# Owen Schaefer — Licensed Lender Reviewer | MeridianWallet > Owen Schaefer is an NMLS-licensed consumer lender with 15 years at a regional credit union and an adjunct lecturer at UT Arlington — reviews underwriting and lender-side accuracy. Источник: https://nimblepayday.com/authors/owen-schaefer/ --- # Owen Schaefer Licensed Lender Reviewer at MeridianWallet. NMLS-licensed consumer lender with 15 years of underwriting and credit-policy experience at a regional Texas credit union — and adjunct lecturer in consumer finance at the University of Texas at Arlington. OS **Owen Schaefer** · NMLS-registered **On this page** Biography Credentials Areas of expertise Articles reviewed Conflicts of interest Contact ## Biography Owen Schaefer is the Licensed Lender Reviewer at MeridianWallet, where he verifies that every explanation of underwriting, ACH mechanics, lender operations, and disclosure compliance on the site is technically accurate. He holds an active NMLS license and currently serves as an adjunct lecturer in consumer finance at the University of Texas at Arlington. Owen spent fifteen years at a regional Texas credit union, where he started as a loan officer in 2009 and rose to lead the small-dollar lending portfolio — including Payday Alternative Loans (PALs), unsecured signature loans, and a Skip-A-Pay hardship program. He built underwriting policy for the institution's $40M consumer-lending book, trained branch staff on TILA disclosure and Regulation B fair-lending compliance, and partnered with regional nonprofits to refer denied applicants to credit-counseling resources. He has testified twice at the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner (OCCC) on the operational differences between Credit Access Business (CAB) loans and credit-union PALs, and serves on the credit-union league's small-dollar lending working group. Since 2023 Owen has lectured part-time at UT Arlington on consumer-credit underwriting and the regulatory architecture around small-dollar loans. Owen joined MeridianWallet in 2025 as the standing lender-side reviewer. His review focus: making sure the site explains how the lender side actually works — ability-to-repay analysis, ACH presentment rules, fraud-detection mechanics, and CSO/CAB structure — without sanitizing the costs or hiding the alternatives. ## Credentials **NMLS-licensed Consumer Lender** NMLS-registered mortgage loan originator **Adjunct Lecturer, Consumer Finance** University of Texas at Arlington · 2023–present **Prior role** 15 years at a regional Texas credit union — small-dollar lending portfolio lead **Working-group affiliation** Credit-union league small-dollar lending working group ## Areas of expertise - **Underwriting and credit decisioning** — risk-based pricing, alternative-data scoring, denial-reason coding - **Ability-to-repay analysis** — debt-to-income, residual income, CFPB ATR principles for small-dollar credit - **State CSO/CAB rules** — Texas Credit Services Organization Act, city-ordinance overlays - **Fraud detection** — synthetic identity, ACH-return abuse, layered authentication for thin-file applicants - **TILA disclosure compliance** — APR calculation, finance-charge boxes, rescission timing ## Articles reviewed by Owen Owen signed off as lender-side reviewer on: - [Payday Loans in Texas: Laws, Rates, Limits & Alternatives](/state-guides/texas/) - [Payday Loans Online — Compare 23+ State-Licensed Lenders (2026)](/payday-loans/) - [15 Payday Loan Alternatives Ranked by Cost](/other-options/) - [What is a Payday Loan? Plain-English Explainer](/guides-center/what-is-a-payday-loan/) ## Conflict of interest disclosure **Disclosure.** Author owns no securities in companies covered. Compensated by MeridianWallet on a contract reviewer basis; no per-loan referral incentives. Currently affiliated with a regional credit union (not a MeridianWallet partner). Recused from any review involving his current employer or any institution where he has held a credit-policy role in the past three years. Adjunct teaching compensation disclosed to the editorial board. ## Contact For underwriting questions, lender-operations clarifications, or interview requests, contact editor@nimblepayday.com. #### About our authors Every MeridianWallet page is bylined by a credentialed author and signed off by a separate reviewer. [See all 6 authors](/authors/) --- #### Editorial standards [Read our editorial policy →](/editorial-policy/) [Fact-checking process →](/fact-checking-policy/) [Corrections log →](/corrections/)