I’ve had a chance to meet many loan originators during the past 5 months while teaching the required 20 Hour SAFE Comprehensive Pre-licensing and Exam Prep Course.
Currently, loan originators in WA State who have not been previously licensed are going through the licensing and testing phase which includes the required 20 Hour Course, mandated by the Federal SAFE Act (Secure and Fair Enforcement) Act of 2008.
I have some feedback for folks who are looking at the pass rates of the new national exam (currently 67%) and wondering who is passing and who is not passing the exam. But first some background.
Prior to 2010, loan originators working under a mortgage broker in some states had to become licensed and pass state exams by scoring at least 70%. State exam included state law, federal law, mortgage-related mathematical computations and a few questions on ethics. At the end of 2007 WA State had roughly 14,000 licensed LOs. In 2008 there was a WA state law change in which the definition of the word “lender
“Since, at that time, consumer loan companies were not required to license their loan originators, many LOs who worked under a broker that had to switch their license to a CL license let their loan originator license lapse”
Not all LOs who were forced to register as a CLA let their licenses lapse… I didn’t, Jillayne, and I don’t think I’m alone. I continued to take c/e courses and maintain my license even though I didn’t have to.
As far as the difference between CLAs and Mortgage Broker originators…I hope you’re thoughtful when you write about that. I think there’s huge differences between various CLAs and mortgage brokers. Whenever somebody classify a group of individuals with a broad brush, it really concerns me.
Is Mortgage Master the same as a someone like Paramont? NO!
How about banks who don’t even have to be licensed? Last night I reviewed a “rate worksheet” from a LO who works for a bank where they’re offering a 3% credit if you work with the builder’s lender; there is no APR with the rate quoted and the rate he/she is quoting cost 0.75% more in discount points than what I would charge for the same rate…yet they’re offering 3% credit if they work w/this lender. Are all bank LO’s (who will not be licensed with the NMLS–only “registered”) bad or uneducated? NO!
It will be interesting to me to see if you’re able to find out what the difference is–because I think it’s more than the type of licensing we were required to have.
I think the NMLS licensing is a great step in the right direction–it’s unfortunate it excludes mortgage bankers instead of including ALL originators who take a residential loan application…we can thank our Congress for allowing bank LOs to skate on this.
“LOs can and will pass the exam because they have one thing going for them: Motivation in the form of if they don’t pass, they won’t be able to originate.”
Jillayne, I think it’s more correct to say that the LO will not be able to originate as a LICENCED mortgage originator. Those LOs who do not pass the national exam or who do not want to take the exam will have little problems getting hired on by a bank or credit union, where their LO’s are only required to be “registered”‘ and not licensed.
What the SAFE Act has done is created two classes of mortgage originators: licensed and registered (unlicensed) where the requirements of each are quite different.
Amazing! When I was a NCARB National Architects License Examiner, the pass rate was 10%. JG
Hi Jerry. Two questions:
!) How long does a person attend college/school to become an architect?
2) Do architect students constantly ask their professor, “is what you’re covering going to be on the exam because that’s all we care about?”
Thanks.
Hi Rhonda,
I’m afraid consumers, at this point, still don’t really differentiate between how LOs are licensed or unlicensed. The industry will need to start re-educating the public about the difference between the two catagories of LOs.
Unfortunately the industry has done a very good job of teaching consumers to shop LOs based on rates and fees and not on service or experience. This can and will change but the change will happen gradually over time.
Hi Rhonda,
Loan Originators who work for a depository lender regulated by a federal banking agency DO have to register with the NMLS. They will receive a unique ID number that they will use when they originate.
Depository bank LOs will also have to submit a set of fingerprints and go through a background check just like LOs who work for a broker and a consumer loan company.
But that’s where the similarity ends.
Depository bank LOs will be referred to as “registered loan originators.”
Mortgage Broker and Consumer Loan Company LOs will be referred to as “licensed loan originators.”
Bank LOs don’t have to take the educational classes or pass the exam.
Broker/CLA LOs have to take a 20 hour class and pass the exam.
Yes, someone who can’t pass the test could go work for a depository lender, however, in my experience, currently the loan origination industry tends to attract sales-type personalities that don’t particularily like the rules involved with working for a “bank.” They prefer to have more freedom that comes with working for a CLA or broker.
