Mortgage Broker Training .us Home Definition & Background Mortgage brokers serve a required function in the sale of real estate, providing the transactional oversight and ensuring all the necessary parts are in place to perform a legal transfer of title. Not to be confused with an escrow officer, the mortgage broker is responsible for putting the transaction together between the parties involved. Because of this fact, a mortgage broker can easily be responsible for the actions and deals of numerous staff in addition to his or her own work and sales. This function comes with a fiduciary duty, but the career payoff can be very lucrative as well. As a result, many are attracted to the field for the potential income, but not everyone is allowed to be licensed as a broker. Training and a regulated exam administered by each state is required to be allowed to work as a legal mortgage broker. The training itself covers a number of real estate transaction areas and the duties required of a broker involved. The exam tests the students on all these aspects to make sure they have successfully understood the field and their fiduciary responsibilities. Additionally, the applicant must undergo a criminal background and credit check as well before licensing is finally approved. Despite the regulatory hurdles, the mortgage broker career field has plenty of competition and applicants, so there is no shortage of up-and-comers. However, the exam passing rate tends to favor the training programs that follow traditional paths of teaching, with higher success exam pass rates showing the rewards. While quite a number of programs both online and in person can give a student the minimum basics for broker exam preparation, a more traditional program may be worth a student's time and money to get the training done right. Educational Criteria Courses taught by either public institutions or private providers are regulated by the industry and must be approved in context by the National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS). The agency addresses consistency in pre-exam and ongoing education for mortgage broker training. A number of financial criteria must be met in mortgage broker training as a minimum study program. Additionally, the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 or SAFE Act has added additional requirements given the debacle of the real estate economic bubble that occurred in the 2000s and related financial fraud. As a total, applicants for a state exam must meet a minimum of 20 hours of specified training, in addition to any other requirements a state may have for its own licensing. This minimum 20 hours must include 3 hours spent on related federal rules and laws, the same amount of time covering ethical behavior with finances and lending, 2 hours on dealing with nontraditional loans and customer situations, and the remaining 12 hours dealing with mortgage origination practices. Even after a license is granted, brokers will still be required to maintain annual training to keep their license on an ongoing basis.  A brief overview of the requirements and training to become a Licensed Mortgage Broker Training Courses Taking the Exam Background Checks Privacy Policy