The National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) will be taking over licensing at the end of July 2009.  The old LO exam will phase out and new LOs will also take a new state exam with new test questions on WA State laws.  NMLS chose the same test vendor, Promissor, recently purchased by Pearson Vue.  The national exam will contain 100 questions and LOs must pass with a 75%.  In addition, the WA State component of the exam will be around 50 to 60 additional questions.

Will existing licensed LOs (LOs licensed under a broker) have to take the new national exam?  It depends.  If your score on the existing state exam was not 75% or higher the answer is yes.  When you left the testing center, your Promissor form didn’t give you your score.  However, DFI DOES know your score. At one of the spring commission meetings, the commission was talking about doing some outreach phone calling to LOs so that LOs will know whether or not they will need to take that new exam.  But you will have until Dec 31, 2010 before you have to take the new exam.  Likewise, you will have until that same date to make sure that your continuing ed credits equal 20 hours.  Here’s more about the exam from NMLS: