The SAFE Act requires that state licensed mortgage loan originators pass a written test with a score of 75% or higher. You will also have to finish a minimum of 20 hours of pre-licensing education courses and eight hours of continuing education courses each year.
The SAFE Act: the written test
After finishing 20 hours of pre-licensing education, you can register for the SAFE exam. The exam is divided into two parts: the state-specific component and the national component. The national component consists of 125 test questions, with 115 scored and 10 not scored. You have 190 minutes (about 3 hours) to finish the exam.
The state-specific component consists of 45-55 operational questions, which are scored, and an additional 10 pre-test questions, which are not scored. The number of test questions scored differs between states. You have 90 minutes to finish the exam, and an added 30 minutes to complete an optional tutorial and survey.
A new component to the SAFE test is the Uniform State Test, which includes 25 questions. This brings the length of the National Test Component with Uniform State Content to 125 questions. Of those, 115 are scored and 10 are not scored. The UST replaces the state-specific test components only for the states that have adopted it.
