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Updates
Every new Library page, every Register round, and every correction to already-published content, in one dated feed — also available as RSS and JSON.
What credit score do you need for a mortgage? — October 16, 2026
FHA's 500 and 580 credit score thresholds, Fannie Mae's 620 and 640 minimums for manually underwritten loans, and why a higher score can lower your rate.
Retail vs wholesale mortgage lenders: how to compare — October 16, 2026
How Regulation Z defines a mortgage broker, how that differs from a creditor's employee, and how to compare Loan Estimates.
How to compare mortgage lenders using NMLS IDs — October 16, 2026
How to read a lender's legal name and NMLS ID from its own disclosures, check it on NMLS Consumer Access, and compare Loan Estimates.
How do mortgage comparison sites get paid? — October 16, 2026
What RESPA Section 8 and the CFPB's 2023 advisory opinion say about lender payments to mortgage comparison sites, and how to read the results.
How do I file a complaint against a mortgage lender? — October 15, 2026
Contact the lender first. If that doesn't fix it, submit a complaint online to the CFPB, which accepts mortgage complaints and forwards them to the company.
New: FHA MIP vs conventional PMI — October 15, 2026
Mortgage insurance protects the lender, not you. How conventional PMI and FHA MIP differ, and why the 80%/78% PMI end rules don't apply to FHA MIP.
New: Debt-to-income ratio on a mortgage — October 15, 2026
Your debt-to-income ratio (DTI) is your monthly debt payments divided by gross monthly income. Different loan products and lenders set different limits.
New: How is a mortgage payment calculated? — October 15, 2026
Your Loan Estimate shows a monthly principal-and-interest (P&I) payment. The standard amortizing P&I formula, with a worked example. Not a rate quote.
Correction: our BC Mortgage Services Act page described the transition inaccurately — October 9, 2026
The page attributed a Designated Individual statement to BCFSA that we have not confirmed and treated the September 22, 2026 education date as upcoming. The page now describes the two Acts from their own text and the orders in council, with a dated note. Sources: Mortgage Services Act, Order in Council 350/2025, Mortgage Brokers Act.
Correction: our New Brunswick licensing page understated the fixed financial requirements — October 9, 2026
The page said the one fixed figure in New Brunswick's framework was $25,000 in working capital for mortgage administrators. Rule MB-001 also applies that minimum to a brokerage holding a trust-money endorsement and sets errors and omissions insurance minimums of $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 per 365 days for brokerages and administrators. The page now says so, with a dated note. Sources: Rule MB-001 sections 7 and 8; Mortgage Brokers Act section 12.
Updated: how New Brunswick licenses mortgage brokers — October 9, 2026
Re-checked against the Mortgage Brokers Act, Rule MB-001 and the Commission's pages: eligibility by category, licence and endorsement fees, the $25,000 working-capital and $500,000/$1,000,000 insurance minimums, and the 2026 continuing education course and its March 31 deadline.
Updated: BC's move from the Mortgage Brokers Act to the Mortgage Services Act — October 9, 2026
Rewritten from the statutes and the July 14, 2025 orders in council: the Mortgage Services Act and the Mortgage Brokers Act compared, the licence levels in force from October 13, 2026 (the mortgage lender level is excluded), how principal brokers, mortgage brokers and brokerages are linked, and the Rules' E&O minimums of $500,000 per occurrence and $1,000,000 per 365 days. The page no longer treats the September 22, 2026 education date as upcoming, and a dated note records two statements removed.
Updated: Ontario mortgage agent and broker continuing education — October 9, 2026
Re-checked against Ontario Regulation 409/07 and FSRA's 2026 renewal guidance: the annual licensing cycle, the two CE components (Conduct CE 5 hours for agents and 7 hours for brokers, 10 hours of Professional CE), reporting and record-keeping. Our Ontario licensing page no longer says how a renewal application is initiated; a dated note is left on it.
