California Mortgage License Renewal Requirements

California MLO License Renewal Requirements

Every California-licensed MLO is required to complete 8 hours of NMLS approved education annually. Continuing education must include:

  • 3 hours of Federal law
  • 2 hours of Ethics
  • 2 hours of Non-Traditional Mortgage Lending
  • 1 hour Elective, which may need to be state-specific

California MLOs licensed by the DFPI must take 1 hour of California mortgage license law as their elective. California MLOs licensed by the DRE can take any 1 hour elective relating to mortgage topics. You can check whether your license was issued by the DFPI or DRE here.

Newly licensed MLOs are not required to complete CE this year if they both:

  1. Became compliant for PE this year (completed pre-license training this calendar year), AND
  2. Were approved for initial licensure this year
View MLO CE Courses
The deadline to complete CE is December 31. However, MLOs in California are prohibited from applying to renew their license if they have not completed CE. MLOs are strongly encouraged not to wait until the last minute to try to complete CE or they may be prevented from submitting for renewal on time.

Renewal Information

You can renew your license between November 1 and December 31 each year. Once you have completed your required CE:

  1. Log in to NMLS and make sure your record is up to date
  2. Receive a request to renew or reactivate your registration
  3. Log in to NMLS and attest to your registration’s renewal or reactivation

You can find more information and helpful videos here.

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