I absolutely DO know of some LOs who kept their loan originator license active even if they didn’t have to….however, to be completely honest, this is a very small number of LOs. Many let their license go….2008 was a rough year for many who couldn’t afford to pay for their CE classes let alone their licensing fee.
Mortgage Masters was one firm where the majority kept their license active. Another one that comes to mind is Cobalt Mortgage.
I think SAFE is good for consumers. However, the educational requirements should be for ALL loan originators. A large percentage of borrowers still prefer to deal directly with a bank or credit union. And they might not be aware that SAFE doesn’t apply to loan originators at banks and credit unions. My concern is whether or not the consumer is getting accurate and relevant advice when dealing with the banks and credit unions. If their loan originators are lacking the educational component, the consumer suffers.
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I am all for processes and systems in place to weed out originators. Things have gotten a lot better around here in Chicago as there has been a mass exodus of LOs. Those of us still around are doing very well volume wise, margins are going up, and it “feels” a little more professional.
This is definitely not a business for those that can’t commit themselves to it 125% right now. It is too hard to get business and it takes quite a bit of skill to get these files to closing smoothly. Part timers or those who don’t who don’t want to fully commit themselves cannot keep up with the changes and guidelines.
I still think companies need to step up their hiring models though – college degrees, professional backgrounds, real training, etc. Until the employers raise the bar, the test is only going to do so much. The good thing is that many employers are finding that the hiring by the numbers game winds up costing way more money than it is worth. Much better to have one solid producer who can close $10+ Mill at least annually versus three or four part timers who do the same in aggregate.
The Feds and States model just seems to be more of a “Let’s generate revenue and also make it such a pain in the ass to be an originator that only those with a lot to lose business wise are going to stick around”
“The Feds and States model just seems to be more of a “Let’s generate revenue and also make it such a pain in the ass to be an originator that only those with a lot to lose business wise are going to stick around
Hi Rhonda,
I’m pretty sure all the money for the new set of fingerprints goes to the fingerprinting company and not to the state.
You’ll have to write a blog post about DFI making you register your domain as a trade name. that sets a precident for other LOs in WA State having to do the same.
Jillayne, we don’t pay the fingerprint company, it’s processed through the NMLS. It’s my understanding that the state is collecting a portion of this revenue… do fingerprints change that much in 3 years?
I prepared a written response which I’m told Marilyn Porter, President of Mortgage Master Service Corporation, has submitted. DFI also didn’t like that sometimes MMSC has abbreviated their name (ex. Mortgage Master Service Corp.) on some of our documents, like loan applications…so now MMSC is figuring out how to cram it all in on 1003s with the DBAs. Ya’d think Corp. and Corporation would be the same…but…nope.
Once they’re done reviewing my response and we’re done with the process (we just went through a planned audit) I will write a post. DFI also touched on other topics w/me regarding social media. As they’re now on Twitter and writing a decent blog…I look forward to their response to my letter.
Hi Russ,
You and I both agreee on a lot of things, especially raising the bar for LOs.
However, I’m also supportive of having many different business models for mortgage lenders.
One type of business model is to hire loan originators who are sales-minded, come from a background of retail sales (cars, big screen TVs, makes no difference) and then create a bullpen environment for lots of phones to ring all day and all evening long via radio or TV ads, or direct mail marketing. These LOs are theoretically worth LESS to a company because the company pays to feed them leads.
A firm can hire green people and justify paying them less if the firm does all the work to procur clients.
LOs with their own set of repeat clients and Realtors is arguably worth a higher commission split. This means a different business model.
Brand new LOs can go to work at a depository lender and receive education and training but they are also worth less because their leads will literally walk in the door.
I’m okay with lots of different ways of doing business.
Regulators will (I’m guessing) not want to raise the bar unless this push comes from the industry because, like Rhonda hinted, regulators like getting lots of licensing fee income each year for their budget. But in all fairness, regulators don’t like seeing consumer complaints about LOs who are breaking state/fed laws and harming consumers either.
The BIG banks won’t necessarily want to get behind a “raising the bar” campaign because….well they prefer to hire green and pay their LOs less. The big mortgage banks with the TV, radio, web, direct mail ads don’t necessarily want their LOs to have college degrees either.
A “raise the bar” push will need to start at the grassroots level with career-type mortgage bankers and mortgage brokers who have experienced first hand the needs for LOs with a different kind of mindset, beyond the “hard close” type of LO.