Correction: our Ontario continuing education page said Ontario mortgage licences renew every two years — October 9, 2026
The Ontario continuing education page, its Library card, and one sentence each on our Alberta and Quebec pages described Ontario mortgage agent and broker licensing as a two-year renewal cycle. Ontario Regulation 409/07 defines the annual licensing cycle as the one-year period from April 1 to March 31 and provides that a mortgage broker's or agent's licence expires at the end of the licensing cycle (sections 1 and 8.1(2)), so licences renew annually. The pages have been corrected, with dated notes left on each. Sources: O. Reg. 409/07 and section 16 of the Mortgage Brokerages, Lenders and Administrators Act, 2006.
Correction: our FINTRAC, Alberta and TRID tolerance pages contained statements that did not match their sources — October 8, 2026
FINTRAC page: the October 1, 2025 beneficial-ownership change applies to entities assessed as high risk that are incorporated under the Canada Business Corporations Act; a November 2025 date that FINTRAC's guidance does not state and a 'source of funds' description were removed. Alberta page: a 2025 renewal window, course length and pass mark that RECA's pages do not state were removed. TRID tolerance page: zero-tolerance fees can be revised for listed reasons, and prepaid interest, insurance premiums and escrow deposits are judged against the best information reasonably available rather than having no limit at all. Dated notes are on each page. Sources: FINTRAC mortgage-sector guidance, RECA, 12 CFR 1026.19.
Updated: Alberta's RECA mortgage licensing tiers — October 8, 2026
Re-checked against RECA's current pages: who needs a licence, the path to broker, the September 30 renewal deadline, reinstatement windows and what RECA says about required re-licensing education.
Updated: TRID tolerance categories and cure — October 8, 2026
Now sets out all three tolerance categories with section cites, the six reasons a revised estimate is allowed, the 60-day refund rule, and a worked example.
Updated: FINTRAC's AML obligations for Canadian mortgage brokers — October 8, 2026
Rewritten against FINTRAC's current mortgage-sector guidance, with an obligations table, the October 1, 2025 beneficial-ownership change stated accurately, and suspicious-transaction timing.
Updated: AML programs and Suspicious Activity Reports — October 8, 2026
Rewritten against 31 CFR Part 1029 and 1010.100(lll): who is covered, the four elements of the written AML program, all four SAR triggers, the 30/60-day deadlines, record retention and confidentiality.
New: HELOC rules: freezes, limits and fee refunds — October 7, 2026
What Regulation Z section 1026.40 says about HELOC application disclosures, nonrefundable fees, and when a lender may freeze or reduce a line.
New: Your Home Loan Toolkit booklet — October 7, 2026
When a lender or broker must give you the special information booklet, Your Home Loan Toolkit, under Regulation X 1024.6 and Regulation Z 1026.19(g).
New: After a HECM becomes due and payable — October 7, 2026
What HUD’s rule says after a HECM is due and payable: notices, a 30-day window, sale for up to 95 percent of appraised value (HUD sets it), reinstatement.
New: Your monthly mortgage statement — October 7, 2026
What Regulation Z section 1026.41 requires on a monthly mortgage statement, when it is due, and which servicers and loans are exempt.
New: Notice when your mortgage is sold — October 7, 2026
What Regulation Z section 1026.39 requires when a new owner acquires your mortgage loan: the 30-day deadline and what the notice must say.
New: Appraisal independence (valuation independence) — October 7, 2026
What Regulation Z section 1026.42 says lenders and others may not do to influence a home appraisal, and what they may do.
New: Mortgage terms Regulation Z prohibits — October 7, 2026
What Regulation Z says about mandatory arbitration, waivers of court claims, financed credit insurance and negative amortization counseling.
New: HECM fees and mortgage insurance: what HUD’s regulations cap — October 6, 2026
The limits in HUD’s regulations on HECM fees and insurance premiums: the $6,000 origination cap, the 3 percent initial premium ceiling and the monthly premium ceiling.
New: What a reverse mortgage (HECM) is — October 6, 2026
How the CFPB and HUD’s regulation describe a HECM: eligibility, repayment triggers, the right to cancel and no personal liability for the balance.
