April 30, 2010                                                                                             

Representative Grossman Requests Extensions

Granted To Mortgage Loan Officers

COLUMBUS—State Representative Cheryl Grossman (R – Grove City) today announced her request of the Strickland Administration, as well as the Ohio Department of Commerce, to grant extensions to mortgage loan officers, many of whom are expected to lose their job today due to licensure tests implemented by the SAFE Act.

The federal SAFE Act was enacted to encourage states to establish minimum standards for the licensure of state mortgage loan officers.  However, the new regulations in Ohio have created new levels of red tape that unfairly punish loan officers and put their jobs at risk.

“It was brought to my attention that many of our state loan officers believe that the new, state-required continuing education courses that were approved in March 2010 misled them and set them up to fail,” Grossman said.  “The state test is geared toward mortgage brokers, which puts mortgage bankers at a severe disadvantage by asking questions of little relevance to their profession.  We have reason to believe that the nature of this test puts an unfair barrier between qualified loan officers and their ability to practice in Ohio.”

For many loan officers the license will expire today.  Those officers will not be able to take the next state licensure test until May 12^th leaving a window that both eliminates jobs and prevents qualified homebuyers from moving in their homes.

Yesterday Grossman and her colleagues in the Ohio House of Representatives Republican Leadership sent letters to Governor Strickland and the Department of Commerce to request extensions to