Washington, DC (January 7, 2015) – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Chartered Realty Investor® Society (CRIS) announced today that they have executed an agreement authorizing MBA to maintain and administer the CRIS’s industry acclaimed accreditation exams. The CRI designation program is widely recognized as the gold standard for commercial real estate professionals and provides students with a multi-disciplined curriculum that challenges and validates a candidate’s knowledge, practical experience, education and ethical conduct required in today’s complex marketplace. The CRIS awards two industry-acclaimed designations –the CRI Charter® and CRI Associate® designations – based on passing scores of the respective CRIS Level I and CRIS Level II exams. CRIS will continue to manage the CRI designation program.
“The CRIS has proven to be an excellent partner in fulfilling MBA’s goals of delivering the highest quality education and training to commercial/multifamily real estate finance professional at all levels, particularly in the critical area of ethical conduct and practices,” said David H. Stevens, President and CEO of MBA. “In executing this agreement, both organizations will strive to bring together all educational and training aspects of the commercial real estate finance, investment and advisory industries.”
Under this agreement, candidates for the CRI designations will be able to apply and register for the exam online through the MBA’s web store and take the exam through the MBA’s online learning management system. To earn the CRI Associate® designation, a candidate must pass the Level I, which is focused on basic commercial real estate terms, finance and theory. Successfully passing the Level I exam allows the candidate to sit for the Level II exam, which is focused on more complex securitization and portfolio management theory. Passing both exams allows a candidate to earn the CRI Charter® designation. The CRI Charter® and CRI Associate® designations, which will continue to be managed by CRIS, are complementary designations to MBA’s more specific Commercial Certified Mortgage Banker and Commercial Certified Mortgage Servicer designations.
“This agreement solidifies a long-standing relationship between the CRIS and the MBA to advance ethics-based competency through robust training, preparation and state of the art content. MBA Education has delivered exemplary education and training to the entire commercial/multifamily real estate industry and is a natural platform to maintain and administer the CRIS exams,” said John Waldeck, President of CRIS and Managing Director of Commercial Mortgage Investments at Pacific Life Insurance Company.
###
The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) is the national association representing the real estate finance industry, an industry that employs more than 280,000 people in virtually every community in the country. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the association works to ensure the continued strength of the nation’s residential and commercial real estate markets; to expand homeownership and extend access to affordable housing to all Americans. MBA promotes fair and ethical lending practices and fosters professional excellence among real estate finance employees through a wide range of educational programs and a variety of publications. Its membership of over 2,200 companies includes all elements of real estate finance: mortgage companies, mortgage brokers, commercial banks, thrifts, REITs, Wall Street conduits, life insurance companies and others in the mortgage lending field. For additional information, visit MBA’s website: www.mba.org.
The Chartered Realty Investor® Society is a 501©(6) tax-exempt organization that helps ensure the safety of the public and other stakeholders by supervising its real estate certification designations, the CRI Charter® and CRI Associate®.
CONTACT:
Ali Ahmad
AAhmad@mba.org
(202) 557-2727
