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Special Reports
Recruiting & Training
New Laws Spur Increase in Demand for Training
By Jennifer Harmon
TIMONIUM, MD -- Recent attitude changes from state legislators have triggered
an increase in demand for training, education and in-house loan officer licensing compliance monitoring.
"Demand for our services is growing faster than we expected," said Christopher
Nickerson, chief executive of continuing education provider TrainingPro.
He believes the trend is seen both in the local markets where small schools are
setting up shop, and in the higher demand for TrainingPro services from lenders who do not want to get fined as
states get tougher in enforcing regulations.
The company is constantly updating its system with new compliance information
and changing laws. For instance, the executive said, it is in the process of adding a new feature about licensing
information for loan officers.
"Many users would first get interested in education services and then add
a licensing component, and we think that is where the trend is going," Mr. Nickerson said. "And our software
will be able to support that."
Demand from lenders has become more and more specific. And it appears to be twofold.
Predatory lending has become an industrywide concern since if lenders are worried about their reputations, state
legislators are worried on passing and enforcing related legislation to protect customers.
"I think we're getting most of the momentum from the states, which are requiring
licensing, which as a rule was not required by the states before," he said. A good example is what the market
is right now as opposed to just a year ago, and more specifically in Texas. Last year, loan officers were able
to send in a licensure application that was not necessarily complete, the executive said. They could send an application
with a check and not have their education completed and it allowed giving them a chance to buy some time.
Nowadays, Texas frowns on loan officers that send out applications when they have
not completed their education. The state will redeem it as an incomplete application, consider it a fraud and will
charge the sender a fine, he said.
"It's at the stage when the states are finally taking a stand and saying,
'Make sure you complete your education, it's not that difficult,' but people are taking advantage of it,"
he explained. "The state is enforcing regulations. It is a huge issue because a lot of the states were not
enforcing it, so many had been taking it for granted. But a lot of the states are changing."
As to why that trend is growing at this point in time, he believes it mostly is
because the mortgage industry is in the spotlight right now.
"They need to have answers about fraud," he said. "Since we keep
copies of everything, many states request copies of exams or other documentation. I think states are going after
troubled areas in their jurisdiction."
To best serve its clients, the company recently enhanced its tracking and reporting
program, which users can combine with TrainingPro's cross-certification program and the educational products' suite.
According to Mr. Nickerson, the enhanced tracking and reporting tool allows more
users to monitor the qualification progress of each of their individual loan officers. The enhancement was based
on feedback from various corporate clients and changes in state laws. The program allows users to print certificates
from a desktop, run reports on who has completed the educational training, and also activates a triggering system
that alerts loan officers and lenders about license expirations 90 days before deadline. Corporate administrators
can log into the computer to get informed how many employees are in that expiration window now.
"We work with some of the country's largest lenders who have call centers
with up to 1,000 or 2,000 people," he said.
These employees are more affected by new educational and licensing requirements
now than they were say six years ago, he noted, because back licensing was still new, compared to nowadays when
"it seems like every week, every month, something is changing," so lenders are paying more attention
to the education and licensing of their loan officers.
Education also helps avoid abusive or so-called predatory lending practices against
customers. He finds state legislators are pressured by customer groups to better enforce existing licensing and
educational requirements and add new requirements if necessary.
"It's a niche business that is still evolving and the key to growing in an
emerging market is you keep innovating yourself," Mr. Nickerson said.
Innovation at TrainingPro also consists of constantly updating the new technology
the company started developing in the past two years.
"Even a year ago our technology was not as sophisticated as it is today.
Two years ago we put a lot of our resources into tech. It was a business decision that definitely paid off. Now
in addition to regular classes, we do a lot of our training online. We decided it is important to us. These days
unless you invest in technology you might as well get out of business."
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