New: Servicemember mortgage protections under the SCRA — October 6, 2026
What the SCRA says about foreclosure and a 6 percent interest limit on a pre-service mortgage, and why the MLA does not cover residential mortgages.
New: VA home loan eligibility and the Certificate of Eligibility — October 6, 2026
What the VA says about who can get a Certificate of Eligibility: minimum service by period, National Guard and Reserve rules, discharge exceptions and reuse.
New: Mortgage late fees and payment crediting — October 6, 2026
What the CFPB says about late fees and mailed payments, and what Regulation Z requires on crediting, partial payments and unpaid late fees.
New: Mortgage prepayment penalties and payoff statements — October 6, 2026
When Regulation Z allows a prepayment penalty, the 2 percent and 1 percent caps, where to find it in your papers, and the seven-business-day payoff statement.
New: Your right to a copy of your home appraisal — October 6, 2026
What Regulation B says a lender must give you after an appraisal: the copy, the timing, the notice and what you can be charged.
New: The mortgage interest deduction — October 3, 2026
What IRS Publication 936 says about the conditions and debt limits. Not tax advice.
New: Reverse mortgages and a non-borrowing spouse — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB and HUD’s regulation say about a spouse who is not a borrower and about other people living in the home.
New: Homeowners insurance and your mortgage — October 3, 2026
Why lenders generally require it, what the CFPB says about flood coverage, lender-bought insurance and hard-to-insure homes.
New: The VA funding fee, explained — October 3, 2026
What the VA says the fee is, who does not pay it, how it can be paid, and the VA’s rate charts as published. No comparisons.
New: Interest-only, balloon and negative-amortization features — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB says each feature is and how Regulation Z treats them in qualified mortgages and repayment checks.
New: How mortgage underwriting works — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB says happens after you apply, the checks Regulation Z requires, and the records a lender may use to verify income.
New: Fixed vs. adjustable-rate mortgages — October 3, 2026
A neutral explainer of how each rate type works, index, margin and caps, and the notice before a rate change. No rates, no recommendation.
New: Conventional, FHA, VA and USDA loans — October 3, 2026
A neutral explainer of how the CFPB describes each program: who runs it, what the government does, and the eligibility rules named. No ranking, no rates.
New: Canada, borrowing against home equity — October 3, 2026
How the FCAC describes home equity, the fees and risk, and four equity products set out evenly. No lender is named.
New: Canada, mortgage renewal — October 3, 2026
The 21-day renewal statement, the options the FCAC describes at renewal, and the costs of switching lenders. No rates.
New: Canada, mortgage relief options — October 3, 2026
The relief options the FCAC lists for a Canadian borrower who is struggling to pay, with the costs it names. No lender is named.
New: Foreclosure rescue scams checklist — October 3, 2026
The warning signs the CFPB and FTC list, the MARS Rule rights they describe, and where to get free help.
New: Why did my mortgage payment change? — October 3, 2026
The common reasons the CFPB lists for a payment change, the adjustable-rate notice timing, and what to do about a suspected servicer error.
New: Who owns and services my mortgage? — October 3, 2026
The CFPB’s steps for finding the owner of your loan: call, look-up tools, or a written request to your servicer.
New: Points and fees limits on qualified mortgages — October 3, 2026
The cap tiers in Regulation Z, the 2026 dollar amounts, and what the regulation counts as points and fees.
New: The ability-to-repay rule and qualified mortgages — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB and Regulation Z say lenders must consider before making a loan, what a qualified mortgage is, and where the rule does not apply.
New: how a mortgage refinance works — October 3, 2026
What a refinance is on the Loan Estimate, how the CFPB describes points, lender credits and no-closing-cost loans, the three-business-day right to cancel, and the CFPB’s guidance on comparing costs over different timeframes. It gives no direction on whether to refinance.
New: Canada, mortgage broker vs. lender (bank) — October 3, 2026
How the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada describes a mortgage lender and a mortgage broker: who lends, how brokers are paid, what regulates each, and questions the FCAC lists. It names no broker or lender.
