Founded 1988. Same founder still leading.
Brad Waite founded Land Home Financial Services in 1988 with a simple proposition: a direct mortgage lender that treats borrowers like people, not file numbers. 38 years later, he still runs the company. We still answer our phones. We still retain about 90% of our loans for servicing — meaning we keep our borrowers as our customers, not someone else's.
What brings you here today?
Five chapters in thirty-eight years.
From a one-office direct lender in Concord to a 50-state operation that still picks up the phone. Each chapter was deliberate— not a pivot, not a rebrand, not a sale to a larger holding company.
Founding
Brad Waite founds Land Home Financial Services in Concord, California. Started as a small direct lender focused on quality file work and personal relationships with borrowers. The original mission still applies.
Multi-state expansion
Licensed in additional states beyond California. Began building the branch network that would eventually span 50 states. Every expansion was deliberate— we license where we can serve, not just where we can sell.
Through the financial crisis
When most independent lenders folded or sold to banks during the 2008 collapse, LHFS continued operating, continued servicing, continued lending. Survival required keeping discipline on credit quality— discipline that defined the company for the next decade.
HFA partnerships
Became master servicer for eight state Housing Finance Agencies, putting the company at the center of community lending and down-payment-assistance programs in those states. Affordable lending became core, not adjunct.
Still here, still independent
Same founder. Same headquarters in Concord. Same direct-to-borrower model. Roughly 50 loan-officer partners across 50 states. ~90% of loans retained for servicing. The version of the company we wanted in 1988 is still the version we run today.
Three things that haven't changed.
Founder, headquarters, model. Most lenders our age have been bought, merged, or restructured into something unrecognizable. We've held the line on the things that mattered in 1988— because they still matter to borrowers in 2026.
We still answer the phones
A real loan officer picks up — not a queue, not a chatbot, not a triage rep. You speak with the person who underwrites your file. That is the entire point.
We retain ~90% for servicing
Most lenders sell servicing the moment a loan funds. We keep roughly 90% of our loans on our own books — meaning the relationship doesn't end at closing. You stay our customer for the life of the loan.
We license deliberately
Fifty states, but never "everywhere at once." We expand where we can actually serve borrowers — with local LOs, branch partners, and program expertise — not where the marketing map looks better. Quality over coverage.
More about who we are.
The team running the company, the partners writing your loan, and the programs that put us at the center of community lending in eight states.
Leadership team
The bench behind the brand — founder, executives, and the operators running production, servicing, and capital markets.
Meet the teamBranches & partners
Roughly 50 loan-officer partners across 50 states — local advocates with the backing of a 38-year-old direct lender.
Find a branchCommunity lending
Master servicer for eight state HFAs. Down-payment assistance, first-time-buyer programs, and affordable-lending partnerships.
See programsWhy LHFS
What makes a 1988-founded direct lender different from a bank or a non-bank shop that flips loans the moment they fund.
Read the caseWhere we lend
Fifty states, with state-specific licensing, programs, and disclosures.
See the mapFind a loan officer
Search by state, name, or specialty (manufactured, renovation, jumbo, VA, DPA). Connects directly to a real LO.
Browse LOsA real LO will call you within an hour.
Sixty-second short app. No SSN, no hard credit pull. Tell us your situation and a licensed loan officer reaches out — no queues, no auto-replies.