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What do I need for a Connecticut mortgage loan originator license?

To get a Connecticut mortgage loan originator license, you need at least 20 hours of approved education. You also need 1 hour on Connecticut law and a passing score on a written test. The statute says a passing score is at least 75 percent. It says classes can be online.

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The rule, fact by fact

Course hours
At least twenty hours of approved education, plus one hour on Connecticut lawThe twenty include three hours of federal law, three of ethics and two of nontraditional lending.
Verified. www.cga.ct.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Cost
$110 for the SAFE MLO Test, as NMLS lists it. This is not the course priceThat is the test fee NMLS lists. We haven't confirmed a course price from a source.
NMLS Resource Center · SAFE MLO Test overview (opens website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Online accepted
Yes. The statute allows a classroom, online, or other approved meansIt covers prelicensing education, not the written test.
Same source and date as above
Passing score
A passing score is at least seventy-five per centThe statute sets this for a qualified written test.
Same source and date as above
Valid for
The Connecticut hour must be retaken if no Connecticut license follows within three yearsThe same rule covers a loan processor or underwriter license.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Check that you need the license. Connecticut law says an individual may not act as a mortgage loan originator for a residential mortgage loan without first getting a license and keeping it each year. This covers work on behalf of a licensee or an exempt person. Among those exempt is a registered mortgage loan originator acting for the institution or subsidiary that employs them. Someone who negotiates a loan for an immediate family member is exempt. So is someone who negotiates a loan on a dwelling that served as their home, unless they do it habitually. An out-of-state originator employed by a lender or broker licensed in Connecticut can have temporary authority. The statute sets conditions, among them working as an out-of-state originator in the thirty days before submitting the personal history for the Connecticut license.

  2. Step 2. Pick a course from the NMLS course provider list. Plan for 20 hours of NMLS-approved education plus 1 hour of Connecticut law, which NMLS counts as 21 hours. The 20 are 3 on federal law, 3 on ethics, 2 on non-traditional mortgage lending and 12 electives.

  3. Step 3. Take the course online or in a classroom. The statute says prelicensing education may be offered in a classroom, online, or by any other approved means. If you have no license in any state or active federal registration within three years of finishing the course, you retake it.

  4. Step 4. Pass a qualified written test. The statute says a passing score is at least 75 percent correct answers. NMLS lists the fee for its National Test as $110.

Before you pay

Before you pay, check that the course is on the NMLS list and has the 1 hour on Connecticut law.

Questions

How many times can I retake the test?

You can retake a test three consecutive times, with each test at least thirty days after the one before. After failing three consecutive tests, you wait at least six months before taking the test again.

What if my license lapses?

Among the rules for a lapse: if you no longer hold a license in any state or an active federal registration, you get one within three years of when you last held it, or you retake the twenty hours. A former originator who took the test for that license and has not been licensed as one in the five years before applying retakes the test, not counting time as a registered originator.

Can I take the course as a webinar?

NMLS says all prelicensing education categories can be delivered in the classroom or classroom equivalent (webinar) format.

What is on the National Test?

NMLS lists 120 questions, 115 of them scored, and a time limit of 190 minutes. The five unscored pre-test questions do not change your pass or fail result.

What to do next

Start with the Connecticut statute on prelicensing education. Then pick a course from the NMLS list.

www.cga.ct.gov

Sources we read