I finished the last requirement for maintaining my license to originate mortgage loansfor homes in Washington this week: I passed the national exam required by The SAFE Act.  I will be required, as a licensed mortgage originator, to take 8 hours of continuing education every year since I've met my 20 hour requirement this year.  (Note: mortgage originators who work for depository banks, like Bank of America, Wells Fargo or Chase, or credit unions like BECU or Alaska Federal Credit Union, are not required to be licensed and are not held to the same standards per the SAFE Act.  You can read more about that here). 

I called a few weeks ago to schedule my test times at the PearsonVue Center.  The number I called directed me to a local office who then provided me with a toll free number.  The center said they could not schedule my appointment there.  Much to my surprise, when I called the toll free number to schedule my Federally mandated exam, I was sent to a call center in India!  Is it just me, or is there something wrong with off-shoring jobs for something that is required by our government?   Especially during these times when unemployment is darn near 10%.

I arrived at the exam center in Renton a half hour early and had my palms scanned.  Ladies, be warned, if you're wearing a jacket, you may be asked to remove it and leave it hanging outside during the test.  I wasn't quite prepared for this and probably would have worn a different top than what I had on underneath the jacket. 

The exam itself is multiple choice with a good portion of it being on Federal laws.  In my opinion, I don't find it very important knowing which branch of government created or oversees a certain law as knowing about the law.   Does it matter if it's HUD or the Federal Reserve Board who oversees RESPA or RegZ?  If you're violating RESPA, you're violating RESPA.  I think there's too much emphasis on this portion of the test.  I'd like to see more questions testing a mortgage originators general knowledge and their ethics, as well as the laws and regulations (just not so much focus on the "who" and more on the "what" and "why").  

I also think it would be beneficial to have specialized desiginations for mortgage originators that would require additional education and testing, for programs such as the Reverse Mortgage.  Just because I have the product available at our company, doesn't mean that I should be originating the loan.   

If your loan originator is licensed, they must take and PASS the (state and national) exams by December 31, 2010 or they cannot take a loan application effective January 1, 2011 unless they go work for a bank or credit union.  If they work for a bank or credit union, they don't have to sweat it.  They will need to register with the NMLS, but that's it. 

You can see if your mortgage originator is licensed or not by visiting www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.

I'm working on renegotiating a locked rate for one of my clients.  The lender will allow us to do so if it meets specific criteria (price and rate must improve by a certain amount).   If I'm successful in obtaining a lower rate for my clients, I may potentially cause a delay in their transaction due to the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA).  Most lenders interprets MDIA as any change in APR, for better or worse, of more than 0.125% for a fixed rate mortgage.

So I'm requesting an interest rate improvement of 0.125% because the transaction meets the criteria to do so.  If the lender approves the request, I am required to provide a new Federal Truth in Lending which will disclose the APR lower by 0.126%.  This will trigger a three day waiting period before my client can sign their mortgage papers at closing.  Luckily, the clock starts on the day of delivery (unlike the right of recession waiting period) and includes Saturdays.

Along with the Federal Truth in Lending, I am required to provide a revised Washington State's Loan Application Disclosure Form (no beef from me there) disclosing the change in interest rate.

Isn't it crazy that improving an interest rate for my client could possibly trigger a delay in closing? 

Soon consumers will be able to access the NMLS to gain information about mortgage loan originators.  The SAFE Actrequires that all residential mortgage originators be registered on the NMLS system (LO's who work at banks are only registered and LO's who work at non-depository mortgage companies are held to a higher standard with clock hour requirements).  The public will be able to access the National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry's data (NMLS Consumer Access) beginning January 25, 2010.  I'm wondering if it will have any impact on how a mortgage professional is selected.

Most of the data available is what you would expectsuch as contact and employer information, job title and of course the LO's NMLS Unique ID number.  The NMLS will also reveal the employment for the past ten years and legal names the individual has used since they were 18 years old.  

I'm actually very proud of my resume.   My ten year anniversary at Mortgage Master will be on April 1, 2010.  If you look further back, you'll see that I worked 14 years in the title and escrow industry and changed employers about every five years.  How will a consumer view a mortgage originator who has made several moves over the last ten years?  Will the NMLS show if a mortgage company went out of business or why the mortgage loan originator left the company (if it was voluntary or not)?  I don't have an issue with the employment data being available, although 10 years is a long time.  Most of us have our information plastered all over the internet on sites like LinkedIn or Facebook anyhow.  Consumers should know if a mortgage originator has been in the business 10 days, 10 months or 10 years. 

I am remarried and I changed my name with both of my marriages.  So if you look back on my record, when I was 18 my last name (maiden) was Christopherson; I married in my early 20's and became a Witt and I married again (on April fools four years ago) and became a Porter.  Will a consumer think I'm not a good mortgage originator because I've had more than two names (I divorced once)?  What if I was unlucky in love and married 5 or 6 times?  Does that make a difference?  Will the new system reflect if a name change happened because someone was widowed?   This will impact women more than men since men tend to not change their names for purposes of marriage.  I understand that the NMLS is disclosing this information due to fraud…but will this information impact a consumers selection?

It will be interesting to see if a home buyer or person in need of a refinance utilizes this information (or if spammers do).  Data that I think would be useful (but does not appear to be included) would be the percentage of types of loans originated–does the LO have experience with FHA loans, jumbos or new construction?  How about the performance of the mortgages the LO has originated?  Information that would help consumers get an idea of a mortgage originators expertise and skills instead of how many times they've been married or job hopped.

Your thoughts?

In May of this year, Governor Gregoire signed legislation providing registered domestic partners in Washington State the same rights as married couples, which has been confirmed by the passage last week of Ref 71. In our State, domestic partners are defined as either same sex couples or where at least one partner is over the age of 62 (they do not have to be of the same sex).  

From E2SSB 5668:

"It is the intent of the legislature that for all purposes under state law, state registered domestic partners shall be treated the same as married spouses.  Any privilege, immunity, right, benefit, or responsibility granted or imposed by statute, administrative or court rule, policy, common law or other law to an individual because the individual is or was a spouse, or because the the individual is or was an in-law in a specified way to another individual, is granted on equivalent terms…"

When a couple registers as a domestic partner and if one or both partners (or spouse) owns real estate where they reside, they are now subject to community property issues as Washington is a community property state.

From the Washington State Bar Association (regarding community property):

Under this system, all property acquired from earnings during marriage (such as real estate, automobiles or household goods) belongs equally to husband and wife, even when only one is employed.

Similarly, both husband and wife are personally liable for certain types of family expenses, even if both did not agree to the particular obligation….

Moreover, neither may give community property without the consent of the other. Finally, neither may sell, convey or encumber real property (land) without both parties signing appropriate documents.

Recently I was helping a man with a refinance whom I thought was "single".  He was the sole person on loan application and did not indicate that he had a partner.  The title company discovered that he and his partner registered as domestic partners with the State of Washington.  

With regards to the refinance, this meant that my client's partner would need to either be approved on the mortgage as well or have to sign a quit claim deed and acknowledge the transaction to be in compliance with state laws.  NOTE:  Please seek legal counsel before signing legal documents that may impact your rights.

As of today, November 6, 2009, there are 6,311 domestic partnership registrations in Washington.  If you and your partner have a registered domestic partnership–CONGRATS!  If you have a registered domestic partnership and you are involved in a real estate transaction; be sure to inform both your mortgage originator and real estate agent.  One cannot buy or sell or mortgage/encumber real estate with out the other's consent…just like being married.