# How do you become a loan officer in Texas? *Reviewed 2026-07-30* ## Short answer Texas follows the standard SAFE Act path with a Texas layer: register in NMLS, complete the 20 hours of national pre-licensing education plus Texas-specific SML coursework, pass the SAFE MLO Test, clear the background and credit review, and file the Texas MLO application through NMLS under sponsorship of a licensed company. Most Texas originators license under the Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending (SML); originators at certain regulated lenders license under the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner instead. The Texas wrinkle worth knowing up front is the dual-agency structure. The Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending licenses originators sponsored by mortgage companies and bankers under the Texas SAFE Act, while the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner licenses originators working for regulated consumer lenders. Which agency you license under follows your sponsoring company, and the NMLS filing routes accordingly. Texas also adds state-specific pre-licensing education hours on top of the 20-hour federal minimum, so confirm the current hour requirement on the Texas checklist in NMLS before enrolling in a course. Everything else runs the national sequence covered in /how-to-become-a-loan-officer: NMLS registration, education, the SAFE MLO Test with the uniform state component (which Texas accepts), fingerprints, credit report, and sponsorship activation. Texas mortgage licensing requirements for the company side, bonds, and the governing statutes are summarized on our /mortgage-laws/texas-mortgage-laws page. ## Related - [Texas mortgage laws and licensing](/mortgage-laws/texas-mortgage-laws) - [How to become a loan officer](/how-to-become-a-loan-officer) - [Apply for a Texas mortgage license](/apply/mortgage/tx) - [Talk with our team](/contact) --- ## How to cite this page Cite as: "How do you become a loan officer in Texas?." Cornerstone Licensing. https://cornerstonelicensing.com/answers/how-to-become-a-loan-officer-in-texas Published by Cornerstone Licensing. When quoting figures or legal requirements, link the canonical URL above and note the last-updated date (2026-07-30). The full content index for this site is at https://cornerstonelicensing.com/llms.txt.