New: Canada, fixed vs. variable, term and amortization — October 3, 2026
What the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada says a mortgage term and amortization period are, how fixed, variable and hybrid interest rates are structured, and the amortization limits when the down payment is under 20%. No rates.
New: HECM, HELOC and home equity loans — October 3, 2026
One neutral explainer of three ways to borrow against home equity: how a HECM reverse mortgage, a HELOC and a home equity loan are structured and repaid, per CFPB and HUD pages and 24 CFR 206.41.
New: judicial vs. nonjudicial foreclosure — October 3, 2026
The two foreclosure procedures the CFPB describes, how the federal servicing rule treats the first notice or filing in each, and who to ask about your state. It does not list states.
New: conforming vs. jumbo loan limits — October 3, 2026
What “conforming” and “jumbo” mean, how FHFA sets the baseline and high-cost-area limits each year, the 2026 figures FHFA published, and where to look up a county.
New: interest rate vs. APR, explained — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB says the mortgage interest rate and the APR each include, where they appear on the Loan Estimate, and its cautions about comparing APRs.
New: prequalification vs. preapproval — October 3, 2026
What the CFPB says about the two letters: what they share, how lenders use the words differently, and the adverse action notice rule.
New: title insurance, explained — October 2, 2026
What lender's and owner's title insurance protect, per the CFPB, and the RESPA limit on a seller requiring a particular provider.
New: mortgage loss mitigation options, explained — October 2, 2026
What the CFPB's pages say about options a servicer might offer, who to contact, and foreclosure-help scam warning signs.
New: questions to ask your loan officer — October 2, 2026
A checklist of questions about licensing, pay and Loan Estimate items, taken from CFPB consumer pages.
Updated: how to verify your loan officer’s NMLS license now covers disciplinary history — October 2, 2026
Added a four-step method for checking disciplinary actions (NMLS Consumer Access plus the appropriate state regulator), a limits section, and references. The Step 2 sentence now says NMLS Consumer Access “may list some” disciplinary actions, matching the CFPB’s wording, instead of implying it lists all.
4 new Library pages: loan officer red flags, reverse mortgage marketing, housing counselors, and a Canada regulator matrix — October 2, 2026
A screening checklist that maps four pitch warning signs to federal rules, a checklist for comparing reverse mortgage marketing with the CFPB and 24 CFR 206.41, how to find a HUD-approved housing counselor, and a province-by-province guide to Canadian mortgage regulators. None names a lender, servicer, originator or brokerage.
4 new Library pages on mortgage servicing and insurance rules — October 1, 2026
When private mortgage insurance must end, force-placed flood insurance and its 45-day rule, how a written notice of error or information request works, and the federal timelines for loss mitigation and foreclosure referral. Each page cites the statute or regulation text, and three also cite the CFPB's own consumer pages. None names a lender, servicer or loan officer.
Correction: our standard, a Library card and a Canada page shortened the TRID timing rules — September 30, 2026
Our standard (summary box, legal-grounding paragraph and checklist point 5), the Library card for the TRID timeline page, and a sentence on our Canada Cost of Borrowing page described the US Loan Estimate as due "within 3 business days of a completed application" and the Closing Disclosure as due "at least 3 business days before" closing or signing. Under 12 CFR 1026.19(e)(1)(iii)(A) the lender must deliver the Loan Estimate or place it in the mail no later than the third business day after receiving the application; under 1026.19(f)(1)(ii)(A) the consumer must receive the Closing Disclosure no later than 3 business days before consummation; and under 1026.19(e)(1)(iv) and (f)(1)(iii) a copy not handed over in person is treated as received 3 business days after it is delivered or mailed. The wording now says this. Checklist point 5 tests the same thing as before (a documented pattern of late Loan Estimates or Closing Disclosures); its text now names the deliver-or-mail and received-by standards instead of the shorthand. Dated notes are on the standard and the Canada page. Sources: 12 CFR 1026.19 and 1026.2(a)(6).
