Benjamin Zimmerman; Began Mortgage Group

Benjamin J. Zimmerman, founder of the Mortgage Institute of California, died Saturday at his home in Beverly Hills. He was 96.

Zimmerman, who was born in 1900 in the Ukraine, moved to the United States with his family when he was 7. He went on to study at Baltimore City College and at the University of Maryland, where he received a law degree in 1923.

He moved to California in 1944 with his wife, Edith, and children, Stanley and Mynda. Six years later, he started the Mortgage Institute, the first organization in California representing mortgage brokers. The group later merged with Mortgage Assn. of California. In 1953, Zimmerman helped sponsor the state’s first truth in lending legislation, which enabled buyers to require lenders to disclose the cost associated with borrowing money.

After his daughter died of cancer in 1971, he became active in the Concern Foundation, helping raise money for cancer research.

Zimmerman--who died of natural causes after suffering from a prolonged illness--is survived by his wife; his son; two sisters, Sadie and Rose; eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Memorial services are set for 3 p.m. today at Hillside Memorial Park Chapel, 6001 W. Centinela Ave., Los Angeles.