Check this out!

Mortgage brokers are paid to bring the least expensive money to the table.

And too many failed to do that job.


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Here's what an "industry insider" has to say about this situation:

Jim Stasiowski, a mortgage consultant for Countrywide Home Loans in Leesburg, said his company, like many nationwide, is dealing with a major spike in foreclosures.

"The worst of it is still yet to come," he said. He said Countrywide, the largest mortgage provider in the nation, has always had stringent lending practices. But some of Countrywide's packages are sold through correspondent lenders, which Countrywide has less control over.

He said one of the problems is there are no licensing requirements for mortgage brokers.

"You can be a shoe salesman one day and the next say, "I'm a mortgage broker." Unscrupulous lenders, he said, will lend money without thoroughly disclosing the risks to the borrower, promoting the low initial payments.

"To an uneducated buyer, these things sound great. ... The thing is -- it was too easy," said Stasiowski.

Let's be clear here with terminology. One can not just go and open a mortgage broker by sticking a shingle outside. Each State has certain licensing requirements (trade experience, education and financial reqiuirements) to become a Broker/Lender. The term he should have used is Loan officer, an employee of a mortgage brokerage or Lender. Quite a few states do not have licensing requirements for loan officers, processors or underwriters. It's on the job training.

Secondly, a Mortgage Broker who corresponds with an entity for example like Countrywide, each loan is reviewed and given full approval by the Correspondent . The commitment Letters on printed on the Correspondent's Letterheads, not the Mortgage Broker.

Then you have Broker/Lenders or strictly Lenders. (Not to be confused with Correspondents, like Countrywide, Chase, HSBC.......)
These entities fund the loan on their warehouse line, then either 1) sell the loan on a flow basis, (one loan at a time with full approval from the Correspondent prior to closing) or on a bulk basis, which is a package of loans sold strictly if you have Lender status.

When they sell in a package (bulk) they are reporting to their warehouse lender and the Correspondent lender. if there is early default or early payoff, the Lender has to pay back the premium earned to the Correspondent and it also lowers their rating with their warehouse Lender. Further, the Correspondent can request additional loan docs and the Lender must provide it, or it will not fund the money into the warehouse line, so they do look at some of the loans in a bulk package since they have to do a Weighted Average (called selling on a WAC Basis) on the purchase.

You are quoting for your benefit a mortgage consultant? Not a Veep or higher level Executive? Sounds to me like someone who just became a shoe salesman and is now a mortgage consultant. :blink:
He sounds like a Countrywide puppet. You don't go spewing off this type of info without backing it with figures and proof. I would bet it's Countrywide's own retail loan officers who produced a fair amount of foreclosures themselves.

In response to the NAMB, I resent the comment from Aubbieone since it implies IMO that the NAMB is against any regulation. The NAMB is a powerful organization that yes, is obviously there to protect the interests of mortgage brokers like any trade organization, but if you have been in the business long enough, you would see that they also have large conferences nationwide with prominent Federal figures, State officials, Banking Department Compliance Heads etc. to continue education to Brokers by holding seminars, and keeping them apprised of the industry standards they wish to uphold and continue improving.

I am with certainty that the wholesale Lender Aubbieone works for is a member of the NAMB as this is what all Wholesale Lenders do is support this organization at trade shows, but if you step outside your booth, and attended some of the educational seminars, you would see it is quite a bit more than a self protecting entity as you have made it sound. And I have 20 years experience in this business, have served on my local Boards of my State and represented them at the NAMB functions nationwide, so there isn't anything you can tell me that I don't know already.

Yes, IMO, there should be more stringent regulations for becoming a loan officer, but note, a loan officer is ultimately the responsibility of the Mortgage Broker, and their actions can greatly impact a Brokerage negatively if they are not monitored by their employer.

I personally have never hired an LO who didn't have at least 3 years experience and in my State, we have to have a full FBI check before we can hire them and they are listed and registered with the Banking Dept. as they are not allowed to be employed by multiple employers as well.

Well said, Mango. I will add a few additional points:

Many states DO require individual loan officers to be either licensed or to pass a state specific educational requirement. Many states DO require a full background check, fingerprinting, and so on.

For the ones that don't, the broker, not LO, is still licensed and ultimately responsible for the actions of the LO's. In Georgia, to work as a loan officer, you must be an employee and work under the supervision of the licensed broker.

The brokers/LO's do not approve anything. The lender's underwriters do. I can have a clean, full doc, high credit score package and if the underwriter doesn't like something, poof, no approval. I can have a low credit score, high dti loan and if the lender decides the risk/reward is acceptable, they approve it.

"You can be a shoe salesman one day and the next say, "I'm a mortgage broker."

This statement is blatantly false in many states, except for the fact that you could say it in a bar and maybe try to impress someone but that is soooooo 2004-2005. :funn: