It would appear that the future is starting to brighten for loan brokers, at least according to new figures released by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System, which shows an increase in the number of state-licensed LOs and mortgage companies.
As of December 31, there were nearly 117,000 state-licensed mortgage LOs, a 3.2 % increase from the third quarter. The number of licensed mortgage companies rose 2% to 17,100 firms.
The first quarterly NMLS report was released last spring by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which operates the registry.
In the first quarter of 2011 roughly 101,100 LOs registered, but not all states had completed the processing of all the LO applications.
By mid-year, the NMLS listed nearly 106,900 LOs and it was assumed that all working LOs had completed the new licensing process, which was mandated by the 2008 Secure and Fair Enforcement and Mortgage Licensing Act.
The average state-licensed mortgage firm has 5.5 LOs and 1.1 branches. Most licensees are mortgage brokerage firms.
During the fourth quarter, 3,200 LOs surrendered their license, 13,600 persons applied for a state license, and 13,600 applications were approved.
