North Carolina Mortgage Broker License

NCCOBNMLSChecked August 26, 2026

Surety bond: $75,000
Net worth: $25,000
Initial filing: $1,250
Renewal deadline: 31 December

Soliciting, processing, placing or negotiating North Carolina residential mortgage loans for others.

A company that brokers North Carolina loans and does not lend. If you also lend, take the lender licence: it covers brokering already.

Also searched as NC Mortgage Brokerage License, North Carolina Broker License. North Carolina issues the Mortgage Broker License.

Requirements

Check the lender licence first
The lender licence authorises brokering outright. This licence is for companies that broker and nothing else; holding both is paying twice for one authority. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.040
Application and $1,250 fee
The same filing fee as a lender or servicer, plus the actual cost of credit reports, criminal history checks and NMLS processing. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.090
Qualifying individual
Three years of residential mortgage lending or servicing experience, primarily responsible for operations, and separately at least one principal officer, manager or general partner with three years in residential mortgage lending. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.030
Surety bond, scaled to volume
$75,000 with the application, $125,000 above $10 million of North Carolina volume, $250,000 at $50 million. Every tier is half the lender figure. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103
Net worth, certified not audited
$25,000 including evidence of $10,000 of liquidity, on a certified statement of financial condition. Lenders and servicers need an unqualified audited statement; a broker does not. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.104
A US principal office that is not a home
The principal office must be in the United States, and the principal place of business may not be an individual’s home or residence. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105

Not required in North Carolina

A broker needs audited financials.
It needs a certified statement of financial condition. The audited, unqualified statement is required of lenders and servicers only, which is the substantive difference between the two filings.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.104
The broker bond is the same as the lender bond.
It is half of it at every tier: $75,000 against $150,000, $125,000 against $250,000, $250,000 against $500,000.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103
Missing the renewal date just costs a late fee.
Only until 1 March. After that the Commissioner requires compliance with the requirements for an initial licence, so the reinstatement window is nine weeks long.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101

Other costs

Item	Amount	Notes
Annual assessment, base	$2,000	For volume up to $1.5 million, plus $0.01 to $0.07 per thousand above it. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100A
Late renewal	$250	After 31 December, and only up to 1 March. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101

Renewal

Deadline: Expires 31 December. Renewal opens 1 November. The renewal section sets no flat company fee at all: it names one for originators and processing registrants only, because companies are funded through the annual assessment instead. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101
Missing it: A company that misses 31 December pays a $250 late fee. Reinstatement closes on 1 March, after which the Commissioner requires you to meet the requirements for an initial licence: a new application, not a late renewal. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101

After approval

What obliges you to file something, and how long you have.

If this changes	You owe	Deadline	Approval first
Acquisition of control	A written application for the Commissioner’s prior written consent, before the acquisition closes. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100	Before it happens	Yes
Bond threshold crossed	File the higher bond for the tier your volume reached. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103	31 May	No
Anything filed becomes inaccurate	A correcting amendment, covering filings with the Commissioner, another agency or NMLS. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105	30 days	No
Principal or branch office address	Report the change to the Commissioner. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105	15 days after the change	No
An originator leaves	Written notice from both sides, with the company stating the specific reason for the termination. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100	30 days	No

"Not stated" means the source sets the obligation without a day count, not that the filing can wait.

Holding it

Record retention: Three years, with the storage location reported to the Commissioner. Following 16 C.F.R. Part 314 satisfies the section, and the security plan is kept in the books and records. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105

Sources

N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.040 The five licence types, and what each one authorises.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.050 The application, the qualifying individual and the US office.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.090 The $1,250 filing fee and how branches are registered.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100 Prior written consent for any acquisition of control.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100A The annual assessment: a $2,000 base plus a volume rate.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101 The 31 December expiry, the $250 late fee and 1 March.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103 The bond tiers, the 31 May filing date and the waiver.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.104 Minimum net worth and liquidity, per licence type.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105 Retention, the 15-day address rule and the home-office ban.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.030 Defines control at 10 percent and the qualifying individual.
North Carolina Commissioner of Banks The agency that issues and supervises all three licences.

Read from the sources above on August 26, 2026. Requirements change without notice, so confirm anything you are about to rely on with North Carolina Commissioner of Banks. Corrections to licensing@payna.com.

Where Payna comes in

The cheap licence stops being cheap when someone buys in: the Commissioner’s prior written consent is required before control changes hands, at a presumed 10 percent, and must be refused if a ground for denial touches the buyer. Payna keeps that on the deal checklist rather than in the post-closing amendments.

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Other licences in North Carolina

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