Correction: our Uniform State Test guide said both that one exam satisfies every state and that Massachusetts adds its own test — September 30, 2026
The guide said the shared SAFE MLO Test satisfies "every state's testing requirement" while also saying a small number of states, Massachusetts among them, add a separate state-specific test component. The two statements contradicted each other, and the Massachusetts claim was unsupported. NMLS's testing FAQ says passing the SAFE MLO Test once "meets the state-specific test requirements for state agencies"; Massachusetts's rule (209 CMR 41.04(2)(f)) requires passing "a qualified written test developed by the NMLS" with no separate Massachusetts test, and NMLS's Massachusetts page lists state-specific education (3 hours of Massachusetts law), not a state test. The Massachusetts statement was removed, and the guide, its Library card and its changelog line now follow NMLS's wording. States can still add other requirements, such as state-specific education, so readers should confirm with their state regulator. A dated note has been left on the page. Sources: NMLS MLO Testing FAQ and NMLS Massachusetts state requirements page (mortgage.nationwidelicensingsystem.org), 209 CMR 41.04.
Correction: our broker vs. loan officer page said a broker can be paid by both lender and borrower on the same loan — September 30, 2026
The page said a mortgage broker is paid "by the lender, by you, or split between both" and that this is "disclosed on your Loan Estimate." Under 12 CFR 1026.36(d)(2)(i), if a loan originator is paid directly by the consumer, no one else may pay that originator in connection with the loan, so a split between both is not allowed; a brokerage paid by the consumer may still pay its own individual loan officers. What the consumer pays is itemized on the Loan Estimate (1026.37(f)(1)); compensation paid by the lender to a third-party broker appears on the Closing Disclosure along with the broker's name (1026.38(f)(1)). The page has been corrected, with a dated note left on the page itself. Sources: 12 CFR 1026.36, 1026.37 and 1026.38 and the CFPB's official interpretations.
Correction: our TRID disclosure timeline page misstated the Loan Estimate deadline and left out the 7-business-day rule — September 30, 2026
The page said the Loan Estimate has to "reach" you within 3 business days and called a later arrival a "compliance gap." Under 12 CFR 1026.19(e)(1)(iii)(A) the lender must deliver the Loan Estimate or place it in the mail by the third business day after receiving your application; a mailed or emailed copy is treated as received 3 business days after sending ((e)(1)(iv)). The page also omitted the rule that the Loan Estimate must be delivered or mailed no later than the seventh business day before closing ((e)(1)(iii)(B)), advised counting 3 business days back for the Closing Disclosure without noting that this only works for in-person delivery ((f)(1)(ii)-(iii)), and never defined business day (3-day Loan Estimate deadline: days the lender's offices are open for substantially all business functions; 7-day Loan Estimate wait and 3-day Closing Disclosure wait: every day except Sundays and federal legal public holidays, 12 CFR 1026.2(a)(6)). The page has been corrected, with a dated note left on the page itself. Sources: 12 CFR 1026.19 and 1026.2 and the CFPB's official interpretations.
5 new Library pages on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure — September 30, 2026
How to read a Loan Estimate page by page, what a lender may charge before you have one, the written list of providers when you can shop for services, what closing costs include, and how to check your Closing Disclosure against your Loan Estimate. Each page cites the regulation text and the CFPB's own consumer pages, and names no lender or loan officer.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked (14 total) — September 17, 2026
One more winners-first candidate (a nationally-ranked #1 mortgage broker and #1 Non-QM originator by an independently corroborated 2025 Scotsman Guide ranking) and one more disciplinary-record candidate assessed against our published standard. The winners-first candidate showed no individual-level adverse finding after two real name-collision risks were specifically checked and ruled out, but couldn't be affirmatively confirmed clean against the primary NMLS/state licensing sources this round. The disciplinary-record candidate has a real, primary-source-confirmed state regulator consent order, but this round's independent fact-check could not locate a second, independent source describing it, so no point was marked failing against the strict two-source rule our fact-integrity safeguards require. Neither cleared every applicable point. As always, we report failing results in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
3 new Library pages: Canada's referral-fee and anti-spam marketing rules, plus a US explainer on TILA rescission and statutory damages — September 17, 2026
Two new Canada explainers — how Ontario, Alberta, and BC each regulate a referral fee paid to an unlicensed person (no federal RESPA-style ban exists), and how Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) governs whether a mortgage broker could send a marketing email or text at all, with penalties up to $10 million but a private right to sue that was written into the law in 2014 and never actually took effect — plus one new US explainer on TILA's right of rescission (a real cancellation right for a refinance or HELOC, extended to 3 years when required disclosures are never delivered) and its separate statutory-damages remedy, both distinct from a CFPB enforcement action or TRID's own timing rules.
