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

If you act as a mortgage loan originator on a dwelling in Minnesota, 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 a score of 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 statute sets minimum hours on three topics, and fraud is covered under one of them.
Verified. www.revisor.mn.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 NMLS approvesThe sentence covers prelicensing education only.
Same source and date as above
Passing score
A test score of not less than seventy-five percent correct answers is requiredThe statute applies this to the qualified written test.
Verified. www.revisor.mn.gov (opens state website) · checked Nov 13, 2026
Valid for
A lapse of five years or longer means retaking the testTime 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 a Minnesota dwelling without first getting a license and keeping it. The chapter's exemptions include individuals who offer or negotiate a loan with or for an immediate family member, and individuals who do so on a loan secured by a dwelling that served as their residence.

  2. Step 2. Pick a course the NMLS approves. The statute says the NMLS reviews and approves the courses and the course provider. Use the NMLS course provider list.

  3. Step 3. Take at least twenty hours. The statute says they include at a minimum three hours of federal law and regulations, three of ethics and two on lending standards for the nontraditional mortgage product marketplace. You may take them in a classroom, online, or by other means the NMLS approves.

  4. Step 4. Pass the written test. The statute says an individual has not passed unless the score is not less than seventy-five percent correct answers.

Before you pay

Before you pay, check that the NMLS approved the course and its provider.

Questions

Do courses I took for another state count?

Prelicensing courses the NMLS approved for a state under the statute's twenty-hour rule count as credit in Minnesota.

Can my employer provide the course?

A course the NMLS approves and the applicant's employer provides is allowed. Courses from an entity tied to the applicant by an agency contract, or from an affiliate of the employer or that entity, are allowed too.

How many times can I retake the test?

An individual may retake the test three consecutive times, each at least thirty days after the one before. After failing three consecutive tests, the individual waits at least six months.

What does the written test cover?

The statute says the test must cover ethics, federal law and regulation on originating mortgage loans, state law and rule on originating them, and federal and state law on fraud, consumer protection, the nontraditional mortgage marketplace and fair lending.

What if I was licensed before and apply again?

A person previously licensed under the chapter after July 31, 2010 must prove the continuing education for the year the license was last held.

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 Minnesota statute on prelicensing education. Then pick a course the NMLS approves.

www.revisor.mn.gov

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