Why are we one of only 8 states where mortgage people are not licensed??? Can you say LOBBYISTS??!!!!!!

Trust me, every mortgage professional I know wants licensing. They want it yesterday, and desire the licens-ing requirements to be difficult and meaningful.

Imagine that, a mortgage broker or banker who must provide fiduciary duty and put the borrower in a loan that is both “reasonable and prudent”. Fiduciary—Reasonable—Prudent. All words that Certified Financial Planners must adhere to.

So who are these lobbyists representing??? Could it be the Countrywide‟s / DiTechs / Quicken Loans of the world?? The answer is yes and then some. Add whoever has a stake in Internet and Call Center mortgage sales. Do you think these entities would want the expense to train their loan representatives, along with the liability for doling out imprudent loans?? Of course not. How can you stay in business by paying your people $200 a loan if they are professional?? You can‟t. So the victim is the consumer!!

How many people have needlessly paid for an appraisal (the call center mortgage people call it a non-refundable „application fee‟) for a loan that could never have been done?? How many people pay unnecessary points on a loan, just to get to the advertised teaser rates that are usually 1% higher than a more responsible loan with zero points or costs?

Did you know that DiTech‟s (GMAC Mortgage by the way) hiring criteria for mortgage professionals is the following:

** High School Diploma or GED Equivalent

** 6 months of public interaction experience on the job

In other words, a high school dropout who‟s worked 6 months at Burger King can do loans!!! No wonder we‟ve gone from one of the most respected industries to “scum of the earth”.

It is estimated that 1/3 of all loans done in Arizona are done by non-licensed mortgage companies. The majorty of which, a mortgage license bill, just killed, would have eliminated those. Bonding mortgage bro-kers, killed in the prior bill, would have cancelled out another 50%. So we go.

Write or call your local State Senator or Congressman and demand licensing, if it moves you to do so. In the meantime, the market is slowly chafing out the deadweight