Licensing and disclosures
TrustCedar is an educational site that passes loan requests to lenders and loan brokers. It does not lend, so the license that matters is the one held by the company that contacts you, and you can check it yourself.
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What TrustCedar does
TrustCedar publishes information about personal loan rates and the benchmarks behind them, and it offers a form for visitors who want lenders to contact them. When you send that form, we pass your request to lenders and loan brokers that work with TrustCedar, and they pay us for it (How we make money).
TrustCedar does not:
- lend money, fund loans or collect loan payments;
- service loans or hold anyone’s money;
- negotiate loan terms on your behalf or act as your broker;
- make credit decisions or quote rates;
- act as a bank, a credit union, a trust company or a government agency.
No lending license, and none claimed
TrustCedar holds no lending license, and nothing on this site should be read as saying it does. We do not display license numbers, seals or badges, because we have none to show.
About the word “Trust” in our name
“TrustCedar” is a brand name. TrustCedar is not a trust company, does not hold a trust charter from any state or federal regulator, and does not offer trust, fiduciary, custody or deposit services. No one at TrustCedar acts as a trustee or fiduciary for visitors.
Who must be licensed
The lenders and loan brokers who receive requests through TrustCedar and contact visitors must hold the licenses or charters that the states where they do business require. Banks and credit unions are chartered and supervised by federal or state agencies. Many other consumer lenders, and in many states loan brokers, need a license from each state where they make or arrange loans. Rules differ by state, by loan size and by the type of company.
A company’s license is its own responsibility. Check it before you share bank details, sign anything or pay anything.
How to check a lender or broker
- NMLS Consumer Access (nmlsconsumeraccess.org) is a free public lookup run for state regulators. Search by company name or NMLS ID to see which states have licensed the company through NMLS, under which license types, and whether a license is active. Not every state uses NMLS for every kind of consumer lending license, so a missing entry is a reason to check with the state, not proof either way.
- Your state’s financial regulator, often called the department of banking, financial institutions or consumer credit, can tell you whether a company is licensed to lend or broker loans in your state.
- For a bank or credit union, the FDIC’s BankFind tool and the NCUA’s credit union lookup show whether the institution is chartered and insured.
A legitimate lender will tell you its full legal name and license or NMLS number when you ask. Be careful with anyone who asks for a fee before a loan is funded, promises a loan before reviewing your application, or pressures you to decide on the call.
Where to complain
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: submit a complaint about a lender, broker or debt collector at consumerfinance.gov/complaint.
- Your state’s financial regulator, for a company it licenses.
- Your state attorney general, for deceptive or unfair practices.
- The Federal Trade Commission, for fraud or scams, at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
If a company that contacted you after a TrustCedar request behaved improperly, please also tell us through the contact page.
Our address
TrustCedar, 1940 Fountain View Dr, Suite 308, Houston, TX 77057, United States. Email: [email protected].