Mortgage Club: 12 Rules They Don’t Want You to Know

December 10, 2025 at 08:22 AM EST

By Tim Rhey & Rich Hanlin

Buying a home shouldn’t feel like stepping into a rigged game — but for most people, it does. In Mortgage Club, industry veterans Tim Rhey and Rich Hanlin rip the curtain off one of the most confusing, predatory, and misunderstood systems in personal finance: the mortgage lending world. And instead of drowning you in jargon, they hand you the exact rules the industry hopes you never learn.

This isn’t a polite guide or a textbook full of fine print. It’s a street-smart playbook written by two top loan officers who’ve seen every lender trick, every hidden fee, every “standard procedure” designed to make borrowers feel powerless. With sharp insights, real stories, and zero sugarcoating, Mortgage Club shows you how to navigate the process with clarity, confidence, and control.

Inside, readers get a crash course in shopping lenders without tanking their credit, decoding rates and fees, and negotiating like someone who knows the game — because after reading this book, you will. Rhey and Hanlin break down the underwriting process, explain the psychology behind lender tactics, and reveal 12 underground rules that flip the power dynamic back to where it belongs: in your hands.

Fast-paced and surprisingly entertaining, Mortgage Club reads like a financial thriller — part education, part empowerment, and all truth. Every chapter gives you tools you can use immediately, whether you’re buying your first home, refinancing, or simply tired of being pushed around by an industry built on confusion.

Rhey and Hanlin’s mission is simple:

Don’t get sold. Get smart.

Because when you understand the rules of the game, you stop being the target — and start being the one who wins.

For anyone ready to take control of one of the biggest financial decisions of their life, Mortgage Club is more than a book. It’s an edge. A shield. A wake-up call. And a roadmap to real financial freedom.