Yesterday, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau revealed the results of their investigation on those online mortgage shopping platforms. Here’s what the CFPB found about many of them:
THEY ARE NOT UNBIASED.
THEY ARE ILLEGALLY STEERING PEOPLE TO LENDERS THAT GIVE THEM KICKBACKS.
This reinforces what I’ve been saying since 2007: Stop clicking on those mortgage ads you see online!
Federal law states that it is illegal to coerce anyone to use a particular lender. Federal law also states that receiving “anything of value” (even one penny) in exchange for recommending a particular lender is illegal. (Real Estate Settlement Procedures ACT, known as RESPA)
So how are the online shopping platforms violating the law, according to the CFPB?
When they present to you the list of so-called best priced lenders, they are not actually giving you best priced lenders nor are they giving you highest quality lenders for service. They are giving you the lenders who pay them KICKBACKS.
It’s all quite deceptive and maddening!
Did you know that I pay a fee to WordPress every year to keep ads off my blog? I do. I pay so that you don’t have to see ads from deceptive companies that look like your friend but actually charge more.
Plus, don’t you hate it when you’re trying to read an article online and there are ads interrupting and popping up all over the place? I find that really annoying. So I pay in order to maintain a clean space for you to read.
Here’s some good news:
I am almost finished with the book so many of you have been asking for. It’s back from the editor and proofreader, and the title was approved yesterday. As soon as the formatting and cover design are done, it will be released for purchase.
Let me know if you like the title:
Get a Mortgage Loan Like the Pros
Subtitle: A Guide for Homebuyers and Realtors
There is not another book quite like this one on the market. The way it’s laid out makes it a great, easy-to-use resource. But it also contains insider information, because my experience of 23 years in the business includes working for a broker, a direct lender, a national bank — and on both the retail and wholesale side. It is highly unusual for one person to have the diversity of experience, to have seen what goes on in the field and what goes on behind closed doors in the underwriting offices where the secrets are told and the magic happens.
I will announce when the book is available for purchase. Meanwhile, stop clicking those ads on the Internet!!! They are not your friend.
