FSA Fines Scotland-Based Mortgage Company
July 21, 2008
A mortgage firm in Scotland has been fined £11,900 by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) because they failed to supervise one of their mortgage advisors adequately.
The mortgage company, Mortgage Master (Glasgow) Limited, is based in Kilmarnock. The FSA stated that their failure to supervise the mortgage advisor properly allowed him to submit false and misleading information on mortgage application forms.
As a result, the mortgage advisor in question, Ian Sanderson, has now been banned and can no longer work as a mortgage advisor.
Now, Mortgage Master must go through all of Sanderson’s mortgage files to check the mortgage applications and where false information is found, they will have to inform all clients and lenders of the breach.
As part of CeMAP training, potential mortgage Read more
Become your own boss with a CeMAP Qualification
July 20, 2008
Passing the CeMAP exam isn’t the end of the road as far as learning goes, it’s just the beginning; as once you’ve passed you’re on your way to becoming your own boss and working for yourself as a mortgage advisor – if that’s what you want. However, working for yourself requires discipline, dedication and resourcefulness. Not everyone is cut out to be their own boss. Read more
Financial Institutions: The Bank of England
July 19, 2008
During CeMAP training, delegates learn about different financial institutions, such as the Bank of England. Here is a short summary of the Bank of England, what it does and its role within the mortgage market:
The Bank of England is effectively the banker for the banks. All the major banks have an account with the Bank of England.
The Bank of England has the responsibility of Read more
What Can Borrowers Do About High Mortgage Fees?
July 18, 2008
This week we have talked about what mortgage arrangement fees are, how they work and the FSA’s role in the situation. Now, we ask what borrowers can do to stop mortgage lenders from exploiting the public with high mortgage ‘arrangement’ fees.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has pointed out that nobody is forcing anyone to pay an arrangement fee. There are fee-free deals out there.
What borrowers need to understand is that mortgage lenders charge a higher arrangement fee to make up for a slightly lower interest rate. Usually, the arrangement fee more than makes up for the interest rate. Then, if the mortgage lenders allows the borrower to add the arrangement fee to the mortgage, they get to charge interest on that too!
So, to stop high arrangement fees Read more
What Can The FSA Do About High Mortgage Fees?
July 17, 2008
Recently, we have discussed what a mortgage arrangement fee is, how it came about and how they work on mortgage deals at the moment. These are all things that you learn during your CeMAP training.
The issue of high mortgage fees is all over the media at the moment and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has made a huge fuss about what he calls the ‘exploitation of the public’ by mortgage lenders. He has even threatened to ask the watchdog, the FSA (Financial Services Authority) to investigate the lenders level of charges.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much the FSA can do about it – and nor Read more
What is a Mortgage Arrangement Fee?
July 16, 2008
CeMAP training covers all the different types of mortgages available, how they work and the fees associated with them.
If you have been keeping up with our articles in the last few weeks, you will no doubt be aware of the publicity recently given to the size of mortgage arrangement fees.
A mortgage arrangement fee used to be an administration fee to cover administrative costs of arranging your mortgage. Years ago, it used to be around the level of £300.
From about 2004, lenders started to get a little clever when they discovered that if they lowered their headline interest rates and craftily increased their arrangement fees to cover the difference, they would appear higher in the mortgage best buy tables.
According to mortgage brokers John Charcol Read more
FSA Agrees Information Exchange With U.S.
July 15, 2008
During CeMAP training, delegates learn about different financial institutions.
In the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) governs much of the financial sector, including mortgages and mortgage advisors. In the US, the equivalent authority is the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
The FSA and the FDIC have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’ (MOU) that agrees arrangements for Read more
Government May Help Lower Cost of Buying A Home
July 14, 2008
In an earlier article, we reported how the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, had warned that if mortgage fees did not become more competitive, he would ask the FSA to step in and start to regulate mortgage fees charged by the banks. High mortgage fees are a real barrier to people buying a home.
Recently, Darling has renewed those calls, asking mortgage lenders to reduce their fees. The call came after he had a meeting with the FSA and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, where he stated he felt that the high mortgage fees currently charged by banks amounted to no more than exploitation.
The government has also Read more
CeMAP Syllabus: CeMAP 1
July 13, 2008
As we have mentioned in earlier articles, there are two units in CeMAP 1:
CeMAP 1 Unit 1: The Financial Services Environment & Products
CeMAP 1 Unit 2: UK Financial Services Regulation
Each of these units cover specific areas, which are listed below: Read more
CeMAP Exam Question Tips
July 12, 2008
Here are a few tips to bear in mind when you are preparing for and taking your CeMAP exam:
- Always read the question very carefully and read the answers even more carefully. Often, the questions can be ambiguous
- Be careful when you see the words ‘never’ and ‘must’. These words do not allow for any discretion, so usually the correct answers contain ‘usually’ or ‘normally’ Read more
