A Toronto broker wants the same high standards currently applied to mortgage brokers placed on REDX reporting – having herself fallen victim to an apparent case of mistaken identity.
A Toronto broker wants the same high standards currently applied to mortgage brokers placed on REDX reporting – having herself fallen victim to an apparent case of mistaken identity.
“Our industry standards are very clear, we as brokers are responsible for the information we report to our clients and lenders,” says Sandra Levy, the principal broker of Always A Mortgage. “So why is it okay that REDX reporting standards are lacking?”
Levy has some very strong opinions about REDX reports, as she herself fell victim to a reporting error.
She discovered, purely by accident, that another broker had been marked by REDX and the information was being reported on her own report in error. After some back-and-forth with REDX, and Levy having to provide proof of the errors, the reports were corrected.
“Thankfully we discovered the issues, and my report is once again clean, as it always has been,” Levy told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “But the experience has left a bad impression of REDX and its accuracy.”
The issue of REDX reports came to a head earlier this month, when brokers became alarmed by incident reports highlighting their decision to let an AMP designation lapse. The reports – intentional or not – are viewed as black marks against a mortgage professional by some lenders, as broker partners use the system to vet brokers for fraudulent behaviour.
Levy feels that the Better Business Bureau is the model that REDX should emulate.
“The business model REDX operates under isn't so complex. The model can be quite efficient as shown by other reporting agencies. Look at the Better Business Bureau,” she says. “They analyze and report on businesses, take claims and complaints from outside parties, and provide the information gathered to the interested public. The key difference being the BBB’s standard to qualify information which is received. REDX does not do this.
“If REDX would like to continue to have a name in this industry, it needs to show that the information gathered can be trusted, and incoming information is qualified, much like that of the BBB,” says Levy.
It was RMAI network head Ron De Silva who raised concerns after several incident reports attached to his own name when he declined to renew his AMP certification. CAAMP’s only comment has been that AMP licensing records are public information, declining to specifically address whether it files incident reports or not.
Paul McGowan, a national marketing manager with Teranet – the company responsible for REDX, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca that “CAAMP endorses REDX, but is not a reporting member of REDX… (and) does not file specific incident reports regarding its members.”
