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President Obama Tuesday night made a few specific references to the mortgage industry in his State of the Union speech, but never did he once use the phrase “loan broker” or try to paint these third-part salesmen as the evildoers of the housing crisis (as he has in the past.) We understand that some trade officials that represent brokers have been trying to educate the White House on what exactly a broker is – and isn't. Meanwhile, I'm becoming a firm believer in this one fact: that most Americans don't even know what a broker is. Recently, I was a reading a magazine called Bethesda, which had a small article about the top “brokers” in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Three worked for the megabanks (Wells Fargo was one), one worked for a mortgage banker, and the last one I did not recognize. I don't think the general public (or general media) distinguishes between a LO (bank or nonbank mortgage firm) and a loan broker. To them it's all the same. Perhaps the industry needs to advertise to educate the general public.