Mortgage Lender
Definition of "Mortgage Lender"
The party advancing money to a borrower at the closing table in exchange for a note evidencing the borrowers debt and obligation to repay. Retail, Wholesale, and Correspondent Lenders: Lenders who perform all the loan origination functions themselves are called 'retail lenders/' Lenders who have certain functions performed for them by mortgage brokers or correspondents are called 'wholesale lenders.' Many large lenders have both retail and wholesale divisions. Wholesale lenders will have different departments to deal with correspondent lenders and mortgage brokers. The division of functions is shown in the table on the next page. Correspondent lenders are typically small and depend on wholesale lenders to protect them against pipeline risk. A correspondent lender locks a price for a borrower at the same time as the correspondent locks with a wholesale lender. Mortgage Banks Versus Portfolio Lenders: Mortgage banks sell all the loans they make in the secondary market because they don't have the long-term funding sources necessary to hold mortgages permanently. They fund loans by borrowing from banks or by selling short-term notes, repaying when the loans are sold. Mortgage banks now dominate the U.S. market. Of the 10 largest lenders in 2002, nine were mortgage banks and only one was a portfolio lender. However, most of the large mortgage banks are affiliated with large commercial banks. Portfolio lenders include commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions. They are sometimes referred to as 'depository institutions' because they offer deposit accounts to the public. Deposits provide a relatively stable funding source that allows these institutions to hold loans permanently in their portfolios. Mortgage banks often offer better terms on fixed-rate mortgages than portfolio lenders, while the reverse is more likely for adjustable rate mortgages. It would be a mistake to place too much reliance on this rule, however, because the variability within each group is very wide.
Popular Mortgage Terms
The ratio of total housing expense to borrower income. This ratio is used (along with other factors) in qualifying borrowers. ...
Limit on the size of payment change on an adjustable rate mortgage. ...
A lender that sells the loans it originates, as opposed to a portfolio lender that holds them. ...
The interest rate or rates and upfront fees paid to the lender and mortgage broker. Some upfront charges are expressed as a percent of the loan, and some are expressed in dollars. The ...
Advice on where to go to get a mortgage. A borrower can always select a loan provider by throwing a dart at the Yellow Pages. A referral is of value if it raises the probability of a ...
A lender that provides loans through mortgage brokers or correspondents. ...
The provision of the U.S. tax code that allows homeowners to deduct mortgage interest payments from income before computing taxes. Points and origination fees are also deductible, but not ...
To define a home equity line of credit, we can also take a look at how credit cards work. Similarly to credit cards, home equity lines of credit are sources of funds that can be accessed ...
The frequency of rate adjustments on an ARM after the initial rate period is over. The rate adjustment period is sometimes but not always the same as the initial rate period. As an example, ...
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