Mortgage Brokers – Lift Your Game

Brokers and lenders are in the crosshairs – now is the time to ensure that your professional standards are top-notch.

Heightened competition among home lenders has prompted the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) to issue a reminder of what constitutes prudent lending and it has opined that loans generated by mortgage brokers may be riskier than those through a bank branch.

Risky lending was one of the causes of the GFC.  And, while we are a long way from those days, many are now questioning whether dodgy practices are creeping into the industry.  This week the Australian Consumer Association (aka Choice) produced some research on the quality of advice given by brokers.  The results were hardly flattering.

This publication makes no comment on the rigour of Choice, or its research (after all a few years ago this mob created their own conflict of interest when they started offering home loans via One Big Switch).  But it is clear that questions are being asked of brokers and the lending process.

The introduction of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act has certainly improved professional standards the trade magazines show with their reports of dodgy brokers who are being struck off.

Now is the time to ensure that you are squeaky-clean.

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