The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry (NMLS) has released information on licensed entities as of the first quarter of 2011(March 31) and a limited update on licensees at the end of the second quarter (June 30.)  The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) is the legal system of record for licensing in all participating states, the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories.  This appears to be the first set of quarterly reports issued by the system which is in its fourth year of operation.

At the end of the first quarter there were 14,980 companies licensed by the system holding 28,415 licenses and 15,957 licensed branches with 24,021 branches.  A total of 182,880 licenses were held by 100,008 individuals or mortgage loan officers (MLOs).  By the end of the second quarter these numbers had all increased with 16,153 companies holding 30,945 licenses, 17,387 branches holding 267,211 licenses, and 106,881 individuals with 201,469 licenses.  Multiple licenses are held where states require separate licenses for DBAs or for different authorities such as lender and broker.

The most prevalent business activities reported (Q1) by licensees were first mortgage (89 percent) and second mortgage (74 percent) loan brokering followed by home equity loans (47 percent), VA loans (35 percent) and FHA loan correspondent (30 percent although the figures do not reflect recent FHA changes in this category).  Significant numbers of licensees reported they were engaged in reverse mortgage loans (23 percent) first mortgage lending (22 percent) and non-mortgage related businesses (22 percent.)

Very few mortgage companies or individual loan originators operate across state lines.  12,503 of the companies or 83 percent are licensed in only one jurisdiction and 79,751 as are 80 percent of individuals.  Ten thousand individuals and 1,160 companies hold licenses in two jurisdictions and a smattering are licensed in multiple states but only 175 companies and 850 individuals can be considered to have nationwide businesses by holding licenses in more than 20 jurisdictions.

 
The vast majority of mortgage companies are single office operations and most are one-person shops.  Eight-seven percent of mortgage companies report only one location and only 59 have 50 or more branches.  The average number of branches per company is 1.06.  A total of 8,802 companies report none or one licensed loan originator (there may be a company license but no originators required to have an individual license.).  Eighty-three percent of companies have 1 to 5 originators with an average of 5.4 MLOs per company.

The majority of mortgage companies (62 percent) are corporations following by limited liability corporations (19 percent) and sole proprietors (16 percent).

During the first quarter of 2011 1,767 companies, 3,026 branches, and 22,341' individuals applied for new licenses and 2,936 companies, 3,557 branches, and 28,507 individuals were  approved.  Licenses were denied to 21 companies, 14 branches, and 270 individuals.  At the end of the quarter applications were pending for 5,280 companies, 3,896 branches, and 36,569 MLOs.  A total of 60 licenses were revoked, almost all in California and Georgia.

During the second quarter new applications were received from 1,626 companies; 4,129 branches, and 16,673 MLOs and approved for 2,373; 3,103; and 20,062 respectively.  A total of 416 individual applications were denied along with 2 for companies and 4 for branches.  The backlog of pending applications dropped to 3,818 companies, 3,587 branches, and 27,609 individuals.  Overall, 47 licenses were revoked by various jurisdictions during the second quarter.

See the full report here.