TALLAHASSEE, FL—How bad is the real estate market in Florida? More than 30,000 mortgage industry professionals appear to be missing in action.
It’s impossible to tell whether they are prisoners of the housing war, or simply gone off to the great mortgage office in the sky.
But according to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation, with less than a month left to submit applications for the Sunshine State’s new loan officer license, only 10,000 or so of the 43,000 originators who held the old shingle had submitted applications.
Under the Secure and Fair Enforcement of Mortgage Licensing Act, all current licensees are required to re-apply for a new certificate via the new Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System. Maybe it’s because they can’t pass the test, which is stricter than Florida’s current exam. Or perhaps they are just procrastinators who are waiting until the last minute.
Whatever the case, the state has loan officers within its borders that if their applications are not certified as received by the Dec. 31 deadline, they cannot legally continue to work in the field. And they will be unable to work until a new license is approved, which could take more than 90 days.
However, if the application is received by the deadline, a licensee can continue working until he or she takes—and passes—the NMLS exam.
Loan officers aren’t the only ones that seem to have gone by the wayside in Florida. So have mortgage companies.
The FOFR passed along these stats, as of Dec. 1:
• Current licensed mortgage brokers: 42,666.
• Loan originator applications received: 10,308.
• Current number of licensed mortgage companies: 6,967.
• New company applications received: 995.
• Current number of licensed mortgage company branches: 3,116.
• New branch applications received: 727.
Florida began accepting applications under NMLS, on Oct. 1. But before an application can be certified received, a series of requirements must be met and verified. They include new state and federal criminal background checks, satisfaction of prelicense education, at least one attempt at passing the state and national licensing exam, and a credit report.
“We have rigorously been reaching out through industry organizations and their communications vehicles, trying to drill down the message and encouraging applicants to apply now so that they can continue to work while their application is being processed,” said Tom Cardwell, commissioner of the Florida Office of Financial Regulation.
“The longer you wait, the more risk you take, and the last thing we want to see is Floridians who are unable to legally continue working in the mortgage industry just because they didn’t get their applications in on time.”
In other Florida news last month, Hudson Realty Capital made plans to open a branch office in Fort Myers to service a pool of distressed commercial real estate assets in the Southeast, but also to originate “at some time in the future.”
The real estate fund manager specializes in small bridge loans and is open to inquiries from mortgage brokers.
