How do I become a mortgage lender with no experience?

A mortgage lender license is a company credential applied for through the NMLS Company Form (MU1); Georgia, for example, charges a $1,150 new application fee for a Mortgage Lender License. Experience requirements usually attach to the qualifying individual, and New York requires that person to be an owner, partner, trustee, or officer with two years of verifiable experience in credit analysis or underwriting. An applicant without lending experience can add a qualifying co-owner or officer, and depository institutions such as banks are exempt from state lender licensing.

To fund loans yourself, you need a mortgage banker license from DFS, which carries a $3,000 original license fee; a mortgage broker registration ($1,500) only lets you place loans with others. The experience rule can be met without personal experience: New York company registrations require the applicant to have, or employ, a qualifying individual with two years of verifiable credit analysis or underwriting experience. New York-licensed attorneys and licensed real estate brokers are exempt from that two-year requirement.