National Mortgage Regulation System As Soon As 2008

The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors have entered into an agreement to develop a nationwide licensing system for state residential mortgage regulators. This 18-month effort, which involves CSBS, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and the industry to develop uniform mortgage licensing applications that would be used by each state mortgage regulator. Industry leaders are hoping that the system will lead to benefits from access to a national licensing and enforcement repository, and will likely be the result of the uniform application process and produce more closely related regulations throughout the states.

There are quite a few industry skeptics with growing concerns about how such a system will be implemented, but there are a few states that are currently testing the forms for new license applications. We could be seeing this new system available as early as January 2008, and so far a total of 30 state agencies have agreed to participate in the system. An online mortgage banking compliance service, iComply, suggests that careful consideration should be taken when deciding what information will go into the new system. A pilot program was tested in Illinois, in which implementation issues were much more dificult than anyone anticipated.