Shant Banosian reclaimed the top spot in Scotsman Guide’s 2026 Top Originators rankings after closing $1.04 billion in loans across 1,561 deals in 2025. It was the sixth time since 2018 that the Massachusetts mortgage officer finished first.
Banosian’s mix last year leaned heavily toward homebuying, with purchase loans accounting for 77% of his closings. Refinances made up 19%, while second mortgages represented 4%.
The ranking covers production in 2025 and was published in 2026, giving lenders a fresh snapshot of who dominated one of the industry’s key scoreboards. Across the field, qualified originators produced $324 billion on 795,000 closed loans, up from $254 billion on 645,000 closings the year before. The top 150 originators alone closed $36.3 billion on 58,920 loans, averaging 66% purchases, 29% refinances and 4% second mortgages.
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Mark Cohen of Cohen Financial Group in California finished runner-up for the second straight year, with $933.7 million in volume on 692 loans. Jeffrey Miller of Truss Financial Group in California took second in closed loans with 1,351. Ben Cohen of Rate ranked third in dollar volume at $718.3 million on 1,050 closings, while Jarret Coleman of U.S. Bank in Connecticut was fourth with $711.2 million on 683 loans. The rest of the top tier showed how wide the field has become: Brian Minkow of CMG Home Loans closed $502.3 million on 403 loans, Andrew Marquis of CrossCountry Mortgage closed $501 million on 690 loans, Baret Kechian of loanDepot closed $482.3 million on 708 loans, Ameer Katifi of Trusted Mortgage Capital closed $445.4 million on 1,118 loans, and Matt Weaver of CrossCountry closed $427.6 million on 1,224 loans.
The numbers point to a market where volume is no longer coming from one type of lending alone. For the first time, Scotsman Guide also recognized annual production in its Top Private Originators category, where 54 entrants produced $5.3 billion on 12,106 loans. Paul Shaughnessy of Renovo Financial in Massachusetts led that group with $354.8 million from 549 closed loans, followed by Israel Lopez of Vontive/Certain Lending in Washington with $230.9 million on 271 loans, Matt Ferrigno of RCN Capital in Connecticut with $216.1 million on 852 loans, and Aubrey Kozer of HouseMax Funding in Texas with $207.4 million from 546 loans.
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Scotsman Guide also separated out Top Non-QM Volume, where Mark Cohen led with 262 non-qualified mortgage loans worth $417.1 million. Miller had the most non-QM closings at 569, totaling $325.9 million, and Dustin Rosenberg of Convoy Home Loans in California closed 460 loans for $312.7 million. Banosian’s repeat win answers the big question behind the rankings: for another year, the mortgage officer who set the pace was the one who kept combining size with consistency, and nobody in the 2025 field matched it.
