Unlicensed Mortgage Loan Officers

Every home buyer and homeowner to whom I've posed the question of whether or not their mortgage Loan Officer (LO) was "licensed" has had no idea. The assumption by all of them, the general populace and even many real estate agents is that mortgage lenders, and specifically LO's, must SURELY be licensed. Right? Wrong!

In Arizona, only one person in any given firm must be licensed. So theoretically a mortgage lending firm could have one licensed individual broker and yet have a hundred LO's working in the firm ~ accessing confidential information on customers such as social security numbers, bank accounts, tax returns and credit reports, to name a few. So what's wrong with this?

In many cases, perhaps nothing. But in many cases, the abuses by LO's of their customers is staggering, costly and often even fraudulent. With licensing comes a measure of accountability. Without licensing, there's no way of having a clue of exactly how many unlicensed LO's are in Arizona, much less knowing anything about them or their backgrounds. So how does it make you feel to think your LO might have a criminal background? What if you discovered that your LO wasn't capable of passing a minimum mortgage finance exam? What if you found out that your LO didn't obtain the best loan rate and terms for your last home purchase but instead 'sold' you a loan that made her/him the most commission? And those types of questions just begin to scratch the surface.

So when I hear that House Bill 2320 has been introduced, a bill that would require mandatory licensing of ALL loan officers and originators, I want to shout hallelujah! We're way over due, and I support this measure 100%. The Arizona Republic recently published an extensive article on the subject, which I encourage you to read in its entirety.

Thanks!

...randy

Pathways to Professionalism - What a great idea!

Bob Hunt, a writer for Realty Times, just wrote an excellent article entitled "Pathways to Professionalism Provides a Good Start for Ethics Training." He reminded me of a little-known, rarely-referenced and badly needed concept (document) that was published by the National Association of REALTORS® several years ago and revised as recently as November of 2004: "Pathways to Professionalism".

Many of you know that the worst part of the real estate business for me is in dealing with other Agents. The REALTOR® Code of Ethics admonishes me to not 'bash' my fellow REALTORS®, so I'll just say in a general way that I continue to be amazed and occasionally appalled at the rudeness, insensitivity and flagrant display of un-professionalism by so many licensed real estate agents. So on this negative note, I'd like to invite you as real estate buyers and sellers to hold your Agent to a higher standard of care. You have no idea how damaging a less-than-professional Agent can be to you and your real estate interests ~ much less the human dignity and respect aspects.

On a more positive note, it's nice to hear that a Chicago area REALTOR® association invested the time and money in developing a training video for its members. It's encouraging to me to know that there really are some folks out there who care about this profession. Growing up, I must have heard the phrase, "It's just common sense.", a million times! And how many times have you heard the phrase, "It's just common courtesy."? I find it fascinating that in as large and old a profession that is devoted to helping people buy and sell homes, there is such a widespread need to train its members in the three basic tenets of Respect for the Public, Respect for Property and Respect for Peers. I wonder if all of this could be summed up in the simple yet profound concept of Respect for All Life.

Here's to a more loving, compassionate and caring planet!

...randy