Mortgage loans are those that are secured by property. Though technically the definition of property includes personal property as well, in general parlance mortgage means a loan secured by landed assets and those assets that are permanently and immovably attached to land. Lender is the one who provides money to the borrower. In exchange the lender receives the appropriate documents, which promises repayment of the sum that is borrowed. This might usually include an obligation on the part of the borrower to pay interest. Considering the principal, rate of interest and the time of repayment the sum and frequency of periodic payments called installments. Lenders who perform all the loan origination functions themselves are called retail lenders. Lenders who delegate some lending functions to mortgage brokers are called wholesale lenders (mortgage brokers do not lend but act as a link between the lender and borrower and also solves problems involved in qualifying for a loan, including credit problems, taking borrower’s application and also process the loan). Direct Lenders is a term used by small lenders to distinguish themselves from mortgage brokers. Further differentiation of lenders is based on whether they sell the loans to the secondary market, because they do not have long term funding sources, or they offer deposit accounts to public. The former are referred to as mortgage bankers and the latter are called Portfolio lenders or depository institutions and include commercial banks, savings banks, savings and loan associations, and credit unions. Portfolio lenders provide relatively stable funding that allows them to hold loans permanently in their portfolio.