Mortgage Brokers vs. Loan Officers

There's no doubt that the mortgage industry can be unnecessarily complicated for consumers, starting with what we call people who lend money to homebuyers. 

How about Loany McLoanface?

There are endless names for residential home lenders. Most people refer to me as a Mortgage Broker. I refer to myself as a Mortgage Banker. When I started in this business in 1998, the job title on my card was Loan Officer, which is still what we call each other in the industry. Loan Counselors, Mortgage Consultant, Mortgage Planner, and Mortgage Specialist are some of the titles I recall people trying to brand themselves with on their cards. Loan Ranger was the most unique one I’ve heard (no word on if that guy wore a mask).

A few years ago, the federal government decided we all had to have the same job title on our cards and marketing in order to be clear to the public, so some bureaucratic committee named us all Residential Mortgage Loan Originators or RMLO for short. That one hasn’t caught on yet.

So what does a Loan Officer (sorry, RMLO) do?

On the face of it, we all do the same thing. If someone needs a mortgage, they contact me and I help them review their documentation to find out which loan programs they are qualified for and then help them select the best fit for their situation. Then I’ll facilitate verification of that documentation, underwriting the loan through the approval process and drawing of the loan documents for the closing. Along the way, I’ll communicate with all the people involved in front of and behind the scenes to ensure the process is moving along and everything is organized and in place for the closing.

It's not the name--it's the service

So, while there are a bunch of folks with the same job title, we all operate differently. In a future post I’ll delve more into the types of companies that offer mortgages and how a consumer can decide which is best for them.