The 12 Questions Every Wholesale Lender Asks [Free Template]

Over the past year, we’ve reviewed more than 20 broker packages and analyzed over 400 onboarding questions used by wholesale lenders across the country. While every institution has its own risk tolerances and legal nuances, we found that most lenders are asking variations of the same core questions.

Below are 12 questions that consistently show up in broker packages — covering regulatory risk, reputational risk, and compliance posture. If you're refining your broker approval process or evaluating a new onboarding platform, these are the foundational building blocks.

The 12 Most Common Broker Approval Questions

1. Has your company, its leadership, or corporate executives ever been implicated in a lawsuit over allegations of fraud or misrepresentation?
   If yes, please explain.
2. Has your firm ever faced a suspension from selling or managing mortgages by any investors?
   If yes, please explain.
3. Is your company either presently engaged in or has it previously been part of any legal disputes?
   If yes, please explain.
4. Have your company or any of your principals filed for bankruptcy in the past 7 years?
   If yes, please explain.
5. Have any company leaders or executives ever faced disciplinary actions from a regulatory body or had a real estate or professional license suspended or revoked?
   If yes, please explain.
6. Have any individuals listed on this application faced criminal convictions or are currently involved in criminal proceedings?
   If yes, please explain.
7. Does your company comply with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac Responsible Lending and Anti-Predatory Lending guidelines?
   If no, please explain.
8. Does your company comply with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac quality control guidelines?
   If no, please explain.
9. Does your company comply with the USA PATRIOT Act?
   If no, please explain.
10. Does your company comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act?
    If no, please explain.
11. Does your company screen employees against federal exclusion lists such as the GSA Excluded Party List, HUD LDP List, or other required sources?
    If no, please explain.
12. Does your company have policies and procedures for Fair and Responsible Lending?
    If no, please explain.

These Are Just the Starting Point

While these 12 questions are consistent across most broker packages, every lender has unique needs. Your legal and compliance teams may want to add or modify questions depending on your risk appetite, investor requirements, or the TPO channel being approved.

If you are working across multiple channels (e.g., Wholesale, Non-Del, Delegated), your platform should allow you to customize and streamline your approval workflows accordingly.

Don’t Just Ask the Right Questions — Ask Them the Right Way

Here’s what most platforms get wrong:

• They make brokers re-answer the same questions every time they apply with a new lender
• They do not carry over answers from the previous year, even if nothing has changed
• They require brokers to fill out multiple questionnaires when applying across channels

Loanscape solves all of this.

• Brokers answer once, and reuse those answers across any lender on the platform
• Lenders can create custom questions by channel or approval type
• Questionnaires automatically adjust based on what the broker has already submitted

The questions are important. But how you ask them — and how easy you make it for brokers to respond — is what truly sets your process apart.