Spring is a great time to review and update NMLS records. Here are some tips to help you clean up those sections of the NMLS company, branch, and individual forms that tend to get overlooked and disorganized:
- Review the business activities selected for your company and branches to ensure that they are still applicable. This should be done by referencing the Business Activities Definitions published in the NMLS Resource Center.
- If applicable, review the company and branch OTNs. Confirm whether the business is still utilizing them in the states noted or if they should be removed/surrendered. (Sometimes business units determine that they no longer want to use an OTN, but fail to communicate that to the licensing unit.)
- Confirm that the individuals listed as contact employees are still the appropriate individuals for state regulators to contact. Also, ensure that phone numbers and email addresses are up to date.
- Review disclosure question responses and explanations to ensure that they are accurate and up to date. Considering that the NMLS Policy Guidebook requires licensees to update their NMLS records within 30 days after information in their records changes (and that state laws and regulations often have even stricter deadlines), this should actually be done on a monthly basis at a minimum.
- Clean up the document uploads section. This is an area that gets extremely messy. Many companies and individuals will upload a new document and fail to amend or delete the existing one. This can lead to the record becoming muddled with stale and unnecessary documents.
- Reach out to mortgage loan originators, branch managers, and key individuals to confirm that they haven’t moved. If they have moved, work with them to update their mailing address and the residential history section of their NMLS individual form appropriately.
- Reach out to mortgage loan originators, branch managers, and key individuals to ensure that they did not get involved with another business. If they have, work with them to update the other business section of their NMLS individual form appropriately.
- Review fingerprint expiration dates for mortgage loan originators, branch managers, and key individuals to determine if there’s a need for them to submit new fingerprints. You don’t want to be scrambling for this during renewal season.
APPROVED works with clients to review and update NMLS records, including implementing strategies and best practices for ongoing license maintenance. Don’t hesitate to contact us for help with your NMLS spring cleaning.