We have thousands of LOs still left in the industry nationwide who still consider themselves salesmen who work inside a corporation where the corporate culture REWARDS them for acting this way. I meet them every day.
It’s going to take a decade to either 1) rotate these people out of the industry; or, 2) change their mindset.
Or……….maybe……..that Fed Reserve rule will pass and the way LOs are paid will radically change, leading to more dialogue. That would make a good blog post.
Jiillayne, I’ve been thinking about how you’ve categorized the difference between originators based on the type of institution they work for… and really IMO it boils down to the culture of the company they work for. It doesn’t matter what type. Every type of institution has their better or worse examples.
Not all bank LOs are good or bad… we can point to WaMU and we know not all bank LOs are like WaMU–it was their culture that created or enabled those LOs…same with Countrywide.
Hi Laura,
The banks were able to exempt themselves because they told Congress that they already had systems in place to train new LOs.
In my experience, credit union boards are voting to send their LOs to the SAFE class and pass the test even though it’s not required.
someday…someday! Someday bank LOs will be required to pass the new LO exam and take the 20 hr class. Patience.
…you just have to follow the money… if Congress really cared about what’s best for consumers, they would have all LOs held to the same standards (licensed).
WaMU was a bank…we’ve heard their testimony recently about what a cluster it was with the regulators…its an absolute sham and a scandal.
Licensed Loan Originators should be proud of their new designation. The SAFE Act has created two classes of mortgage loan origanators and I plan on making sure consumers I work with know the difference.
Hi Rhonda
“Every type of institution has their better or worse examples.”
Yes, there are outliers in each type of institution.
We do see some generalities that hold true for all catagories of institutions.
For example at most brokerages there was/is very little training (but not all brokerages)
at most large federally chartered banks there is mandatory in-house training for employees (but not all of the training is of high quality)
Some consumer loan companies have fabulous training programs. At other firms training is mostly about how to close the sale. I’ve seen the widest swings in either direction at the CLAs.
I thought of you yesterday while at the “State of the Industry Update” I was at…something that was discussed was the different cultures and how that impacted decisions that were made from the top down of the company. I find this interesting…I remember calling on some mortgage companies and banks as a title rep… they had their own personalities or culture–same is true for many real estate companies too. I believe a companies culture (what is done or believed vs what is said, like a mission statement) made a huge impact on the behaviors of mortgage originators and what type of MLOs they attract and retain.
corporate culture can be very powerful. When a person’s values don’t match up with the corporate culture, often employees leave. Same could be said for when new management comes in and tries to create a new culture, or with mergers.
people who were hired on at subprime firms and were only give sales training, no compliance training, are having a really hard time understanding the transition LOs are in from salesperson to professional.
Management also struggles with these changes. It requires a new business model, a new way of approaching the customer from object (to maximize profit) to client.
Today’s customer is more than just a lead to be “closed”
….and some companies NEVER had a culture like that.
I have never looked at a client as a lead and I’m probably a lousy “sales person” or “closer”…and I can live with that. Companies or LOs who want to “churn” leads or have to buy leads and are not interested in providing a service level where a borrower would want to return to them and refer friends to…consumers should be wary of… just my opinion and I’m very biased since I don’t buy leads and I don’t do “up-calls”.
Good LOs don’t need “leads” which is something that consumers should really take to heart. The best in this business are not quoting around on Zillow, LendingTree trying to drum up business because they don’t have to.
It takes years to build up a referral base of business through being fair, honest, and a lot of hardwork. Most of the LOs still around generally followed the referral model.
Unfortunately, a lot of consumers want to be sold. They are dying to have someone reaffirm they have the lowest rates in town. In a sense, their greed almost blinds them and it makes it easy targets to be taken advantage of. I see this all the time.
Consumers lose sight of how large and complex the transaction of buying a home is and will make decisions based solely on if they are savings a few pennies versus realizing they are putting significant dollars at risk.
I totally agree with you Russ. Sadly I think it often takes a bad experience from one chasing rates or focusing only on what LOs are paid instead of the TOTAL closing costs in relation to rate for a consumer to learn.
I’ve had to rescue several transactions where the LO who quoted low rates and fees could not perform their job.
This is actually one good thing about the GFE–if a LO is quoting low rates on the GFE–they’ll pay the price…but the consumer will have to somehow see the transaction through closing.
Hi all;
Just finished (and passed) the national SAFE test, and wanted to share some observations, as there is a fair amount of biased info out there. Thought I could add my own bias!
