Mortgage Broker and Loan Officer

Either a mortgage broker or a mortgage banker can help you when you apply for a mortgage loan. Because both a mortgage broker and lending officer will help you purchase a new home, people can confuse the two. Yet knowing the ways they differ will be important to the mortgage loan process.

About Mortgage Brokers

A mortgage broker is an individual or group that acts as an independent agent for both the mortgage loan borrower and the lender. A mortgage broker facilitates things for you and your lender, which can be one of the following: a credit union, bank, trust company, finance company, mortgage corporation or even a private investor. Acting as a facilitator between you and your lender, your mortgage broker can match you with a bank, trust company, credit union, mortgage corporation, finance company or even an individual investor. Which lender has the loan programs that fits your financial situation? A mortgage broker will help you find the right one. From application to closing, your mortgage broker facilitates your loan process: submitting your mortgage application to several lenders, and coordinating the process with the lender through to the closing of your loan. At closing, the broker's commission is given by the borrower.

Loan Officers

Lending Institutions (banks, finance companies, and others) employ loan officers to promote, and process mortgage loans originated by that particular institution alone. Although a loan officer may promote quite a range of loan programs, they are all products from that particular lender.

A mortgage banker (also called an "account executive" or "loan representative") represents the borrower to the lending institution. From choosing a loan to closing, a mortgage banker will walk a borrower through the process. Mortgage bankers are given a commission or salary for their work by their employers.