3 new Library pages: California's dual mortgage licensing system, plus two more Canada federal-statute explainers — September 17, 2026
One new US explainer on California's genuinely unusual dual mortgage licensing structure — the DFPI (under either the California Financing Law or the California Residential Mortgage Lending Act) or the DRE (an MLO endorsement layered onto an existing real estate license), depending entirely on who employs the originator, not on loan type or specialty — plus two new Canada explainers: the federal Interest Act's two still-binding mortgage rules (Section 6, the reason Canadian fixed-rate mortgages are quoted with semi-annual compounding, and Section 10, the statutory right to prepay a long-term mortgage after five years for a capped three-month-interest penalty), and CMHC mortgage loan insurance's legal basis, dollar figures, and its two private-sector competitors, Sagen and Canada Guaranty.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked (12 total) — September 17, 2026
One more winners-first candidate (a nationally-ranked top originator by an independently corroborated Scotsman Guide dollar-volume ranking) and one more disciplinary-record candidate assessed against our published standard. The winners-first candidate showed no individual-level regulatory or disciplinary finding but couldn't be affirmatively confirmed clean against the primary NMLS licensing source this round. The disciplinary-record candidate faces a real state-regulator consent order covering multiple points of our standard. Neither cleared every applicable point. As always, we report failing results in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
4 new Library pages: the MARS Rule advance-fee ban, HPML escrow/appraisal rules, plus Canada's mortgage stress test and mortgage broker trust account rules — September 17, 2026
Two new US explainers — the MARS Rule (Regulation O)'s advance-fee ban for loan-modification and foreclosure-rescue marketing, and the escrow and appraisal requirements that attach to a higher-priced mortgage loan under Regulation Z, a separate and lower bar than HOEPA's high-cost category — plus two new Canada explainers: OSFI's Guideline B-20 mortgage stress test (a federal prudential qualifying-rate floor that only binds federally regulated banks, not every lender), and a comparative look at mortgage broker trust account rules across Ontario, BC, Alberta, and Newfoundland and Labrador. US and Canada content is now closer to even — see the Library for the full list.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked (10 total) — September 17, 2026
One more winners-first candidate (a nationally-recognized top Latino mortgage originator by trade-press award) and one more disciplinary-record candidate assessed against our published standard. The winners-first candidate showed no individual-level adverse record but couldn't be affirmatively confirmed clean against the primary NMLS licensing source this round. The disciplinary-record candidate faces a real federal criminal case and an entered guilty plea. Neither cleared every applicable point. As always, we report failing results in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
4 new Library pages: multi-state MLO licensing, plus 3 new Canada explainers on syndicated mortgages, reverse mortgages, and federal bank disclosure rules — September 17, 2026
One new US explainer on how NMLS's Uniform State Test lets one shared exam satisfy the testing requirement in the large majority of states without creating true multi-state license reciprocity — plus three new Canada explainers: the investor-protection rules layered onto syndicated mortgages in Ontario, BC, and Alberta (including Ontario's $60,000/12-month investment cap for non-qualified syndicated mortgages), why Canada has no federal HECM-style counseling mandate for reverse mortgages and instead relies on Ontario's codified independent-legal-advice requirement, and the Cost of Borrowing (Banks) Regulations' federal disclosure timing for a bank mortgage.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked (8 total) — September 16, 2026
One more winners-first candidate and one more disciplinary-record candidate assessed against our published standard. The winners-first candidate — a nationally-recognized top individual originator by trade-press volume rankings — showed no individual-level adverse record but couldn't be affirmatively confirmed clean against the primary NMLS licensing source this round. The disciplinary-record candidate carries a real state-regulator license revocation. Neither cleared every applicable point. As always, we report failing results in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
