A loan origination fee is a fee that you pay your mortgage broker for putting together your loan.

A broker can be paid by an origination fee or through a yield spread premium, which is different than a loan origination fee.

A yield spread premium is paid by the lender to the broker and is the cash rebate paid to a mortgage broker based on selling an interest rate above the wholesale par rate.

The par rate is considered the wholesale interest rate.

Origination fees are often expressed as a percentage of the loan amount.

The origination fees and yield spread premiums are legitimate fees.  Under federal law, banks are not obligated to reveal certain fees unlike brokers.  Remember, a loan is not suspect just because you are charged an origination fee or yield spread premium.  Brokers have bills to pay, just like we do.