Communications
Working closely with your marketing department (or if you are a company without one, you can do this on your own) to develop a plan to communicate renewal expectations for the upcoming season. This plan can include sending emails to loan officers prior to renewals on how to prepare including if their NMLS profiles are updated, where to go to complete CE, tips on how to make time for CE, a complete step-by-step instructional guide on how to process renewals, and any company-imposed deadlines.
If your company has an intranet or a hub online to speak to employees, you may want to consider posting this information there as well. Making these emails or postings as light-hearted and concise as possible will likely entice your loan officers to read and act more easily. Remember Loan Officers work through email all day, and you will want to grab their attention.
Tracking
Another component of your renewal program will be tracking. It needs to include your licenses at all levels: loan officer, branch, and company renewals. Items you can track include but are not limited to:
• Continuing Education
- CE enrollment
- CE providers used by loan officers
- Completed CE — with completion percentages
• Renewals
- Renewal submissions by date
- License approvals by state
This will make sure no renewal is left behind, and you can communicate effectively to leadership what is happening with your renewals.
Post Renewal Cleanup
You finally get the last loan officer, branch, and company license renewal across the finish line, but now is not the time to go on that long-awaited winter vacation. There are several things to think about as you wrap up your renewal program for the year.
Reinstatements and Approvals
There is a reinstatement period in NMLS from Jan. 2 to Feb. 28. If you intend to reinstate an expired license, you will need to consult the Annual Renewal Information page in the NMLS Resource Center to ensure the state you wish to reinstate allows you to do so. If you want to reinstate a loan officer license, and the state requires CE, you will make sure CE has been completed or late CE will need to be completed prior to reinstating your license.
Access to Originate
As soon as a license status becomes terminated/expired or in the case a license renewal hasn’t been approved but the state requires approval in NMLS, you must be sure you remove access from that state in your Loan Maintenance System (LMS) to originate. Even if a loan officer intends to reinstate their license, you will want to be sure they are not able to originate in that state. Note: You will need to be sure you are aware of any licenses in which a state hasn’t approved a renewal. Some states will not allow you to originate if a license renewal is not approved by Jan. 1.
Pipeline Reports
For loan officers whose licenses have terminated or expired you will want to run pipeline reports to make sure any loans in progress are assigned to a licensed originator. Oftentimes this requires consulting your policies and procedures as well as speaking with leadership on how to communicate these changes with borrowers and to ensure the loans are reassigned to the correct person. These reports need to be executed as soon as possible after the new year. The last thing you need is a loan that cannot make it to closing due to licensing issues.
Marketing
You will want to communicate to your marketing department any licenses that have been terminated. This is to make sure that all social media, websites, and marketing materials reflect your current licensing.
Ultimately your company’s renewal season will be as successful as you are organized. Taking the time to plan and execute now will make all the difference in ensuring that your renewals are approved, and your company can continue to serve their community by providing home ownership opportunities. Remember communication is key, so do the work early and you will not be disappointed in the results.