4 new Library pages: TRID's fee tolerance and cure rule, the HECM Financial Assessment, and two new Canada federal-layer explainers — September 16, 2026
Two new US explainers — TRID's three fee-tolerance categories (zero, 10% cumulative, and unlimited) plus the lender's 60-day refund deadline when a fee grows too much, and the HECM Financial Assessment requirement, a lender-side underwriting step distinct from HECM counseling that can require a Life Expectancy Set-Aside — plus two new Canada explainers: why Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, like Prince Edward Island, run no dedicated mortgage broker licensing regime of their own, and FINTRAC's federal anti-money-laundering reporting-entity obligations, which reach provincially licensed brokers directly on top of whichever province actually licenses them.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked, first under our winners-first sourcing change (6 total) — September 16, 2026
Two more individual mortgage loan originators assessed against our published standard — the first round sourced primarily by looking for well-regarded, trade-press-recognized originators rather than by starting from a disciplinary record. Neither resolved to a clean pass or a fail: one candidate turned out to carry a real state-regulator enforcement record that couldn't be independently corroborated to our 2-source bar for a fail finding, and the other showed no adverse record but couldn't be affirmatively confirmed clean against the primary licensing source either. As always, every applicable point is reported honestly rather than rounded toward a pass — see the Register for current totals and why a failing verdict is never named.
3 new Canada Library pages: filing a complaint, a national Code of Conduct, and advertising rules by province — September 16, 2026
How to file a complaint against a Canadian mortgage broker (Ontario and Quebec require a written brokerage response first; BC and Alberta route straight to the regulator), the Mortgage Broker Regulators' Council of Canada's national Code of Conduct — endorsed by nine of ten provincial regulators in February 2021, with adoption into an enforceable framework still varying by province — and how mortgage broker advertising rules differ across Ontario, BC, and Alberta in the absence of a federal Regulation N equivalent.
4 new Library pages: Canada's last two provinces, plus two US regulatory-framework deep-dives — September 16, 2026
How Newfoundland and Labrador's 2025 Mortgage Brokerages and Brokers Act replaced a 1990 law (with new E&O insurance and trust-account requirements), why Prince Edward Island is the one Canadian province with no mortgage broker licensing regime at all, ECOA's Regulation B adverse action notice requirement (a 30-day, specific-reasons rule for a denied applicant), and HOEPA's three independent high-cost mortgage triggers, which ban balloon payments, negative amortization, and all prepayment penalties once tripped.
4 new Library pages: two more Canada provinces, plus two US RESPA/SAFE Act deep-dives — September 16, 2026
How New Brunswick's FCNB licenses four mortgage broker categories (with a brokerage's financial security set case by case, not a fixed dollar figure), how Nova Scotia's 2024 Mortgage Regulation Act licenses five categories including the mortgage lender itself, the SAFE Act's two-tier felony background-check bar for US originators (a 7-year lookback for most felonies, a lifetime bar for fraud/dishonesty/breach-of-trust/money-laundering felonies), and the three-condition test that lets a RESPA affiliated business arrangement operate without becoming an illegal kickback.
Register growth round: 1 more originator checked (4 total) — September 16, 2026
One more individual mortgage loan originator assessed against our published standard, against a real state-regulator enforcement record (Michigan DIFS). Did not clear every applicable point. Two other candidates were investigated this round and deliberately not logged as full findings, on name-collision and single-source-corroboration grounds — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
Correction: our CFPB complaint database page described a feature the CFPB discontinued before we launched — September 16, 2026
Our standard and our CFPB complaint database explainer both described the database as searchable "with the consumer's consent" by narrative text. The CFPB announced on August 14, 2026 — a month before this site launched — that it stopped publishing consumer complaint narratives and data visualizations going forward. The company/product/issue/state/date search fields we describe elsewhere are unaffected. Both pages have been corrected, with a dated note left on the Library page itself.
