What I'm responsible for
As founder and editor of HearthLoan, my work covers:
- Editorial direction and topic prioritization
- Calculator UX design and explanatory copy
- Source verification for non-lender-specific claims (Tax Foundation, NAIC, HUD, VA, state revenue departments)
- State-specific default table maintenance and quarterly review
- AI tooling decisions and the editorial wall described in our AI disclosure
- Editing every page for clarity, structure, and accuracy of statements within my expertise
What I'm not responsible for
I do not hold a U.S. mortgage license (NMLS), a Certified Financial Planner designation (CFP®), a Certified Public Accountant license (CPA), or any other professional credential that authorizes me to give financial advice. That means:
- I do not write lender-specific guidance under my own name. Pages involving lender practices, product eligibility specifics, or pricing recommendations are reviewed and signed off by an NMLS-licensed mortgage professional. Until that reviewer is in place, those pages stay unpublished.
- I do not provide personalized financial advice. Calculators and guides on this site are educational tools, not advice. Readers making large decisions should consult their own licensed mortgage professional and CFP.
- I do not sign off on tax positions. Tax effects of refinancing depend on facts I don't have. Tax content is sourced from IRS publications and clearly framed as informational.
The structure is deliberate: separating the editor role from the licensed-reviewer role lets us be transparent about what each person on the team is actually qualified to opine on.
Background
Before HearthLoan, I worked on consumer-facing software products and editorial systems. The premise of this project — that personal-finance media should treat readers as adults capable of evaluating tools when they can see the assumptions — comes from years of frustration with calculators whose math is hidden and whose defaults are wrong.
I am the project's founder; I am not its only voice. As we add reviewers (NMLS-licensed mortgage professional, CFP, Spanish-language editor), their bylines appear alongside mine. The expert is the one who signs off, not the one who set up the site.
Published on HearthLoan
Pages I have authored or co-authored:
- Refinance Calculator — full PITI + state-specific calculator (pending NMLS reviewer sign-off on lender-specific content)
- Calculator Methodology — formulas, sources, assumptions
- Editorial Policy — how we research, write, review, and correct content
- AI Disclosure — where AI is and isn't used in the publishing workflow
- How We Make Money — revenue disclosure and editorial wall
- About HearthLoan — site purpose and team
External profiles
External profiles are part of how Google's Knowledge Graph verifies real people behind a byline. The links below will be filled in as the project's public presence develops.
- LinkedIn: profile being prepared
- Personal site: to be added
- X / Twitter: to be added
- GitHub: to be added
If you've encountered me by name in a verifiable public context — a publication byline, a conference talk, an industry directory — and you don't see it linked here, please email [email protected] so we can add it.
Contact
Reach me directly at [email protected] for editorial questions, story pitches, or feedback on the calculators. For corrections, prefer [email protected] — that inbox is monitored on a same-day basis.
Why this profile exists in this much detail on a brand-new site: YMYL finance content gets evaluated partly on whether real people stand behind it. A page that says "by HearthLoan Editorial Team" with no further detail is structurally suspicious. A page with named authors who have profiles you can audit and reach is structurally trustworthy. We choose the second pattern.
Read what I edit
The refinance calculator and the methodology behind it.