NMLS-Approved Mortgage Continuing Education

Maintaining Mortgage Industry Awareness provides a review of relevant issues facing mortgage loan originators today, specifically those outlined by NMLS as required topics for continuing education. Students will examine provisions of the Truth-in-Lending Act, the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule, and the Qualified Mortgage Rule, including issues related to considering the triggers, tolerances, and thresholds that enable loan originators to determine when disclosures are due and what information is required. In addition, students will take a look at the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, specifically rules related to lead agreements, marketing services agreements, co-marketing, desk licensing agreements, and affiliated business arrangements. Students will also review several nontraditional mortgage products, such as adjustable-rate mortgages and fixed-rate mortgages with terms of 15 and 40 years.

Maintaining Mortgage Industry Awareness provides a review of relevant issues facing mortgage loan originators today, specifically those outlined by NMLS as required topics for continuing education. Students will examine provisions of the Truth-in-Lending Act, the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule, and the Qualified Mortgage Rule, including issues related to considering the triggers, tolerances, and thresholds that enable loan originators to determine when disclosures are due and what information is required. In addition, students will take a look at the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, specifically rules related to lead agreements, marketing services agreements, co-marketing, desk licensing agreements, and affiliated business arrangements. Students will also review several nontraditional mortgage products, such as adjustable-rate mortgages and fixed-rate mortgages with terms of 15 and 40 years.

Originating residential mortgage loans requires close attention to innumerable details to ensure that each loan is made in compliance with federal lending laws. These details include consideration of the triggers, tolerances, and thresholds that enable loan originators to determine when disclosures are due and what information is required, whether a loan meets certain thresholds under the law, and whether further limitations or restrictions apply to the transaction. The primary focus of this course will be on the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA) and its accompanying Regulation Z, as well as the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule, the Qualified Mortgage (QM) Rule, and more.

The Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act (S.A.F.E. Act) defines a nontraditional mortgage product as any mortgage product other than a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. A look at the history of the mortgage market provides context into the restricted use of nontraditional products in the current mortgage landscape. This course will review several nontraditional mortgage products, such as adjustable-rate mortgages and fixed-rate mortgages with terms of 15 and 40 years, including advantages and disadvantages of each and a look at the rules for the origination of nontraditional products.

Mortgage loan origination is a competitive field, and building a business and encouraging its growth may lead to legal and ethical challenges. A common tactic for identifying and attracting new customers is the exchange of referrals between real estate professionals and mortgage lenders. This strategy raises a number of ethical concerns as well as the difficult challenge of maintaining compliance with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). This course will examine common business-building practices, such as the use of lead agreements, marketing services agreements, co-marketing, desk licensing agreements, and affiliated business arrangements, while considering the risks of violating RESPA when using such strategies.

Underwriting is the risk assessment step of a residential mortgage transaction. It gives lenders that make home loans and the investors that purchase them the opportunity to complete an analysis of the risks associated with offering mortgage credit to a particular loan applicant. This course will review the underwriting tools and practices used by loan originators in the early stages of a lending transaction to evaluate a consumer�s loan eligibility, as well as underwriting requirements established by federal lending laws and other guidelines followed by lenders known as credit overlays.

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) is a law that provides regulators and consumers with access to data that they can use to monitor the compliance of mortgage lenders with the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. This course reviews past lending practices that led to the enactment of HMDA and shows how the persistence of discriminatory practices led to the creation of new data collection requirements and expansion of HMDA�s scope to apply to a broader range of lenders. While outlining the newest requirements for collecting and reporting loan data, this course shows how loan originators play a critical role in helping lenders avoid violations of HMDA and other fair lending laws.