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What do I need for an Idaho mortgage loan originator license?

If you act as a mortgage loan originator on a dwelling in Idaho, you need a license, unless the statute exempts you. An applicant completes at least twenty hours of prelicensing education and passes a written test with at least seventy-five percent correct answers. The education can be done online.

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The rule, fact by fact

Course hours
At least twenty hours of prelicensing educationThe course must include set minimum hours on four topics, one of them the Idaho chapter and its rules.
Verified. legislature.idaho.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Cost
$110 for the NMLS National Test. This is not the course priceNMLS lists the fee in its test specifications table.
NMLS Resource Center · SAFE MLO Test overview (opens website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Online accepted
Yes. In a classroom, online, or by any other means the NMLSR approvesThe sentence covers prelicensing education only.
Same source and date as above
Passing score
A passing score is not less than seventy-five percent correct answersThe statute sets this for a qualified written test.
Verified. legislature.idaho.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Valid for
A lapse of five years or longer means retaking and passing the test for a new licenseTime spent as a registered mortgage loan originator is not counted.
Same source and date as above

How to get it done

  1. Step 1. Check whether you need the license. Unless an exemption applies, an individual may not engage in the business of a mortgage loan originator with respect to any dwelling in Idaho without first getting a license and keeping it annually. The exemptions include registered originators acting for an entity listed in section 26-31-303(9)(a) through (c), individuals who offer or negotiate a loan with or for an immediate family member, and individuals who do so on a loan secured by their own residence. An attorney who negotiates a loan only as an ancillary matter to representing a client is exempt too, unless a lender, a mortgage broker, another originator or an agent of one of them pays the attorney.

  2. Step 2. Pick a course the NMLSR approves. Use the NMLS course provider list. The NMLSR approves the course provider too.

  3. Step 3. Take at least twenty hours. The statute says they include at a minimum three hours on federal law and regulation, three on ethics, two on lending standards for the nontraditional mortgage product marketplace, and two directly related to the Idaho chapter and its rules. You may take them in a classroom, online, or by other means the NMLSR approves.

  4. Step 4. Pass the written test. The statute says a passing score is not less than seventy-five percent correct answers.

Before you pay

Before you pay, check that the NMLSR has approved both the course and its provider.

Questions

Do courses I took for another state count?

The statute counts the parts on federal law and regulation, ethics, and nontraditional mortgage lending standards that the NMLSR approved for any state as credit toward Idaho's. The two hours on the Idaho chapter and its rules are not among those parts.

Can my employer provide the course?

A course the NMLSR approves and the applicant's employer provides is allowed. So is one from an entity tied to the applicant by an agency contract, or a subsidiary or affiliate of the employer or that entity.

How many times can I retake the test?

An individual may retake the test two times, each at least thirty days after the one before. After the second retake without a passing score, the individual waits at least six months.

What does the written test cover?

The statute says the test must cover ethics, federal and state law on mortgage loan origination, and federal and state law on fraud, consumer protection, the nontraditional mortgage marketplace and fair lending.

How long is the test?

NMLS lists 120 questions, with 115 scored, and 190 minutes to finish. The five unscored pre-test questions have no effect on your pass or fail result.

What to do next

Start with the Idaho Code section on prelicensing education. Then pick a course the NMLSR approves.

legislature.idaho.gov

Sources we read