Glossary
Loan Officer Terms & Vocabulary
15 essential loan officer terms with plain-English definitions: the vocabulary you’ll hear in training and on day one.
Key loan officer vocabulary
These 15 terms come up constantly in loan officer training, on the job and in interviews. Knowing them helps you follow instructions, document accurately and sound prepared.
- APR
- Annual percentage rate, including some loan costs.
- Closing disclosure
- A form detailing final loan terms and costs.
- Conventional loan
- A loan not backed by the government.
- DTI
- Debt-to-income ratio.
- Escrow
- An account for taxes and insurance.
- FHA loan
- A loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration.
- LTV
- Loan-to-value ratio.
- NMLS
- Nationwide Multistate Licensing System.
- Pipeline
- Loans in progress.
- PMI
- Private mortgage insurance.
- Points
- Fees paid to lower the interest rate.
- Preapproval
- A lender’s conditional commitment based on a review of credit and finances.
- Rate lock
- A guarantee of an interest rate for a period.
- Underwriting
- Evaluating loan risk and approving the loan.
- VA loan
- A loan guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Practice these terms
Test yourself with the free Loan Officer practice test: it includes vocabulary questions built from this list. For a complete course, see Loan Officer training.
Browse terms from every career in our career glossary.