Getting a mortgage can seem overwhelming, and most borrowers are happy to receive advice or guidance from their mortgage company. But how can you be sure that your loan officer has the proper training and licensing to help you?
This is why NMLS was created: to help borrowers ensure they are working with fully licensed and trained mortgage professionals.
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The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) is a centralized database of mortgage loan originators (MLOs), mortgage companies, and other lending professionals. Under federal regulations, these parties must obtain and maintain at least one state license, and states are required to share licensing information through NMLS.
Each individual, business, and branch is assigned a unique NMLS identification number that consumers can use to search for their mortgage lender or loan servicer in the NMLS database. In addition to the MLO, the NMLS also catalogs the following information in the database:
Name (including other names they have used for business purposes)
Contact details
License information
Current and past employment in the mortgage industry
Any history of civil or criminal actions taken against the MLO
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NMLS was launched in 2008 as part of the Secure and Fair Mortgage Licensing Act (SAFE Act) to protect consumers from predatory lending. It was originally called the National Mortgage Licensing System, but was eventually replaced by the National Multistate Licensing System. You may hear people use these terms interchangeably.
Prior to the SAFE Act of 2008, there was no national oversight of mortgage professionals. Each state has its own financial services regulators, but before NMLS, there was no way to verify that a newly licensed mortgage professional did not have a history of questionable lending practices in other states.
In addition to establishing the NMLS database, the SAFE Act of 2008 established federal requirements for MLOs to obtain and maintain at least one state license and for states to share licensing information through NMLS.
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To be included in the NMLS database – which also means someone has an NMLS license – a mortgage professional must meet several state and federal requirements. These include:
Complete at least 20 hours of pre-licensure training
Pass a National Mortgage Test
Undergo a credit report review
Pass an FBI Background Check
Mortgage professionals and MLOs must also complete eight hours of continuing education each year to maintain their NMLS license.
Licensing is administered by the state, which means that specific requirements may vary from state to state.
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If you want to buy a house or refinance your mortgage, you can use the to review the mortgage lenders or loan officers you are considering working with.
The NMLS Consumer Access site is easily searchable, even if you do not have the MLO’s NMLS number. You can search by NMLS ID number or enter the person or business name, city, state, and zip code.
Researching this consumer site can help you make an informed decision about who to work with for your mortgage needs. You will have a complete understanding of the MLO’s licensing, background and work history.
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What is the difference between NMLS and MLO?
NMLS stands for Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, a national database of mortgage and loan companies and professionals. It provides consumers with a method of verifying their background and licensing information. MLO is short for mortgage loan originator and describes a person or company that is paid to arrange, obtain or negotiate a mortgage loan for consumers. An MLO can be a mortgage company, an individual mortgage broker, or a loan officer working for a lender.
The SAFE Secure and Fair Mortgage Licensing Enforcement Act of 2008 created NMLS in response to predatory lending practices in the early 2000s that contributed to the mortgage crisis of 2008. NMLS allows borrowers to search for professionals mortgage lending to make more informed decisions about which companies to use when purchasing a home or refinancing a mortgage.
Each mortgage professional has a unique NMLS identification number that consumers can use to look it up on the NMLS Consumer Access website. However, even if you don’t have the NMLS number of a mortgage professional or company, you can still search for them using their name or DBA (doing business as) name as well as their city, state, and postcode – although geographic information is not always necessary.
