This week’s appointment of parliamentary assistant Steven Del Duca to oversee a five-year review of Ontario’s Mortgage Brokers Act has already spawned a slew of broker wish lists for what could and should be tweaked to better the industry.
This week’s appointment of parliamentary assistant Steven Del Duca to oversee a five-year review of Ontario’s Mortgage Brokers Act has already spawned a slew of broker wish lists for what could and should be tweaked to better the industry.
“The act needs to make it harder for people to become agents. We have too many agents because of the lack of effort and commitment required to become an agent,” says Paul Mangion, principal broker/partner at The Mortgage Centre MortgageOne Solutions. “Also, agents should have a two-year period where they have to article with an active agent licensed for more than four years and become active and close some files before they are given the chance to renew their licence. What good is a mortgage agent that hasn’t closed a file in two years?”
The comments come on the heels of Del Duca’s appointment Tuesday by Finance Minister Charles Sousa. The provincial politician will oversee any revamps to the regulations governing brokers in the country’s biggest market. He’ll also formally receive industry feedback.
“The Ontario Mortgage Brokers Lenders and Administrators Act mandates a five-year review of the legislation,” says CAAMP CEO Jim Murphy. “The legislation was a major rewrite of the previous Act, and has been used as a base in other provinces including Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan.”
But Mangion believes the review will be aimed more at the rules concerning syndicated mortgages.
“A review of the act is probably designed to bring syndicating of mortgages under the control and same rules as securities dealers have right now,” he told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “The channel will get a bunch of new rules to follow with little to no enforcement, which will put more burden on the brokerages.
If the government is truly interested in change, he argued, it should “start enforcing the rules it have now. When I fire an agent for cause he should not be allowed to register with another brokerage until everything has been checked out.”
In fact, Mangion would like to see De Luca look at the requirements for people to become mortgage agents.
“The act needs to make it harder for people to become agents. We have too many agents because of the lack of effort and commitment required to become an agent,” he says. “Also, agents should have a two-year period where they have to article with an active agent licensed for more than four years and become active and close some files before they are given the chance to renew their licence. What good is a mortgage agent that hasn’t closed a file in two years?”
CAAMP’s Murphy agrees there is a need for enhanced educational standards, and hopes Queen’s Park will work with CAAMP to improve the Act.
“CAAMP supports the review and looks forwarding to working with the government on ways to improve and strengthen the Act. CAAMP met recently with both the finance minister and Steven Del Duca, where we discussed the legislative review,” says Murphy. “The legislation is new so major changes are unlikely; however… CAAMP has called for enhanced education standards with both the government and FSCO.”
