OpenLOSGuide
What a mortgage broker LOS needs
Twelve things a loan origination system has to handle for a broker shop, taken from what wholesale lenders actually require at submission. Use it to judge any LOS, this one included.
How a broker loan moves
In the wholesale channel the broker takes the application, prices it across lenders, and submits it; the lender usually underwrites, discloses, and closes. A typical flow, from lenders' published broker guides:
- Take the application (the 1003, also called the URLA).
- Within a day of a complete application, export a MISMO 3.4 file and import it into the chosen lender's portal.
- Upload the fee worksheet and the signed loan options (anti-steering) disclosure.
- Pull or reissue credit and run DU or LPA through the lender's sponsorship.
- The Loan Estimate goes out within three business days: from the lender's disclosure desk, or from the broker for lenders that require it.
- Underwriting issues conditions; the broker's processor collects them.
- Clear to close, the Closing Disclosure, and closing.
The broker's LOS owns steps 1 to 4 and has to track the rest. That's where the checklist comes from.
| What it needs | Why | In OpenLOS today |
|---|---|---|
| 1. The full 1003 | Lenders want initial and final 1003s with every section filled, including Section 8 demographics and the loan officer's and company's NMLS IDs. | Yes: every URLA section, in six steps, with a readiness check that says what's missing. |
| 2. MISMO 3.4 export | It's how a file gets into a lender's portal and DU without retyping (the ULAD dataset). | Yes, in and out. Section 8 isn't in the export yet, and it hasn't been tested against a lender's portal. |
| 3. Credit | A tri-merge from a credit agency the lender accepts; the scores drive pricing. | Partly: upload the agency's MISMO credit file and the scores and accounts flow in. No direct ordering yet. |
| 4. AUS findings | DU or LPA, usually through the lender's sponsorship. | Partly: record the findings. No direct DU or LPA connection, which needs agreements with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. |
| 5. Pricing across lenders | Wholesale rate sheets, adjustments, and your compensation, compared lender by lender. | Yes: lenders' Excel sheets or signed live feeds, best fit for the borrower's goal, and what-ifs. |
| 6. Loan options disclosure | Anti-steering (Reg Z ยง1026.36(e)): lenders require it signed before funding. | Yes, built from real pricing and archived. |
| 7. Fee worksheet | Itemized fees and the service provider list go to the lender with the file. | Not yet as its own document. |
| 8. Disclosures and the TRID clock | The LE within three business days, the CD three business days before closing, and the broker's own notices. | A TRID clock with every deadline and the earliest closing. It doesn't generate the LE or CD. |
| 9. Borrower portal and e-sign | Borrowers expect to apply and sign online. | Not yet. |
| 10. Pipeline and conditions | Every loan's stage, tasks, and lender conditions in one place. | Yes: stages with gates, tasks, conditions, encrypted documents, and history. |
| 11. Licensing and compensation records | NMLS IDs, state licenses, comp plans, and three years of compensation records. | Yes: license checks on assignment, comp plans, and comp elections kept as permanent records. |
| 12. Security and access | The FTC Safeguards Rule applies to brokers: access control, encryption, logging, and two-step sign-in. | Yes: roles, encryption at rest, two-step sign-in, and append-only logs. Security review. |
Sources: lenders' published wholesale broker guides and the agencies' public pages, collected in the broker channel research. Not legal advice.
Questions to ask any LOS
- Who owns it, and who pays it? A system owned by one lender, or paid by lenders to be in a marketplace, has a reason to favor someone.
- Where does borrower data live, and can you take it with you? Ask for a full export, MISMO and documents, before you sign.
- What does it cost at five loan officers? Seat prices multiply; so do per-loan fees.
- Can it explain a price? Which adjustments applied, and why one lender beat another.
- What happens if the company changes course? Closed systems can be repriced or shut down. Open source can be carried on by anyone.
See how OpenLOS compares, try the demo with fictional files, or run your own copy.