Mortgage Lending: Right Back Where We Started, Almost

The amount of paperwork associated with a mortgage is now back to levels previously seen during the housing bubble. More and more time and date sensitive disclosures have been created. Most may be easily skipped over and mean absolutely nothing to the borrower.

The most important document that has been recreated is the “GFE,” not even signed by the borrower.  Entire legal departments are now a part of every lender.  And, as a way of justifying their income and elevating their status, large lenders are creating their own loan disclosures, in their own language, which may protect the lender against any possible liability.  Many loans are delayed up to five business days now just to incorporate these new useless disclosures that all say the same thing:

“This is what you told us you make and how much you have in savings.
You didn’t lie.
This is what we are charging you.  But not really, because you are not required to sign the only document that tells you what we are charging you.
And after signing all of these documents, if the lender or our representative made a mistake or lied to you, we are not responsible and we have an entire legal department to handle any litigation dealing with our mistake.”

Licensed independent, professional loan officers who are bonded, annually tested, credit checked and background checked will continue to incorporate these useless disclosures in their paperwork.

All the while explaining to our clients, capable of qualifying for a residential mortgage loan not to pay attention to any of these documents for they are non-binding and can change at any time until your interest rate is locked.  Also, the true cost of what you are paying for in a mortgage is only represented as an itemized list called a “Fees Worksheet” or “itemization of Amount Financed.”

These two titled documents are generated only through certified professional mortgage software, and the accuracy of the figures are the sole responsibility of the mortgage professional you have chosen to trust with one of your largest financial transactions you will ever make.

What Steps Do You Need to Take?

1. Look for a mortgage professional with a “state license” in the state you wish to obtain a mortgage at http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/.  Loan officers with a “federal registration” work for a large lender or bank and are not held to the same initial or annual qualification standards mentioned in the paragraph above.
2. Work with someone you can trust.  Ask for and call references (past clients or referral partners). As an individual, small broker I solely rely on referrals from past-satisfied clients and referral partners to expand my client base.  As a result, I cannot afford to undermine the trust of even one client by saying one thing and doing another.
3. Ask for Calyx certified “Fees Worksheet” and/or “Itemization of Amount Financed” form(s), first, when shopping for a mortgage so that you can compare apples to apples. If this cannot or will not be provided then you may not be dealing with a licensed professional.

Related articles:
 The Truth About On-line Lending Scams
Mortgage Specialist: Delivery manager at a Mattress Factory to Loan Specialist in Less than 12 Months

“Mortgage Lending is Our Business: Customer Service is Our Passion.”

Stay tuned and stay in touch with your mortgage professional.  Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

David.

919.851.0999.

Raleigh Mortgage Man, NC Mortgage Man, Triangle Mortgage Man, Triangle Mortgage Expert all owned and licensed by David M. Damare’.  All rights reserved.