The industry would benefit from more rigorous education and examination of brokers, says Harris
It’s a perennial question in the US mortgage industry: should the entry requirements for aspiring new loan originators (LOs) be raised?
The number of LOs in the US is widely believed to have fallen in recent years amid a sharp decline in home sales and mortgage applications thanks to higher interest rates and borrowing costs.
Last year may have bucked that trend slightly, with mortgage tech firm RETR noting a mild jump in the number of producing loan officers in 2025 compared with 2024.
Some seasoned mortgage professionals say the industry could benefit from an exodus, arguing that those who remain are the brokers who are in the business for the right reasons – and who are proving their ability to withstand tough times in the market.
Among the current crop of originators are plenty of high-quality, knowledgeable and ethical professionals who always act with their clients’ best interests in mind, according to Vantage Mortgage Brokers president Andy Harris.
Still, he believes the profession would benefit from more rigorous examination of hopeful new LOs, and argues that the current setup doesn’t adequately prepare them for the rigors of the job.
“The barrier to entry is relatively low, and the industry attracts a large number of people who do not fully understand the regulatory framework, underwriting guidelines, or the fiduciary nature of what a broker is supposed to do,” he told Mortgage Professional America. “Too many individuals treat mortgage origination like a sales job rather than a financial advisory profession.
“Mortgage lending is math, regulation, and risk management. If someone doesn’t understand those things, they can unintentionally harm consumers. So while there are excellent professionals in the industry, the variance in competency is still too large.”
Individuals can currently originate ‘with very little real-world experience’: Harris
While there’s no single, uniform set of entry requirements that applies to mortgage originators across all 50 states, there is a common regulatory backbone in the form of the federal SAFE Act and the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS).
These establish core expectations such as pre-licensing education, background checks and a national exam, creating a baseline framework that most aspiring mortgage loan originators must navigate.
However, the specifics – from the number of required education hours to additional state exams, fees and ongoing continuing education obligations – are determined at the state level and can differ significantly from one jurisdiction to the next.
Still, educational standards could be raised across the country, Harris said, especially when it comes to making sure LOs are ready to hit the ground running from the start.
“Currently, someone can pass the licensing exam and technically be allowed to originate mortgages with very little real-world experience,” he said, “yet they’re advising consumers on what is often the biggest financial transaction of their lives.”
What should mortgage originator licensing really entail?
Among Harris’ suggestions for a more comprehensive structure: a longer mentorship or apprenticeship period for budding originators, more advanced testing on guidelines, compliance, and financial math, and greater emphasis on ethics and fiduciary responsibility.
When it comes to financial math, that should also mean excellent personal credit and balance sheet performance, he argued.
“Other financial professions that deal with large sums of money have far more rigorous standards,” he said. “Mortgage professionals should be held to the same level of seriousness.”
Those steps – and offering borrowers access to as many ethical lenders as possible – are key, in Harris’s eyes, to maintaining and elevating standards within the brokering profession, which he views as playing an indispensable role in today’s industry.
“True mortgage brokers should be transparent, compliant, and competitive,” he said. “When done correctly, the broker model is one of the most consumer-friendly structures in the entire financial system because it creates competition between lenders.
“But that only works if professionals actually operate with integrity and follow the rules. At the end of the day, this industry needs fewer marketers and more true professionals.”
Stay updated with the freshest mortgage news. Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox, and always be the first to know by subscribing to our FREE daily newsletter.
