From what we understand, many mortgage loan officers working for Residential Capital Corp. have been licensed and tested even though they are owned by a bank, Ally Financial. The reason ResCap paid for the licensing is simple: the company (which is currently on the auction block) is worth more if its LOs have licenses. (Bank LOs do not need to be licensed, but have to register with the states.) If coming Basel III capital rules wreak havoc on the ability of depositories to hold mortgages and MSRs, it’s very possible that dozens, if not hundreds of banks, may choose to sell or scale back their mortgage divisions. And if that happens the likely buyers will be nonbanks and REITs. But if an LO is not licensed… You can fill in the blank.
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