Loan officers and counselors must keep abreast of new financial products and services. To meet their customers' needs, for example, banks and other lenders now offer a variety of mortgage products, including reverse equity mortgages, shared equity mortgages, and adjustable rate mortgages. A reverse equity mortgage provides income to the owner of the property, and is paid back either through a conventional mortgage or in a lump sum. A shared equity mortgage allows a group of people to jointly own and be responsible for payment of the mortgage. Adjustable rate mortgages have a fluctuating interest rate, commonly based on the interest rate paid on government bonds a change in interest rates affects the borrower's monthly payment.
Loan officers meet with customers and gather basic information about the loan request.
Often customers will not fully understand the information requested, and will call the loan officer for assistance. Once the customer completes the financial forms, the loan officer begins to process them. The loan officer reviews the completed financial forms for accuracy and thoroughness, and requests additional information if necessary. For example, the loan officer verifies that the customer has correctly identified the type and purpose of the loan. The loan officer then requests a credit report from one or more of the major credit reporting agencies.