New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently began implementing a new streamlined licensing process for mortgage banking to make operations more efficient in the state.
The new measures include allowing the online submission of application materials, conforming to certain national standards, reducing outdated regulatory barriers and more.
The changes are meant to improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary wait times, the agency says in a news release.
“Governor Cuomo proposed creating our department to take a fresh look at financial regulation in our state,” says Benjamin M. Lawsky, superintendent of Financial Services, in the same release. “We undertook a top-to-bottom review and found a number of areas where we could dramatically improve the speed and efficiency of our mortgage licensing process – without sacrificing vital consumer protections.”
And already the new measures have yielded positive results, DFS reports.
“In just the first four months following this reorganization, the DFS mortgage licensing team worked through a significant backlog and reduced the number of pending banker and servicer applications by more than 25 percent,” DFS says in a news release. “Over the same period, the unit’s rate of application processing more than doubled.”
The agency also adopted the Uniform State Test, which will become effective Sept. 2.
The new regulations also include a dedicated mailbox to answer questions and the launch of a new comprehensive online resource center.
Written by Cassandra Dowell
