In the past, a mortgage loan officer had to be a good judge of character. Although loan applicants were required to present information on the state of their finances, and credit reports were consulted, the ultimate decision rested on the perception of the loan officer. Those days are gone. For one thing, no real evidence exists that loan officers’ hunches were effective in the long run. Two, any decision to turn down a loan that is not based on hard, objective factors may be deemed discriminatory in a court of law. And three, the loan officer often is not even a person, but a computer programmed to evaluate information. More->