Georgia Mortgage Broker/Processor License

Requirements

1. Registered agent and registered office

   A Georgia registered agent with a physical address, and a registered office where that agent can be served; no operating office is required in the state. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1003(b)(4)

2. Surety bond

   $150,000, filed as an electronic surety bond through NMLS and maintained continuously as a condition of licensure, $100,000 below the lender bond. Sponsored originators are covered by it rather than posting their own. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1003.2

3. Net worth

   $50,000 held continuously, with no liquidity requirement, computed after related-party receivables, goodwill, intangibles and pledged assets are backed out, and measured at the licensee level only. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1022(c)

4. Experience or education

   Evidence of experience or education, which Georgia asks of brokers and originators but not lenders: the one place the cheaper licence carries the heavier requirement. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1003(b)(8)

5. Certified financial statements

   A broker files unaudited GAAP statements certified by the licensee, or may elect audited ones. The split is by licence type, not any dollar threshold. Due through NMLS within 90 days of fiscal year end, covering three years. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1010

6. Board and governance framework

   A board, or a similar body, keeps a written governance framework proportionate to your size and risk and ensures accurate regulatory reporting. An annual risk management assessment must reach it as a formal report. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1023

7. Control persons at 10 percent

   Each files an MU2 with a credit report, an FBI check, a Georgia background check and a Verification of Lawful Presence affidavit, on the lender’s threshold. A felony inside seven years bars; a disqualifying crime bars for life unless set aside or pardoned. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1004(i)

8. Processor scope

   A loan processor is a mortgage broker under the rules, which is why the licence is titled Broker/Processor. An independent contractor processor, or the owner of a processing company, needs it; a W-2 employee of a licensee does not. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 80-11-4-.07

9. A complete application

   A deficient application draws a notice with a 30-day cure window, validly served by email to the application address or by an NMLS posting alone. Fees are non-refundable. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1003(d)

Renewal

Deadline

Licences expire 31 December. The statute requires the renewal application by 1 December; filing properly by then preserves the right to operate past 1 January. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1005(a)

Missing it

Late renewals run from 2 to 31 December for the fine shown under Other costs, but without the operate-pending-approval protection. After 31 December there is no renewal route: an expired licensee must file a new licence request, with a fresh investigation fee. Georgia DBF, How Do I Renew My Mortgage License

Annual reporting

Financial statements are due through NMLS within 90 days of fiscal year end, and whether they must be audited turns on licence type rather than any dollar threshold: a broker files unaudited GAAP statements certified by the licensee and may elect audited ones, a lender needs an independent CPA opinion that includes an evaluation of internal controls, a subsidiary lender may file its parent’s consolidated audited statements plus its own unaudited ones, and a covered servicer adds an internal control assessment, a net worth computation, validation of servicing rights valuation, verification of fidelity and errors and omissions cover, and testing of risk management controls. The board must separately receive a formal annual risk management assessment. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 80-11-2-.05

Holding it

Record retention

Five years from three different start dates: flat five years for some categories, five years from final disposition of the application for loan files (closing, denial or cancellation), and five years from when a person stopped working for you for employee records. Records sit at the principal place of business unless you first notify the Department through NMLS, and anything held elsewhere must be produced within five business days of a written request. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 80-11-2-.01(4)

Examinations

At least once every 60 months; the Department may examine more often without prior notice, accept another regulator’s report, or waive it on your filings and history. The fee is under Other costs. Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 80-5-1-.03(1)

Surrender

A voluntary surrender needs the Department’s consent and, by statute, counts as a revocation. Surrender the Georgia branch approvals too and clear every outstanding invoice first; the request is free, and surrender does not impair obligations under existing contracts. O.C.G.A. § 7-1-1017(c)

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