Banking
Mortgage Lender License — Application Process
Step 1: Getting Started
The Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) Call Center is available at 240.386.4444 to assist you with any questions about the NMLS.
To gain access to the NMLS for the first time, a company must submit a form requesting an account. The Company Account Request Form is available online and takes only a few minutes to complete. Once the form has been submitted it will be reviewed for accuracy. If validated, an account will be set up for the company, and user Ids and passwords will be issued to the account administrator(s) identified.
Step 2: Getting Prepared
The following resources will help you prepare to use the NMLS.
- Work flow and Quick Guides — Recommended workflow guides for various licensing scenarios along with Quick Guides that cover “how to” for key tasks.
- Navigation Guides — Detailed “how to” instructions with screen shots you can download and print to help you navigate through the NMLS.
- MU Forms — Download sample forms to help you gather the necessary information.
- Quick Guides — Quick guides are designed to help users with a particular task.
Step 3: South Dakota Specific requirements
Review the jurisdiction-specific requirements for South Dakota. You can print out a checklist of jurisdiction-specific requirements by going to the State Licensing Resource page.
Step 4: Login & Complete Your Record
Once your company's account administrator receives his or her User ID and password, log into the NMLS. From there, follow the instructions outlined in the Tutorials and Navigation Guides to complete your record and submit it to South Dakota Division of Banking.
Step 5: Submit & Pay
When you are ready to submit your filing, you will need to run the Completeness Check. Once the Completeness Check is finished, you can submit the filing and pay the licensing fees. Acceptable payment methods are Visa, MasterCard and bank Automated Clearing House (ACH) payment. See the ACH Guide (Adobe PDF format) for information you may need to provide to your bank if they require pre-authorization of payments.
Loan Originators
Mortgage lender and brokerage licensees are allowed to use the services of a mortgage loan originator (MLO) that operates under the direct control and supervision of the licensee. All MLOs under a licensee’s supervision will need to be separately and individually licensed. They will need to apply for licensure using the NMLS. To determine if your employees need to be licensed you will need to determine if they meet the statutory definition of a mortgage loan originator. Lenders and brokerages are responsible for verifying that a mortgage loan originator is registered with the State of South Dakota before using their services.
Application Review Process
When a license request filing is received through NMLS, the South Dakota Division of Banking will review it for completeness. We will send out state- specific fingerprint cards for all control persons who are required to complete the background check. We will not accept generic fingerprint cards. Fingerprinting must be done on the cards provided by our office — NO EXCEPTIONS.
The South Dakota Division of Banking will continue to review the information in the application while waiting for the fingerprint cards and other state-specific requirements to be returned. Any deficiencies in the application will be communicated through the use of license items through NMLS. When we add a license item, the system will generate an email to the applicant instructing the individual to log into the NMLS record to view the license item request. Do not ignore these emails, as failure to respond could result in the denial of an application.
Once the fingerprint cards are received by the Division of Banking they are forwarded to the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) for processing. It can take up to 6-8 weeks to get the results of a criminal background check. Once the DCI has the fingerprint cards, we cannot check on the status of the background check.
When we receive the results of the background check, we will conclude our review of the application and notify the applicant of our decision. If the application is approved, a license will be issued immediately. If the application is denied, the applicant may appeal the decision under South Dakota Codified Law (SDCL) 1-26 within 30 days. The applicant will be notified of the appeal process at the time the decision is provided.