8 Hours of 2025 California DFPI MLO Continuing Education

​​​​​​​There are three important pieces of California legislation that those who are licensed with the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) must be familiar with. The DFPI requires licensees who are renewing their licenses to review the California Financing Law (CFL), the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act (CRMLA), and the California Homeowner Bill of Rights (HBOR).

This NMLS course will cover each of the three legislations, starting with the California Financing Law. This module of the course will review the licensing requirements for a finance lender, the expected conduct of those who hold these licenses, the limitations on interest rates, and the investigative powers of the Commissioner of the DFPI.

The second module will review the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act. This module will outline the conduct required to maintain a license, the surety bonding and net worth requirements, prohibited fees and owner actions, and how the Commissioner can cite licensees who don't follow the law.

The third module will highlight the California Homeowner Bill of Rights, a law passed in 2013 to give some protection to homeowners who are facing foreclosure of their residential property. This law outlines seven provisions covering dual tracking, robo-signing, single points of contact, and more.

Topics and Learning Objectives

This California NMLS course is broken down into several learning topics. At the end of the course a 15-question final exam will be given. The topics included in this course are:

1. California Financing Law
2. California Residential Mortgage Lending Act
3. California Homeowner Bill of Rights
4. Final Exam

Total Study Time: 1 Credit Hour (50 minutes)

This course will prepare California DFPI-licensed MLOs to:

• Define who is a finance lender, and the information that finance lenders are required to disclose to their borrowers.
• Understand how the Commissioner of the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) investigates finance lenders, and the penalties that can come from discovered violations.
• Outline the conduct expectations of those who are licensed to originate or offer residential mortgage loans.
• Generalize the bonding and net worth requirements for licensees.
• Recognize the many prohibited acts relating to licensee conduct.
• Identify the investigative proceedings and potential penalties that can arise from violations of the California Residential Mortgage Licensing Act.
• Describe the important points of the California Homeowner Bill of Rights relating to dual tracking, single points of contact, and rental tenant rights.
• Understand how homeowners and the California Attorney General's office can enforce the HBOR.

NMLS ID Required

You must have an NMLS ID to receive credit for this course. You will need this number before you begin the course.

If you already have an NMLS ID but don't remember what it is:

• Login into NMLS
• Click on the Composite View tab.
• Click View Individual on the sub-header row.
• The number that appears in parentheses after your name is your NMLS ID number.

If you do not have an NMLS ID and need to obtain one, use the instructions available in the NMLS Resource Center

This course will instruct mortgage loan originators on a number of regulations that they will have to comply with while taking part in their mortgage loan origination activities. Rules, such as those implemented by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, are set in place to protect the interest and well-being of consumers who apply for mortgages to purchase or refinance their properties. To ensure that their business practices satisfy the regulations adopted by federal laws, mortgage loan originators need to keep current on the guidelines published by supervising entities.

Topics and Learning Objectives

This course consists of three sections and a final exam:

1. Top 10 Federal Topics for 2025

2. Prohibited Kickbacks Under RESPA Section 8

3. Non-traditional Mortgage Products

4. Final exam

Total study time: 7 credit hours (5 hours, 30 minutes)

Module 1: Top 10 Federal Topics for 2025

Study Time: 3 clock hours (150 minutes of federal law)

Licensed and registered mortgage lenders, brokers, and mortgage loan originators are required to maintain a consistent and current understanding of all regulatory requirements with which they are obligated to comply. This especially applies to individual mortgage loan originators who, in addition to their sponsoring company, will be held accountable for failures discovered through regulatory examinations and investigations involving residential mortgage loans that they originate.

The topics outlined in this module are mandated by the NMLS and state regulators, covering the more egregious regulatory compliance failures recently discovered through various regulatory examinations, investigations, and audits.

Module 2: Prohibited Kickbacks Under RESPA Section 8

Study Time: 2 clock hours (100 minutes of ethics, fraud, and consumer protection)

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was signed into law in 1974 and became effective in June 1975. One function of RESPA was to eliminate kickbacks and unearned fees initiated by those involved in loan settlement services. Before the passage of RESPA, parties associated with the buying and selling of real estate, including lenders, real estate agents, and title companies, often engaged in undisclosed kickbacks to each other, which inflated the costs of real estate transactions and often did not properly disclose all closing costs to consumers.

While RESPA contains various consumer protection regulations, in this ethics section we're going to concentrate on the regulation's prohibitions on kickbacks and referral fees.

Module 3: Non-traditional Mortgage Products

Study Time: 2 clock hours (100 minutes of non-traditional mortgage)

Besides traditional conventional loan products, there are other options available when it comes to rehabilitating a home for purchase or refinance that might be better for the needs of a borrower.

In this module, let's explore some unique mortgage products available to borrowers that may better fit their needs compared to a conventional mortgage loan These other options include the FHA 203(k) property rehabilitation loan, four types of energy efficient mortgage products, and the Fannie Mae HomeReady® rehab loan product.

NMLS ID Required

You must have an NMLS ID to receive credit for this course. You will need this number before you begin the course.

If you already have an NMLS ID but don't remember what it is:

• Login into NMLS
• Click on the Composite View tab.
• Click View Individual on the sub-header row.
• The number that appears in parentheses after your name is your NMLS ID number.

If you do not have an NMLS ID and need to obtain one, use the instructions available in the NMLS Resource Center