Home Loan Information Home Loan Information From A Former Industry Insider

Broker? Lender? Loan Officer? Broker Individual? Broker Company?

The language gets confusing, I know. Maintaining national mortgage licenses does also. Does the title even make a difference? You BET it does!

In Georgia, the state with which I am most familiar, anyone who has a clean criminal background (no crimes that would endanger borrowers) and gets hired by a mortgage company can be a Loan Office. It’s a shame and as a Broker/Lender I’ve been petitioning for years to have ALL Loan Officers in my state licensed. Many should absolutely not be in the business.

To be a BROKER you have to have either a specified net worth or me bondable, have either 40 hours of education or 2 years of experience directly originating loans for clients. In my opinion this is what you should have to be a Loan Officer. The experience could be gained through being a licensed Loan Officer Assistant … kind of like a driver’s learning permit.

To be a LENDER you have to have a much larger net worth or much larger bond but no more education or experience. This I believe should require at least 2 years of experience as a licensed BROKER. It does not. Maybe soon.

The downside to the entire industry is that the language is different from state to state. In Georgia if you’re talking to the BROKER you’re usually talking to the owner or principal of the company. As a member in good standing of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers I always vote for a national standard.

Why does it matter? Because someone who is a licensed BROKER or LENDER has a lot more to lose than an employee of one of these.

Yep. It’s confusing sometimes and it should be important to you. If you’re in the industry and have not joined the National Association of Mortgage Brokers I encourage you to do so and help us push for national standardization.