North Carolina Mortgage Lender License

NCCOBNMLSChecked August 26, 2026

Surety bond: $150,000
Net worth: $100,000
Initial filing: $1,250
Renewal deadline: 31 December

Making North Carolina residential mortgage loans, brokering them, and on notice to the Commissioner, servicing them.

Any company making residential mortgage loans on a North Carolina dwelling. It is the licence to file for if you do more than one thing: it covers brokering and processing outright.

Also searched as North Carolina Mortgage Banker License, NC SAFE Act Lender License. North Carolina issues the Mortgage Lender License.

Requirements

One licence, not three
The lender licence authorises lending, brokering and acting as a processing registrant, and reaches servicing on notice to the Commissioner. Filing for a broker licence alongside it buys nothing. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.040
Application and $1,250 fee
Through NMLS, plus the actual cost of credit reports, state and national criminal history checks and NMLS processing. The same $1,250 applies to brokers and servicers. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.090
Qualifying individual
One person with at least three years of residential mortgage lending or servicing experience, primarily responsible for operations, who must also complete the prelicensing education and pass the test. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.030
A second experienced person
Separately from the qualifying individual, at least one principal officer, manager or general partner needs three years of experience in residential mortgage lending, or must meet competency requirements the Commissioner sets. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.050
Surety bond, scaled to volume
$150,000 with the application, $250,000 above $10 million of North Carolina origination and servicing volume, $500,000 at $50 million, measured over a 12-month period. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103
Net worth and liquidity
$100,000 net worth plus evidence of $1,000,000 of liquidity, which a warehouse line of credit can satisfy, documented by an unqualified audited statement of financial condition. 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. Neither has to be in North Carolina. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105

Not required in North Carolina

North Carolina charges an annual renewal fee.
Not for a company. The renewal section sets fees for originators and processing registrants only. Companies pay an annual assessment instead: $2,000 at the base, plus $0.01 to $0.07 per thousand of volume.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100A
The bond is a fixed number you post once.
It ratchets with volume, and the increase has its own deadline: any higher bond must be filed on or before 31 May following the 12-month period that triggered it.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103
The bond cannot be avoided.
It can be waived on annual written request: three years licensed, net worth of at least four times the bond on your latest audited statement, and a clean complaint record. The Commissioner can reimpose it summarily, with 30 days to post.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103
A guide written last year still describes this state.
Session Law 2025-43 rewrote Article 19B effective 1 October 2025, changing the fee, bond, net worth, application and renewal sections and adding prudential standards for large servicers.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.040

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. Loan and servicing volume are added together, so servicing under the lender licence raises the same bill. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100A
Late renewal	$250	After 31 December. Reinstatement closes on 1 March. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.101
Branch registration	No flat fee	You pay the actual cost of the branch manager’s credit report, criminal history checks and NMLS processing. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.090

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 consent, before the acquisition. Consent must be refused if a ground for denial applies to the acquirer. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100	Before it happens	Yes
Bond threshold crossed	File the higher bond. The measuring period ends 31 December, so the trigger and the deadline are five months apart. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.103	31 May	No
Anything filed becomes inaccurate	A correcting amendment. The duty reaches anything filed with the Commissioner, another government agency or NMLS, not just the application. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105	30 days	No
Principal or branch office address	Report the change to the Commissioner. This is the tightest routine deadline in the Article. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.105	15 days after the change	No
An originator leaves	Both the company and the originator notify the Commissioner in writing, and the company must state the specific reason for the termination. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.100	30 days	No
Starting to service loans	Notice to the Commissioner, not a second application. A servicer licence would authorise servicing only. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.040	Not stated	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, and you must tell the Commissioner where the records are stored. Following the FTC Safeguards Rule at 16 C.F.R. Part 314 satisfies this section, and the information security plan is itself kept as part of 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. § 53-244.060 Grounds for refusing a licence, including financial ones.
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.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 53-244.108 Reports of condition to the Commissioner and to NMLS.
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

North Carolina puts five months between the trigger and the deadline: volume is measured to 31 December, and the larger bond is due 31 May. Payna carries that step-up as a dated obligation from January, rather than leaving it to whoever remembers in the spring.

Explore

Other licences in North Carolina

Mortgage Lender License elsewhere

Compare

Filing in North Carolina?

We will check these requirements against what you already hold, and show what the filing looks like on Payna.

Request a Demo

BOOK A DEMO

See how Payna runs licensing.

Tell us a little about the company and we’ll walk through how Payna handles licensing and compliance in every US state.