system developed by state regulators. As required by the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, mortgage originators working for federally chartered banks and thrifts are required to file background information and fingerprints with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. Once registered, the loan originator will be assigned a unique identifier that they will carry like a Social Security number for the rest of their careers. The federal agencies are proposing de minimis rules that will exempt institutions that make 25 or fewer single-family mortgages at year from registering their employees. Employees that originate five or fewer loans a year or do only loan modifications would be exempt also. State licensed originators in 26 states have completed or are in the midst of registering on the system. Once the federal regulators finalize their registration requirements, the registry system will be expanded for federal mortgage originators. "This proposal provides for a 180-day period within with to complete the initial registrations after the Registry is capable of accepting registrations from employees of agency-regulated institutions," the federal regulators say in the proposed rule that is being issued for a 30-day comment period.