Mortgage brokers have total control of their time and schedules. They earn as much as $80,000 a year. A mortgage broker, as defined by law, is a person who, for a fee, offers his services as an agent for others. The broker obtains or provides a loan to his client. This loan is secured by a lien on the property. For most people, that is an attractive career. But not everyone can practice as a legitimate mortgage broker. The government regulates practitioners though license applications.

A mortgage broker needs to comply with the guidelines and the specific policies of the state he belongs in before being issued a license. The application generally requires financial statements within the last three months and the last two recent fiscal year-end financial reports. The applicant may also provide the financial statement of a business partner who owns at least 25% of the corporation. If the company is a start-up, the submission of financial statements is not necessary. A written corporate history must also be provided or a history of any of the businesses with at least 25% voting stock option in the corporation. A business plan that articulates companys policies and procedures for management and administration, scope of loan reviews, and audit procedures is also necessary.

The corporation must also identify a Qualified Employee, whose name will be put in the application form. The qualified employee must provide a set of fingerprint cards. The applicant must also specify the home office address and contact numbers of the corporation and indicate in which other states the corporation is doing business.

An initial license must be paid. In case the application is incomplete, the fee must be returned to the applicant. Successful applications are registered and are available for public viewing and queries. But before a mortgage broker can release his advertisements, he must have them approved first by the government.