How to become Loan Officer in 2024

Loan Officer Evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of commercial, real estate, or credit loans. Advise borrowers on financial status and payment methods. Includes mortgage loan officers and agents, collection analysts, loan servicing officers, loan underwriters, and payday loan officers.

Loan Officer is Also Know as

In different settings, Loan Officer is titled as

  • Commercial Banker
  • Commercial Loan Officer
  • Corporate Banking Officer
  • Financial Aid Advisor
  • Financial Aid Counselor
  • Financial Aid Officer
  • Financial Counselor
  • Loan Counselor
  • Loan Officer
  • Mortgage Loan Officer

Education and Training of Loan Officer

Loan Officer is categorized in Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience Required for Loan Officer

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Education Required for Loan Officer

Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

Degrees Related to Loan Officer

Training Required for Loan Officer

Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Related Ocuupations

Some Ocuupations related to Loan Officer in different industries are

What Do Loan Officer do?

  • Approve loans within specified limits, and refer loan applications outside those limits to management for approval.
  • Meet with applicants to obtain information for loan applications and to answer questions about the process.
  • Analyze applicants' financial status, credit, and property evaluations to determine feasibility of granting loans.
  • Explain to customers the different types of loans and credit options that are available, as well as the terms of those services.
  • Obtain and compile copies of loan applicants' credit histories, corporate financial statements, and other financial information.
  • Review and update credit and loan files.
  • Review loan agreements to ensure that they are complete and accurate according to policy.
  • Compute payment schedules.
  • Stay abreast of new types of loans and other financial services and products to better meet customers' needs.
  • Submit applications to credit analysts for verification and recommendation.
  • Handle customer complaints and take appropriate action to resolve them.
  • Work with clients to identify their financial goals and to find ways of reaching those goals.
  • Market bank products to individuals and firms, promoting bank services that may meet customers' needs.
  • Supervise loan personnel.
  • Set credit policies, credit lines, procedures and standards in conjunction with senior managers.
  • Analyze potential loan markets and develop referral networks to locate prospects for loans.
  • Prepare reports to send to customers whose accounts are delinquent, and forward irreconcilable accounts for collector action.
  • Assist in selection of financial award candidates using electronic databases to certify loan eligibility.
  • Authorize or sign mail collection letters.
  • Calculate amount of debt and funds available to plan methods of payoff and to estimate time for debt liquidation.
  • Confer with underwriters to resolve mortgage application problems.
  • Contact applicants or creditors to resolve questions about applications or to assist with completion of paperwork.
  • Contact borrowers with delinquent accounts to obtain payment in full or to negotiate repayment plans.
  • Counsel clients on personal and family financial problems, such as excessive spending or borrowing of funds.
  • Establish payment priorities according to credit terms and interest rates to reduce clients' overall costs.
  • Inform individuals and groups about the financial assistance available to college or university students.
  • Maintain and review account records, updating and recategorizing them according to status changes.
  • Match individuals' needs and eligibility with available financial aid programs to provide informed recommendations.
  • Review accounts to determine write-offs for collection agencies.
  • Review billing for accuracy.

Qualities of Good Loan Officer

  • Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
  • Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
  • Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
  • Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
  • Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
  • Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
  • Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
  • Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
  • Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
  • Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
  • Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
  • Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
  • Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
  • Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
  • Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
  • Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
  • Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
  • Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
  • Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
  • Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
  • Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
  • Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
  • Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
  • Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
  • Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
  • Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
  • Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
  • Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
  • Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
  • Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
  • Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
  • Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.

Tools Used by Loan Officer

  • 10-key calculators
  • Autodialers
  • Desktop computers
  • Notebook computers
  • Personal computers
  • Personal digital assistants PDA
  • Scanners
  • Tablet computers

Technology Skills required for Loan Officer

  • 1003 Uniform Residential Loan Application
  • Amortization loan software
  • Bankers Systems Rembrandt Lending System
  • Bottom Line LoanMaster Loan Servicing
  • California Infinite LPS
  • Calyx Point
  • CGI-AMS BureauLink Enterprise
  • CGI-AMS CACS Enterprise
  • CGI-AMS Strata
  • Click1003 Online Mortgage Application
  • Common business oriented language COBOL
  • Credit and risk analysis software
  • Credit fraud detection software
  • Credit underwriting software
  • Customer information control system CICS
  • Datatel Colleague
  • Delphi Discovery
  • Dun and Bradstreet Global DecisionMaker
  • Dynamic Loanledger
  • eCredit Enterprise
  • EDExpress
  • Ellie Mae Contour
  • Ellie Mae Genesis
  • ELM Resources ELM
  • EMT Applications CounselorMax
  • eOriginal eCore Business Suite
  • Equifax Advanced Decisioning
  • Equifax Application Engine
  • Equifax InterConnect
  • Experian Credinomics
  • Experian Detect
  • Experian FraudShield
  • Experian Quest
  • Experian Retention Triggers
  • Experian Strategy Management
  • Experian Transact SM
  • Fair Isaac Application Risk Model Software
  • Fair Isaac Capstone Decision Manager
  • Fair Isaac Falcon ID
  • Fannie Mae Desktop Underwriter
  • FAS Loan Service Plus
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Financial aid management system FAM
  • Financial Industry Computer Systems Loan Accountant
  • Financial Industry Computer Systems Loan Originator
  • Financial Industry Computer Systems Loan Producer
  • Freddie Mac Loan Prospector
  • Harland Financial Solutions DecisionPro
  • Harland Interlinq MortgageWare
  • IA Systems StreamLend
  • IBM Notes
  • Indus Lending Solutions
  • Integra Destiny Loan Origination
  • LA PRO Loan Administrator Pro
  • LexisNexis
  • Loan application processing software
  • Loan origination software
  • Microsoft Access
  • Microsoft Dynamics
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer
  • Microsoft Office software
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft PowerPoint
  • Microsoft Word
  • Moody's KMV CreditEdge
  • Moody's KMV Decisions
  • Moody's KMV Financial Analyst
  • Moody's KMV Risk Advisor
  • Moody's KMV Risk Analyst
  • Opportunity management system OMS
  • Oracle PeopleSoft
  • Plimus Loan Artist
  • QuikDraw Loan Management System
  • RealBenefits Amortization Loan
  • SAP software
  • Student information systems SIS software
  • SunGard Higher Education Banner Financial Aid
  • Sungard Higher Education PowerFAIDS
  • Tax software
  • Technicost LOS
  • The Mortgage Office Loan Origination
  • The Mortgage Office Loan Servicing
  • VueCentric MortgageDashboard
  • Web browser software
  • White Clarke North America Credit Adjudication and Lending Management
  • Wolters Kluwer Financial Services ComplianceOne
  • Zoom