Biography

Felix Underwood is the Licensed Lender Reviewer at Big Daddy Loans, where he verifies that every explanation of underwriting, ACH mechanics, lender operations, and disclosure compliance on the site is technically accurate. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 2005 and has held an active NMLS license since 2006.

Felix started his lending career as a branch loan officer at a community bank in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he processed consumer installment and personal-line applications and learned the full underwriting stack from initial interview to adverse-action notice. In 2008 he relocated to Cincinnati and joined a regional credit union's consumer-credit department, rising over seven years to Consumer Lending Analyst and then Credit Policy Manager, overseeing a portfolio that included Payday Alternative Loans (PALs), signature loans, and a small-dollar emergency program built in partnership with United Way of Greater Cincinnati.

From 2015 to 2023 Felix served as Assistant Vice President of Consumer Lending at a separate Ohio credit union, where he rewrote the institution's ability-to-repay framework to align with post-2017 CFPB small-dollar guidance, and trained underwriting staff on TILA finance-charge itemization and ACH re-presentment limits under NACHA rules. Since 2021 he has taught a part-time course in consumer lending at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College.

Felix joined Big Daddy Loans in 2024 as the standing lender-side reviewer. His focus: making sure the site explains how consumer lending actually works — underwriting criteria, ACH mechanics, PAL alternatives, and the practical costs embedded in disclosure forms — without softening what borrowers need to know.

Credentials

NMLS-licensed Consumer Lender
NMLS-registered consumer lender · Active since 2006
Part-time Instructor, Consumer Finance
Cincinnati State Technical and Community College · 2021–present
BS Finance
Indiana University Kelley School of Business · 2005
Prior roles
Community bank loan officer (Fort Wayne, IN) · AVP Consumer Lending, Ohio credit union

Areas of expertise

  • Consumer credit underwriting — risk-tier pricing, alternative-data scoring, adverse-action notice requirements
  • Ability-to-repay analysis — residual-income models, CFPB ATR principles, debt-service-coverage ratios
  • TILA and Regulation Z — APR calculation, finance-charge itemization, right-of-rescission timing
  • Payday Alternative Loans (PALs) — NCUA PAL I vs. PAL II differences, eligibility rules, credit-union structuring
  • ACH presentment rules — NACHA re-presentment limits, return-code handling, collection attempt caps

Articles reviewed by Felix

Felix signed off as lender-side reviewer on:

Conflict of interest disclosure

Disclosure. Felix holds no ownership stake in any lender, fintech platform, or lead-generation network reviewed on Big Daddy Loans. He is compensated on a per-review contract basis with no referral or volume incentive. His current part-time teaching role and any ongoing affiliation with a credit union are disclosed to the Big Daddy Loans editorial board. He recuses himself from reviewing any content involving institutions where he has held an underwriting or credit-policy role within the prior three years.

Contact

For underwriting questions, lender-operations clarifications, or interview requests, contact [email protected].