NMLS Consumer Access is a free, publicly available tool that lets you check whether a mortgage company, loan officer, money service business or other state-licensed financial firm is properly registered and licensed. It is operated by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators.
NMLS covers a broad range of state-licensed financial entities. This includes mortgage lenders and mortgage companies, mortgage loan originators (the individual loan officers who work with borrowers), mortgage brokers, money service businesses such as currency exchange operations and money transmitters, and some state-licensed consumer lenders. It is important to understand what is not covered: banks and credit unions are regulated by different agencies. Banks are overseen by the FDIC, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Federal Reserve depending on charter type, and credit unions are overseen by the NCUA. If you are looking up a bank or credit union, use FDIC BankFind or the NCUA Credit Union Locator instead.
Go to nmlsconsumeraccess.org. You can search by company name, individual name or NMLS ID number. You can also filter results by licence type and state, which is useful if you want to confirm that a company is licensed in your specific state. When searching by name, try multiple variations. A company may be registered under its full legal name rather than the trading name it uses in advertising. If the initial search returns no results, try a partial name or a different spelling before concluding that the company is not registered. You can also call the company directly and ask for its NMLS ID, then search by that number for the most reliable results.
When you find a company or individual in NMLS Consumer Access, the results include the NMLS ID number, the current licence status (which may be active, inactive, surrendered or revoked), the states where the company or individual currently holds licences, the type of licence held, and any regulatory or enforcement actions on record. The regulatory actions section is particularly worth checking. Even if a company is currently licensed, a history of enforcement actions or sanctions from regulators may be a signal worth investigating. You can click through to see more detail on any listed action.
Not all lenders are required to register with NMLS. Non-mortgage consumer lenders such as personal loan companies or payday lenders may only be licensed at the state level and will not appear in this database. If a company you are researching is not in NMLS, the appropriate next step is to contact your state financial regulator to ask whether the company is licensed in your state. You can find your state financial regulator through the CSBS directory at csbs.org. Report any suspected unlicensed lending activity to the CFPB or your state attorney general.
In addition to searching for companies, you can look up individual mortgage loan officers by name or NMLS ID. This is useful for mortgage transactions, where the loan officer plays a direct and personal role in the process. The individual results show which company they currently work for, their complete licence history across states and employers, and any disciplinary actions or complaints on record. Checking the individual loan officer is worthwhile for larger transactions. A quick look at their regulatory history can reveal issues that would not be apparent from speaking with them directly.
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This page is general educational information only. It is not financial, legal, tax, credit or debt advice. Rules and regulations can change. Always verify current information with official sources before taking any action.