From Jillayne’s LO brackets above, I would count as a loan originator entering into origination during the run up, and doomed to 40 hours of intense cramming, according to her. However, I don’t think I am representative of that group, nor do I think my experiences were much like Jillayne describes for that group. Admittedly, Jillayne sees a MUCH wider cross section of LO’s and LO wannabes than I ever will, so perhaps it is a reasonable characterization for the group as a whole.
I was not required to take a 20 hr training course, as I have kept my WA state license current, but in dormancy (my company opted for CLA status). I cannot understand why anyone would do otherwise, but evidently many have. I had already passed the WA state exam twice (once when it was not required by the state, but by my employer). For those in my situation (and I think Rhonda’s is similar), there are lots of ads for training refresher courses.
I decided against taking a refresher course, for 3 reasons.
Taking a refresher course didn’t qualify towards the 8 hrs of continuing ed for 2010. I think that is unfair and stupid. How is it NOT continuing ed to be refreshed on the basics of lending and lending law? Most, if not all of the CE credits out there cover the same material.
I didn’t want to spend the time or money, if it didn’t count.
I figured I could pass this test, based on passing 2 previous and similar tests, and at worst (failing the test), would have to pay for and take the test again.
I get lots of email ads for training and continuing ed surrounding the SAFE Act. Some of them use scare tactics to sell their courses. Here are “scary
Hi Roger,
Each state is different so speaking ONLY for WA State, there were a certain category of LOs who were allowed to add up their CE to equal 20 hours. If a person was in that category, my Loan Originator Exam Prep class absolutely DID provide state-approved Continuing Ed credits for the class. Whoo hoo!
The vast majority of people taking the SAFE test today are LOs who need the 20 Hour SAFE PRe-licensing course and that class already includes an exam prep component.
LOs who take their 20 hours in 2010 will not need to take any continuing ed classes in 2010.
Roger, if you were state- certified by DFI you will not need CE this year but you WILL need 9 hours next year. 8 according to SAFE and 1 hour of WA State CE.
Thanks for the feedback on the mix of questions.
Advertisements for education are required to accurately reflect what’s being offered if in fact the company advertising is an approved course provider. NMLS now approves all course providers.
I suppose there might be a firm out there who is not offering NMLS-approved courses. that firm would still be held to it’s state consumer protection laws (most states have a law on the books that requires all licensed businesses to be honest in dealing with the public.)
Although I am not privvy as to why the NMLS is not requiring LOs to demonstrate the ability to calculate APR on a financial calculator, I can tell you that I’m sure the vast majority would get the question incorrect because the majority of LOs let computer software do the calculation. Perhaps the NMLS will make the LO exam harder as time goes on.
Thanks so much for stopping by and giving us your feedback!
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Jillayne,
Sorry , but you are a hack!!! You have no clue what you are talkng about, Im guesing you are a Liberal… probably a safe bet!! The test is a joke, totally unfair written by Legislators who dont have a clue to propogate the myth that the mortgage brokers and loan originators caused this mess… preditory lenders..please, how about consumer edjucate yourself!!! The testing material is all over the place, no standards, espacially with the ” accredited edjucation” companies…. havnt even been disceminating the correct material in many cases. How fair is it to give out study materials that dont even comprise the majority of whats on the test. I love the way you make fun of people who are trying to make an honest living, they didnt dissapear because they dont know what they are doing, the industry dissapeared over the last 3 years thatnks to the idiots in Washington trying to fix another problem better left to private industry!!! GET A CLUE
I’m just going to go ahead and leave Rob’s comment to stand as is, with all the typos intact.
Rob, where to start. Well first of all, why does everyone want to assign a political label to a person? Who cares if I’m a liberal or a conservative? Why can’t I be both or neither and still have an opinion about the LO exam?
If the new national LO test was set up to be a joke, then the pass rate would be high, like over 90 percent. Right now the pass rate is at about 71 percent for first time test takers. For people who retake the exam, the pass rate falls to 44 percent. Stats are given to us from the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System each month.
The exam is NOT written by the legislature but instead it’s written by exam writers! People with a Ph.D. in psychometrics along with an entire group of people and does not contain one elected politician but instead contains people from within the industry including regulators. I like the idea of regulators being involved in the test-writing process.
Why?
Because the regulators are the folks who go out into the field and visit the mortgage offices and see the compliance problems first hand. They know the most common ways loan originators intentionally or unintentionally violate state and federal laws. These are the exact people we need writing test questions.