3 more Canada Library pages: Ontario's full FSRA license structure, plus first deep-dives for Saskatchewan and Manitoba — September 16, 2026
How Ontario's FSRA actually licenses mortgage agents and brokers across four classes (Agent Level 1, Agent Level 2, Broker, Brokerage) and where the 2019 FSCO-to-FSRA handoff fits, how Saskatchewan's FCAA licenses four categories under a 2010 statute, and how Manitoba's Securities Commission registers a full mortgage broker (with a $100,000 surety bond) separately from a restricted mortgage broker (without one).
3 new Canada Library pages: provincial licensing deep-dives for BC, Alberta, and Quebec — September 16, 2026
British Columbia's move from the Mortgage Brokers Act to the incoming Mortgage Services Act (in force October 13, 2026, with a transition-education deadline for existing registrants on September 22, 2026), how Alberta's two-tier RECA mortgage associate/mortgage broker licensing structure works, and how oversight of Quebec's courtier hypothécaire certification moved from a real estate self-regulator to the AMF in 2020 — with its own exam-then-probation path now being revised for 2026.
Register growth round: 2 more originators checked (3 total) — September 16, 2026
Two more individual mortgage loan originators assessed against our published standard, both against real state-regulator enforcement records (Washington DFI, California DFPI). Neither cleared every applicable point. As always, we report failing results in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
10 more Library pages: servicing transfers, escrow, force-placed insurance, table funding, SAR reporting, UDAAP, and manufactured housing — September 16, 2026
Eight new US explainers — mortgage servicing transfer notice rules, escrow analysis/shortage/deficiency limits, force-placed insurance disclosure requirements, who's liable on a table-funded loan, mortgage fraud SAR reporting duties, state MLO continuing-education and renewal requirements, the CFPB's UDAAP authority as applied to loan officers, and manufactured/chattel home lending's separate regulatory track — plus two new Canada explainers on mortgage broker errors & omissions insurance requirements by province and Ontario's FSRA continuing-education framework.
First Register assessment: 1 originator checked — September 16, 2026
The Register's first real round against our published standard: 1 individual mortgage loan originator assessed, 0 listed. As always, we report a failing result in aggregate only — see the Register for the current totals and why a failing originator is never named.
7 more Library pages: compensation rules, state bonding, HMDA data, rate locks, and Canada's federal/provincial split — September 16, 2026
SAFE Act federal registration vs. state licensing, the Loan Originator Compensation Rule's steering ban, how much state bonding/net-worth requirements actually vary, what HMDA data can and can't tell you about an individual originator, and rate-lock float-down and extension-fee practices, plus two new Canada explainers on the FCAC's actual jurisdiction and provincial mortgage broker conflict-of-interest disclosure rules.
3 Canada Library pages: how provincial mortgage broker regulation works — September 16, 2026
How Canadian mortgage broker regulation actually works (no federal NMLS equivalent), how to check a Canadian mortgage broker's license province by province, and whether a license in one province works in another. Library-only, comparative explainer content — not a Canadian Register category.
10 US Library pages: the foundation — September 16, 2026
How to verify your loan officer's NMLS license, what RESPA Section 8 actually prohibits, the TRID disclosure timeline, what the CFPB complaint database does and doesn't show, mortgage broker vs. loan officer vs. correspondent lender, VA loan churning and the IRRRL, the HECM counseling requirement, how to file a complaint, non-QM lending and the ATR/QM rule, and deceptive mortgage advertising under Regulation N.
The Mortgage Record launches — September 16, 2026
A published standard for individual mortgage loan originators — US and Canada from day one — tied to NMLS licensing verified through NMLS Consumer Access, RESPA Section 8 anti-kickback compliance, TILA/Regulation Z TRID disclosure timing, and Regulation N advertising rules, plus a public Register that will report findings honestly, with no paid placements and no pay-to-list badge.