Mortgage Advisors Asked To Help FSA Combat Mortgage Fraud
August 31, 2008
The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator for the financial industry and a name those taking their CeMAP exam will hear a lot, has called for mortgage advisors to help combat fraudulent mortgage applications and to report colleagues and clients who they suspect may be involved in any illegal activity.
Earlier this week, on the 28th August, the industry regulator published new guidelines. The FSA has said it is keen to encourage cooperation and collaboration between the mortgage lenders, mortgage advisors and its own investigative team.
The regulator claims it has received valuable information from mortgage brokers previously and is hopeful that an alliance between them can lead to more fraudsters being caught and Read more
Lenders Hit Back At FSA
August 30, 2008
As we reported last week, the financial regulator for the UK, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) released a report criticising mortgage lenders about the way they handle repossessions. The FSA also said it would take action where necessary if the lenders did not sort out their practices.
Lenders are reportedly annoyed that the regulator tarnished all lenders with the same brush and stated that the FSA should not have implied that all the mortgage lenders were to blame for such issues.
The initial report stated that lenders were using unacceptable working practices, including some unethical practices, with regard to repossessions and in some cases were too aggressive. In response, the FSA has Read more
FSA Threatens Lenders With Court Action Over Variable Exit Charges
August 29, 2008
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is the regulator for the mortgage industry, as those who undergo CeMAP training will discover.
Earlier this week, the regulator stated that it had reviewed a cross-section of mortgage contracts to review if lenders were interpreting the FSA’s statement of good practice regarding mortgage exist administration fees, as issued in January last year.
The FSA said:
“We found about a third of the sampled firms have terms in their mortgage contracts that allow them to vary their charges which, in our view, does not comply with the law and principles set out in the statement and so may be unfair.”
The FSA has said it will now write to those firms whose mortgage contracts contain, in its opinion, unfair terms.
The FSA said:
“We expect them to amend or delete the terms in new contracts and not rely on them in contracts with existing customers. If necessary, we will take further regulatory action. We will continue to monitor closely whether firms’ terms comply with the law and principles set out in the statement. Should it come to our attention that a firm’s terms do not comply, we will consider the extent of the breach and what appropriate regulatory action to take. This may include, if sufficiently serious, enforcement or court action.”
What Do Mortgage Advisors Need To Attract Customers?
August 28, 2008
In times of a credit crunch, such as now, there are some mortgages advisors who are thriving and others who are not. So what is the difference between them? They have all had their CeMAP training and taken the exam, so why are some doing so well and others are struggling?
Here are a few ways to attract customers – and more importantly, to keep them year after year!
Use recommendations. Word of mouth has long been known as a great way of advertising. If you are just starting out, then naturally this is more difficult so you need to encourage recommendations. Start by spreading the word through your family members, friends, relatives, colleagues and anybody else who knows the sort of person you are. They can help to spread the word. As you build up a client list, be sure to leave your business card with all your clients.
Level of advice. Many customers do not Read more
What Happens In The CeMAP Exam?
August 27, 2008
No matter how much CeMAP training you have done, everybody is nervous when it comes to taking the CeMAP exam. However, it helps if you know what to expect, so here is our quick rundown:
- All CeMAP exams are taken at Pearson Vue test centres (the same places where everybody takes their driving theory test). There are more than 150 of these centres, but if you want to take the exam at a specific centre local to you then you may have to wait a bit. It is worth checking the exam centre regularly as there are often cancellations Read more
FSA Criticises Mortgage Lenders Arrears Handling
August 26, 2008
The FSA (Financial Services Authority) has criticised mortgage lenders for how they have been handling matters in relation to repossessions and arrears.
According to reports from the FSA, mortgage lenders have performed immaturely when handling customers with a poor credit history. As mentioned in earlier articles, there has been a hige increase in the number of house repossessions this year, which has also decreased the number of home loans requests. The FSA stated that the total sum lent as part of residential mortgages was at 102 billion pounds but has now slowed down to as little as 75 billion pounds.
Considering the current ‘credit crunch’ crisis Read more
Mortgage Broker Escapes £24,000 Fine
August 25, 2008
Leybridge, a mortgage broker based in Bournemouth, has escaped a £24,000 fine for putting 425 customers at the risk of being mis-sold a mortgage.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) regulates the mortgage industry in the UK. All mortgage advisors learn about the role of the FSA in their CeMAP training or when they study the CeMAP syllabus, and the area of regulation and compliance is of the utmost importance.
The FSA reviewed Leybridge as part of their thematic project, however, they have waived the £24,000 fine to that Leybridge could afford to compensate any disadvantaged customers.
Leybridge failed to keep sufficient records of Read more
Exam tips for success
August 24, 2008
When it comes revising for exams and performing your best on the day you need to work smarter, not harder. Filling your days with stress and work won’t be conducive to success when it comes time to take your CeMAP exam. You need to balance your revision time with time for yourself, take it all in moderation and you’ll perform better on the day.
Here are some tips to ensure that when you come to take your CeMAP exam you perform at the best of your abilities and don’t let all of the study you’ve done go to waste. Read more
Is It Not Enough Just To Pass The CeMAP Exam?
August 23, 2008
The Financial Services Skills Council (FSSC) recently stated that it had developed plans to tackle what it perceived as a skills gaps in the financial sector. So is there a skills gap in the financial sector, and specifically, in the mortgage advice industry?
Regardless of regulation from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which delegates learn about in CeMAP training, and no matter how well supervised the industry is, there will always be those who break the rules. Recently, there has been much in the media, and indeed in our own articles, about the action taken by the FSA against mortgage brokers. It seems that most of these mortgage brokers were flagrantly breaking the rules. It was not due to a lack of skills.
It certainly is not enough to just pass the CeMAP exams and assume you know everything. To become a mortgage advisor, there are Read more
Longer Term Mortgages More Popular
August 22, 2008
After CeMAP training, many delegates go on to become mortgage advisors after their exam, and their experience may very well be different to that experienced by mortgage advisors years ago as trends in mortgages and new mortgage products come out.
In the last twelve months, the number and proportion of fixed rate mortgages with long terms of over ten years has almost doubled. Both borrowers and lender are turning to longer term deals to beat the current credit crunch.
In July 2007, according to MoneyExpert, around 8 per cent of products were fixed rate mortgages for ten years or more. Now it is around 15 per cent, so almost double.
There are even 18 different fixed rates deals, where the rate is fixed for 25 years.
There has also been a real drop in the number of mortgage on the market. That doesn’t mean mortgage advisors won’t be needed though Read more
