Maine to Transition to the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System

In an effort to make it easier and more efficient for mortgage lenders to apply for and manage their licenses,[IMAGE]

Maine has signed on to use the ""Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System"":http://mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org/Pages/default.aspx (NMLS), Will Lund, superintendant of the ""Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection"":http://www.maine.gov/pfr/consumercredit/index.shtml announced Tuesday.

According to the Bureau, this change will also protect Maine consumers by increasing oversight of the mortgage activities of loan originators in other states.

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The transition to the NMLS will begin October 1, 2010, and it should be completed by the end of the year. But starting this month, the Bureau said it will release detailed instructions to all existing loan officers and their employees for transitioning individual loan originators onto the NMLS.

""The Bureau is looking forward to being a part of this new regulatory framework created by the states, since we believe it will result in improved supervision of the mortgage industry,"" Lund said. ""The multistate system will allow Maine mortgage loan originators to apply for and manage their licenses electronically. Because this system links together records from all states, we will be better able to keep track of loan officers with a history of violations in other states.""

The NMLS began operations on January 2, 2008, and currently has forty-eight states using the system to accept and process national, uniform license applications. According to the Bureau, licensees are able to electronically manage a single record using the system to apply for, amend, renew, and surrender licenses in participating states.