The State of Utah Division of Real Estate Residential Mortgage Regulatory Commission (Mortgage Commission) met this morning.  

 

The Division Reported the Following:

 

• 21 new complaints were filed against mortgage companies in the month of December.  The Division does not pursue or investigate every complaint.  Sometimes the availability of proof prevents the prosecution of a complaint, and at times, the Division does not have jurisdiction or there was no legal wrong committed.  The UMLA is committed to finding a resolution to cases where the Division of Real Estate does not have jurisdiction or where no legal wrong, but perhaps an ethical violation, was committed.  The UMLA ethics committee will be responding to complaints made on the UMLA consumer hotline.  The hotline number is 801/303-0700.  (Click here to see the UMLA code of Ethics)

 

• The Division is seeking two (2) additional investigators in the Governors budget.  The Division is not seeking to expand its current authority to investigate and resolve complaints made against mortgage companies.

 

• There were 651 additional mortgage registrants in December, to bring the total to 14,148 registered individuals and entities.

 

• The first mortgage licensing exams were given yesterday, January 6, 2003.  Five (5) people took the entire exam, of that five (5), three (3) passed and two (2) failed.  Of those who failed, one (1) failed both the general portion and the State specific portion, and the other failed just the State portion of the exam.  It took each of the five (5) test takers less than 1 hour and 23 minutes to take the general portion of the exam and less than 16 minutes to take the State specific portion of the exam.

 

 

The Exam:^[1]

 

The exam is 100 questions long.  The General portion is 80 questions and the State portion is 20 questions.  Each portion must be passed independent of the other.

 

The test outline can be found at http://www.commerce.utah.gov/dre/Reducedoutline1111.doc.

 

Difficulty:

 

The licensing exam cut score is roughly 70.  The licensing exam attempts to test minimum competence. Minimum competence is the minimum level of knowledge someone should have to perform the job of mortgage origination. The Division of Real Estate wants to make clear that minimum competence does not mean that no study is required. Some study will be required of everyone.

 

Test Prep:

 

All the material tested on the State portion of the exam can be found at the following web addresses.

A.      Statutes (http://www.le.state.ut.us/~2003/bills/hbillenr/hb0277.pdf)

1. Section 61, 2c—102-402;(http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE61/61_05.htm)

2. Section 70D-1-6 (http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE70D/70D01.htm)

B.      Rules (http://www.rules.utah.gov/publicat/code/r162/r162.htm)

1. R 162—201-209

 

 

The UMLA has scheduled Leslie Peterson of Mortgage Educators to discuss with all those attending the Education portion of the Rocky Mountain States Conference & Trade Show what to expect on the exam, how best to study and give some brush-up study tips.  The Rocky Mountain States Conference & Tradeshow is February 12^th.  To register please print out the flyer and mail it in with your payment, or call Mike Huntsman at (801) 359-5793. 

 

The UMLA is also offering a two (2) day test prep course April 13^th &14^th.

 

Scheduling to take the Exam:

 

• Calling Promissor Customer Care (toll free) at 1-800-274-7292
• Faxing the Fax Reservation Form (located in Candidate Handbook) to Promissor at (888) 204-6291
• Visiting the Promissor web site (www.promissor.com).

Candidates should make a reservation by phone at least

three (3) business days before the desired examination

date or by fax or on the web at least four (4) business days

before the desired examination date. Walk-in

examinations are not available.

There are 14,000 mortgage licensees. Take the test early!