Licensing
Where I lend
I'm licensed to originate mortgages in 14 states, and adding more. The loan programs are national; the closing is not. Who runs your closing, which taxes apply, and who customarily pays for the owner's title policy all change at the state line — and getting that wrong is how a closing-cost estimate ends up thousands of dollars off.
Licensed in
Alabama · Alaska · Arkansas · California · Georgia · Illinois · Kansas · Louisiana · Maine · Minnesota · Missouri · South Carolina · South Dakota · Wyoming
Same tools, same pricing, same process in every one of them. Run your scenario from anywhere on the list.
Who actually conducts your closing, state by state
A lawyer, a licensed title or settlement agent, or a neutral escrow holder — it depends on the state, and it is not close to uniform. Every answer names the statute, bar opinion or regulator publication behind it.
Who pays for the owner's title policy, by state
For most states nothing official assigns it — no statute, no statewide form. What can actually be sourced, and where the confident tables are reporting custom rather than rule.
Which states tax you for recording a mortgage
Ten do. Forty charge recording fees but no tax measured by your loan. It matters most on a refinance, which records a new mortgage every time — so the charge recurs where a transfer tax would not.
Which states give disabled veterans a property tax break?
Most do, and almost none the same way. Sourced to each state — including the ones where the widely published answer describes a bill that never passed.
Deep guides written so far — what actually changes in each
Alabama
A licensed Alabama mortgage broker on the two recordation taxes — one on the deed, one on the mortgage — and why a rate-and-term refinance still lands inside the mortgage tax here.
Alabama cash out · Alabama pre approval · Alabama refinance · Alabama self employed · Alabama VA loans
Alaska
A licensed Alaska mortgage broker on recording districts rather than counties, why no state transfer or mortgage tax was found but the local check still matters, and the rule that means nobody can discount your closing charges.
Alaska cash out · Alaska pre approval · Alaska refinance · Alaska self employed · Alaska VA loans
Arkansas
A licensed Arkansas mortgage broker on the one state where title rates are not filed or reviewed at all, why that makes comparing the full quote matter more here, and the transfer tax a refinance does not trigger.
Arkansas cash out · Arkansas pre approval · Arkansas refinance · Arkansas self employed · Arkansas VA loans
California
A licensed California mortgage broker on escrow closings, the north-south split in who pays for title, transfer taxes that are local rather than statewide, and why you still cannot sign by webcam here.
California cash out · California pre approval · California refinance · California self employed · California VA loans
Georgia
A licensed Georgia mortgage broker on what an attorney-closing state changes about your closing, and the two Georgia taxes that show up on a purchase or a refinance.
Georgia cash out · Georgia pre approval · Georgia refinance · Georgia self employed · Georgia VA loans
Illinois
A licensed Illinois mortgage broker on the two-lawyers-and-a-title-company model, transfer taxes stacked at three levels of government, and the seller-provides-the-owner-policy custom that catches buyers arriving from elsewhere.
Illinois cash out · Illinois pre approval · Illinois refinance · Illinois self employed · Illinois VA loans
Kansas
A licensed Kansas mortgage broker on the mortgage tax that was repealed and is still quoted, why closing and escrow charges are filed here as well as premiums, and the state line running through Kansas City.
Kansas cash out · Kansas pre approval · Kansas refinance · Kansas self employed · Kansas VA loans
Louisiana
A licensed Louisiana mortgage broker on why closings work differently here — civil law, parishes, notaries and authentic acts — and what that changes about buying or refinancing.
Louisiana cash out · Louisiana pre approval · Louisiana refinance · Louisiana self employed · Louisiana VA loans
Maine
A licensed Maine mortgage broker on the transfer tax the statute splits down the middle — half the seller, half the buyer — which is a rarer thing than it sounds, and what a refinance does not trigger.
Maine cash out · Maine pre approval · Maine refinance · Maine self employed · Maine VA loans
Minnesota
A licensed Minnesota mortgage broker on getting pre-approved before you shop, and the two state taxes that show up on a Minnesota closing.
Minnesota cash out · Minnesota pre approval · Minnesota refinance · Minnesota self employed · Minnesota VA loans
Missouri
A licensed Missouri mortgage broker on the constitutional amendment that bars new taxes on real estate transfers, why the closing fee is the line to compare rather than the premium, and what still has to be checked county by county.
Missouri cash out · Missouri pre approval · Missouri refinance · Missouri self employed · Missouri VA loans
South Carolina
A South Carolina mortgage broker on getting pre-approved before you shop, and what an attorney-closing state actually changes about your closing.
South Carolina city · South Carolina cash out · South Carolina pre approval · South Carolina refinance · South Carolina self employed · South Carolina VA loans
South Dakota
A licensed South Dakota mortgage broker on the transfer fee the statute puts on the seller, why the official purchase agreement leaves title costs blank on purpose, and what a refinance avoids.
South Dakota cash out · South Dakota pre approval · South Dakota refinance · South Dakota self employed · South Dakota VA loans
Wyoming
A licensed Wyoming mortgage broker on the absence of a state transfer or mortgage tax, title rates the Commissioner actually approves rather than merely accepts, and the remote-signing option almost no other state offers.
Wyoming cash out · Wyoming pre approval · Wyoming refinance · Wyoming self employed · Wyoming VA loans