Next up: your complaint that the education firms are not giving out good study materials.
Here is why that is so:
The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing folks FORBID anyone who teaches exam prep from taking the exam only for the purpose of sharing what’s on the exam with their students. The ONLY reason anyone can take the test is for the bona fide purpose of becoming a loan originator.
Any education company that says “we know what’s on the exam” would have their NMLS certification yanked, thereby shooting themselves in the foot.
So instead, education companies teach the law. If students learn the basics of each mortgage lending law, they will get their test questions correct.
The MAJORITY of students ask the following question:
“can you just give me the questions that are going to be on the test?”
I bet that’s what you wanted, Rob. You wanted us course providers to just give you the 100 questions.
Well if that were the case then why bother? Then I would be in complete agreement with you: The whole thing would be a joke.
It would be a joke if the course providers just knew what the questions and answers were going to be.
But we don’t.
So that means you’re going to have to S T U D Y.
And not everyone is going to P A S S.
So grow up and stop blaming the “idiots in Washington” for the industry’s mess.
The industry is growing up and maturing. Either get with the plan or go find something else to do to earn a living.
I haven’t yet talked to very many LO’s that have taken the test.
I have, and it is not a joke. I have some quibbles with it, but overall, it is a decent start. Similar to the WA state test, but the scope is slightly different.
It would be useful to be harder, and MORE relevant, but that is asking for quite a bit. Additionally, it would be nice if NMLS would provide a link to a plain English summary of the laws, rather than the original content.
rob, Jillayne is no hack.
Like me, she may occasionally be dull at parties, from being a bit of an obsessive know-it-all, but definitely not a hack. We disagree often, and I’ll be hanged if I could tell you her true political persuasion….(she sometimes seems a bit Libertarian, but then goes all liberal when the rich exploit the poor, and then seems like an old time conservative banker at times). She probably wouldn’t vote for Sarah Palin, but then, a lot of conservative bankers and Libertarians wouldn’t either.
Her facts are quite reliable, her predictions less so, but that kinda goes with the territory, and her opinions are just that, opinions. They are fun to ponder and agree, OR disagree with.
Thankfully for some former loan originators, car loan origination requires no hard tests, just street smarts. And, come to think of it, originating loans out of a bank doesn’t require a test either. Well, at least not the one we are discussing here.
I recently took it and scored an 88. I didn’t find the test to be all that difficult although there were a few questions that were very poorly written. I think a lot of the LOs who fail do so because they failed to study the minutae of some of the regulations.
Looking back on it, I could have passed without studying, but I did put in about 2 solid hours before I took it. I too think it should be a little harder, but actually written by LOs who understand the business and not bureaucrats.
Yeah Russ, come to Seattle, let’s have a few beers and write a better test!
We’d probably quit at 5 questions, (or 5 beers, whichever comes first) and enjoy the evening swapping outrageous loan stories.
For fun, I took the Census test. Now THAT was a good test, useful for measuring stuff you’d actually have to do in taking the census (sorting, following directions and instructions, map reading, etc).
Maybe in a few years, this test will be better.
One question on the test that really irked me went something like this:
“What fee or charge is normally included in prepaid items on the settlement statement”
a) interest adjustment
b) escrow waiver fee
c) title insurance
d) appraisal fee
Immediately, I could eliminate c & d as those items are not prepaid charges. Typically, if you charge an escrow waiver fee, it woudl just show up as an origination fee or some kind in section 800 as the customary .25% to waive escrows. You fund your escrow account in prepaid items, but that isn’t the same thing as an escrow waiver fee. The only other option was A) interest adjustment. There is prepaid interest in the prepaid items section, but what exactly is an interest adjustment??
Very poorly written question and answers imho…
Hi Russ,
A person who has read the Truth in Lending Act will easily be able to select the correct answer. A loan originator with some years of experience should also be able to select the correct answer whether or not he/she has read TILA.
The reason the questions are worded this way is because exam writers take test questions directly from the statute and not from the language we use in everyday life. The reason for this is because the way we talk differs from state to state, from company to company. The most fair way to write a national exam question is to use the language taken right from the law.
