James B. Nutter Sr.

James B. Nutter, Sr. (born January 23, 1928) is the founder and chairman of James B. Nutter & Company, a privately owned mortgage banking firm headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It is one of the oldest and largest family-owned and operated mortgage lending firms in the United States, servicing billions in mortgages and making home loans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

The Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation named a section of street adjacent to many of the James B. Nutter and Company corporate offices and old homes revitalized into business offices, James B. Nutter Way in October 2013.Nutter was recognized as a Kansas City philanthropist by the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Medicine in May 2014 with an honorary doctorate for a promoting health in Kansas City, advocating for safe and affordable housing, and community revitalization and philanthropic efforts. Nutter is credited for refusing to adhere to the discriminatory lending practices of the day and the company was one of the first to make home loans in black neighborhoods and to single women on a large scale.

Nutter was named 2012 Kansas Citian of the Year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.

Nutter and his family lost their home in 1940, amid the Great Depression, and moved into a rental house. At age 12 Nutter was delivering fliers for local politicians. At 13 he was working 30 hours a week at a library – re-shelving books and cleaning up – for $30 a month. He opened a savings account with $50 after his second paycheck. Nutter earned a business degree from the University of Missouri in 1949, after serving 1½ years in the U.S. Army at Camp Stoneman near San Francisco.

Nutter founded James B. Nutter & Co. in 1951, working out of his home. He was one of the first real estate professionals in Kansas City to get into government-backed Veterans Administration home loans, which became a mainstay of his company. In the 1950s and '60s, his company was one of the first to make home loans in black neighborhoods and to single women on a large scale. In 1964, with foreclosure rates on the rise, his company created a forbearance program to help borrowers who were behind on their house payments. In 1995, He was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp.

During the subprime mortgage crisis in 2006 and 2007, the financial media recognized him, his son, Jim Jr., and their company, as examples of fiscal responsibility for refusing to get into subprime loans. The company was a pioneer in reverse mortgages, having initiated the nation's first Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgages in 1989.

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