Mortgage Certification

Candidates for the CMME designation must currently hold the Certified Mortgage Examinations Manager (CMEM) designation and provide evidence of the following:

1. Five (5) years as an Examiner-in-Charge or higher, in a position where the ability to manage complex examinations with a significant amount of documentation, large numbers of internal and external staff members, and high-level communication skills are critical to mission success.
2. Management of five (5) complex, single-state examinations; involvement in at least two (2) multistate examinations (not necessarily at a manager level), both on-site and off-site.
3. Demonstrated use of advanced compliance software in at least two (2) examinations.
4. Satisfactory completion of the following CSBS course offerings or their equivalent:
   • CSBS Multistate Mortgage Examiner-in-Charge School
   • Course requirements for the CMEM designation.  If an applicant is able to demonstrate significant experience in areas 1 and 2 above, he or she may seek a waiver of the CMEM certification requirement and/or this education component.  The granting of a waiver will be at the sole discretion of the CSBS Foundation Examiner Certification Committee.
5. Attestation of successful job performance and mastery of appropriate job-related skills by a supervisor within the candidate's organization. "Supervisor" is defined as an individual whose job classification is at the Chief Examiner level or higher. All attestations shall be considered final once signed. Attestation as to a candidate's skill will be supported by a defined response form that outlines the necessary and appropriate skills. A high degree of reliance is placed on the attestation forms provided by the applicant’s supervisor when granting certification. For that reason, the individual signing the form should be familiar with the applicant’s experience, performance, and skills/abilities, and should be confident that the applicant meets all the requirements as noted on the form.

The attestation form addresses the following categories:

TECHNICAL - Provides effective leadership and organization to the examination process:

• Meets skills and ability guidelines for the CMEM,
• Effectively supervises personnel to ensure adherence to all procedures and policies,
• Monitors senior examination personnel to ensure examination mission, goals, and responsibilities are being met,
• Effectively organizes and delegates assignments, and
• Effectively supervises the entire examination process, including pre-examination scoping and planning, and flow of work and documents during the examination.

CONCEPTUAL - Provides effective supervision of the overall activities of mortgage providers in a multistate setting:

• Effectively determines a multistate mortgage provider’s condition from completed reports of examination and
• Effectively administers appropriate departmental response from examination findings and follow-up on correction of problems and violations.

LEGAL/COMPLIANCE - Effectively demonstrates knowledge of policies, procedures, laws, rules and regulations and participates in development of amendments to laws or new legislation:

• Effectively demonstrates knowledge of applicable federal and home state laws,
• Effectively demonstrates knowledge of policies, procedures, rules and regulations, and
• Effectively review violations and approves corrective action or enforcement powers.

HUMAN RELATIONS - Recognizing the increased scope and complexity of multistate mortgage examinations, applicant must provide interpersonal and communication skills to be delivered at a higher level, including:

• Effectively provides for personnel management in the areas of budgeting, recruiting, training, team-building, negotiation, motivation, coaching and counseling, performance evaluation, and disciplinary actions,
• Effectively and clearly communicates orally and in writing with people and organizations internal and external to the department, including examiners in other states' agencies and the Multistate Mortgage Committee,
• Effectively conducts meetings with management, owners and the boards of directors of multistate mortgage providers, and
• Effectively coordinates multistate mortgage examination planning, execution and regulatory response with other state and federal supervisory or law enforcement authorities.