Our Editorial Guidelines

Our editorial mission

Total Quality Lending publishes mortgage content for a specific reader: real estate investors, self-employed borrowers, business owners, and foreign nationals who don’t fit the conventional bank box. Our goal on every page is to provide accurate, actionable information that helps that reader either qualify for a loan, choose the right program, or understand a process they’re about to go through.

We are Total Quality Financial, Inc., doing business as Total Quality Lending (NMLS #1933377). Everything we publish reflects the loan programs we actually originate — not industry-wide hypotheticals.

Content review process

Every page on this site that describes a loan program, an underwriting parameter, or regulatory information is reviewed before publication by:

• An NMLS-licensed loan officer on the TQL team — confirming that program parameters (LTV, FICO, DSCR, loan amount ceilings) match the current underwriting guidelines.
• Our compliance team — confirming that the page is consistent with TILA, RESPA, ECOA, the Fair Housing Act, state-specific advertising rules, and the CFPB’s UDAAP standards.
• An editorial reviewer — checking that the page is readable, internally consistent, and that every external citation resolves to an authoritative primary source.

Pages are not published until all three reviewers sign off. Changes to a published page follow the same review pipeline.

Sources we cite

When we make a factual claim that isn’t about TQL’s own programs, we cite an authoritative primary source. We do not cite blogs, aggregator sites, or second-hand reporting for regulatory, tax, or underwriting facts.

• NMLS Consumer Access

  Confirming any loan officer's NMLS license status and disciplinary history.

• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)

  Federal mortgage disclosure rules (TILA, RESPA), ATR/QM definitions, and consumer protection guidance.

• U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

  Fair Housing Act, FHA program parameters, and HUD-published housing data.

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

  Tax-treatment information, ITIN documentation requirements, and self-employment income definitions.

• Fannie Mae

  Conforming loan limits, Selling Guide updates, and conventional underwriting standards used as a baseline.

• Freddie Mac

  Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide and conventional product comparisons.

• Federal Housing Administration (FHA)

  FHA-insured loan program parameters when referenced in comparison content.

Fact-checking policy

Every numeric claim on this site that describes a TQL loan program — maximum LTV, minimum FICO, minimum and maximum loan amounts, minimum DSCR ratio, eligible property types — is checked against the current underwriting guideline at every page update. If the guideline changes, the page is updated within the next review cycle.

State-specific overlays (where they apply) are sourced from the carve-outs in the TQL guideline and from each state regulator’s published rules. We do not rely on second-hand summaries for state-specific content.

Update cadence

• Monthly: Pages with rate language, program-parameter language, or comparison content (e.g., DSCR vs Conventional).
• Quarterly: Informational content, glossary entries, and process explainers.
• Immediately on change: Any time a TQL guideline parameter or a cited regulation changes materially.
• Annually: Full editorial audit of every page, including external link verification.

Conflict of interest disclosure

Total Quality Lending is a direct lender. The loan programs, underwriting flexibility, and closing timelines described on this site reflect the products we originate. They are not a survey of the broader mortgage industry.

When a page compares TQL programs to other products (for example, DSCR vs Hard Money), we describe the typical industry-standard terms of the competing product based on published lender disclosures and our own daily market observations. We do not name specific competitors. Borrowers should always compare their TQL quote to at least one additional lender’s quote before committing.

Corrections & reader feedback

If you find an error on this site — a stale program parameter, a broken citation, a regulatory reference that’s out of date, or a sentence that’s unclear — email us at CustomerCare@TQLend.com with the page URL and a description of the issue.

We respond to editorial corrections within five business days. When we update a page in response to feedback, we update the page’s last-reviewed date in the schema metadata.