FHA Connection System Changes to Take Place January 28th

The Helping Families Save Their Home (HFSH) Act of 2009 required all mortgage loan originators and lenders that do business with FHA to be in compliance with the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 (SAFE Act) by registering with the National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS). FHA implementation of these requirements was announced in Mortgagee Letter 2010-33 and Mortgagee Letter 2011-04. The purpose of this announcement is to alert all lenders to changes in FHA Connection (FHAC) for providing the required NMLS data. Effective Jan. 28, 2013, lenders will be prohibited from receiving a case number if the loan officer name and NMLS ID number are not correctly entered at case number assignment. In addition, lenders registering a new third party originator (TPO) in the FHAC Sponsored Originator Registry must include the TPO’s NMLS ID number, as well as the TPO’s full corporate address and EIN number, in order for registration to be successful. All FHA-approved lenders are reminded of their responsibility to provide FHA with accurate information regarding their NMLS unique identifier (NMLS ID) numbers as required, which includes individual NMLS ID numbers for all loan officers that originate FHA loans. Lenders are also responsible for providing accurate NMLS ID numbers for any TPO that they register in the FHAC Sponsored Originator Registry. The Sponsored Originator Registry will recognize if the geographic location of the TPO is currently one of five states which are exempt from registering their companies with NMLS. Individual loan officers should not be registered as TPOs unless they are set up as a sole proprietorship or have otherwise incorporated themselves as a legal entity.