Loan committee

Definition

The bank group that approves or declines a loan, and never meets you.

Why It Matters

Approval is a meeting you are not in, decided on paper written by somebody else, which changes what you should optimize for: the file exists to survive a room that has never spoken to you or the seller. It also explains the timeline. A lender who says yes on a call has said the deal fits the box, and the committee date is when the answer becomes real, so a closing schedule built on the officer's enthusiasm instead of the committee calendar is the single most common reason a financing contingency runs out.