I didn’t graduate high school. My spelling and gramer sucks as well. I also passed both test nation and state of CA. I have been doing loans for over 11 years. 7 where with Chase Manhattan and we took all kinds of stupied test all the time on ethics and compliance things. Ethics cracks me up. You would have to be a true raciest to not be able to pass that. I got 70% on both test without the 20 hours and without studing at all. I went and got some study stuff and read and took pratice test I put in about 40 hours into that. I went in took both test same day and passed rigth at 83%. I was reading this post and don’t know who said it but this test uses verbage that no one uses. That is what makes it so tricky. No one that I know of has the right stuff to study but you just have to hope to get maybe one word out of what you study to fit into what they are asking. You always have two answers and have to pick what one sounds the best.
I am going to take 5 more state test so still not done ha ha I read hours and hours of test questions and none of them talked about the 11th district They would talk about the cofi cost of funds index but never tell you that it’s the 11th district I only knew this from one mortgage company I worked at in 1998 the cofi was a great index at that time. Anyone new to this not sure how they can pass this test but I guess they are. I talked with a Broker and asked him how is anyone new going to pass this test and he laughed and said they do and when the do compliance audites everyone knows what to say but you ask them what a 1008 is and they have no clue. And they don’t know how to fill out a 1003 when they start as well.
I might not know how to spell but if I can save you $200.00 on your mortgage payment I could show you how to have $800,000 in the bank in 25 years and not to many LO’s can do that one. 🙂
“without studing at all… I went and got some study stuff and read and took pratice test I put in about 40 hours into that.”
Well of course you passed if you studied for 40 hours. That’s twice as long as the average person wants to study.
“this test uses verbage that no one uses.”
The only fair way to write a national licensing exam is to use the language used in all 50 states and that’s the language that comes directly from the law and statute. Most LOs don’t read the law and its rules on a day-to-day basis so the language seems strange or odd or “tricky.” Test writers try very hard NOT to use trick questions. The very best way to ensure you’ll understand the verbiage is to read the law.
But 99% of the students I meet refuse to read the law….the very thing that will help them pass.
Jillayne That’s funny because The law is what I missed the most of. I would have had close to 100% if not for that. I knew I had to study hard and even then the State of CA test seemed like it was a bit harder to me even though I got the same score on it.
The hard part of the study is knowing what to study. If you search for places to study you get so many and it’s hard to know who has what is going to be on the test. You could study 80 hours but if it’s the wrong stuff your not going to make it. I still have to study for 5 more State test just trying to get it all out of the way. Do you know who was the best study stuff for State test?
“and it’s hard to know who has what is going to be on the test.”
Actually the federal SAFE Act Test components including what to study is provided to everyone on the NMLS website. It’s in the Test Candidate Handbook. The components of each test are provided for all state exams as well.
Old exams, pre-SAFE Act…pre-2008 meltdown were all administered at the state level. Some states published all the questions and the correct answers so even my cat could pass the test. Those days are gone.
And maybe that’s the way it should be. Let’s have the exam mean something. If the government is going to create a barrier to entry, let’s not just give everyone all the answers to the exam because then the license wouldn’t really mean anything other than regulators are collecting licensing fees.
Today, LOs need to not only study the LAW but LOs need to know how the various laws interact with each other. And many would argue that’s the way it should be.
So nobody knows the exact questions and the answers. And that’s how we begin to raise the bar.
Best way to study for your state exams: Go to the state website and read their laws governing mortgage lending….and you will pass the test.
It’s going to be interesting to see how many licensed LO’s we have in 2012 in Washington, Jillayne.
I fall into the 2 categories “Loan originators who entered the industry during the bubble run up and predatory lending heydays of the 2000s.” and “Loan originators who fell out of the industry during the hell that was 2008 and are now back.” I am in the state of NJ.
Lets start with my good news. I passed the State test with an 82. The state test was a lot easier than the national. The national I failed with a score of 74. I’m still pretty sick about it. I would have rather got a zero then miss by one stinking point. Well, its my own fault. I truly thought I was gonna kick butt on the national and have problems with the state but it was the other way around.
The advice I have for you is……study. Don’t try to memorize questions cause they aren’t the same questions as on the test. You need to know the meanings and rules. Good luck…see you in 30 days.
Hi Scott,
Sounds like you are really close to passing. Now is not the time to sit back and wait, assuming you’ll pass in 30 days. I wrote an updated post on this same topic here:
http://mortgagefiduciaries.com/2010/12/why-some-los-are-not-passing-the-national-lo-exam/
Keep studying and good luck on your next attempt 🙂