The RBC brouhaha has highlighted the need for a national association exclusively broker in advocacy and membership, said a veteran lender of the broker channel and, of all things, the banking industry.
The RBC brouhaha has highlighted the need for a national association exclusively broker in its advocacy and membership, said a veteran lender of the broker channel and, of all things, the banking industry.
“CAAMP has done a very good job of moving the job forward in terms of professional development,” George Hugh, former VP of treasury and broker sales for ING Direct, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “But if there had been a broker organization that represented brokers exclusively, it would been a lot more critical of those RBC comments whereas CAAMP was more neutral.”
A respected lender known for taking a cooperative approach with brokers, Hugh’s comments echo those mortgage professional s angered by a document from an RBC employee leaked earlier this month. While the B.C. mobile specialist attempts to outline the differences between what she and mortgage brokers do, she ends up perpetuating misleading and inaccurate stereotypes about her competitors.
While CAAMP was pivotal in winning an apology from bank officials, many brokers are registering concern about its dual membership of brokers and lenders, fearful it has effectively muted the association’s criticism of the banking titan. RBC is a CAAMP lender-member, something that has given its broker members a platform to launch a formal complaint. They charge the bank breeched rules 1, 6 and 8 of the association’s Code of Ethics by permitting the mortgage specialist to circulate that flyer online. Both her name and the RBC logo appear on the document.
Hugh suggested that it might not be a bad idea to form of a separate member organization that would open up another avenue for brokers to air their concerns. It would also take some of the pressure off CAAMP.
“What’s needed is a voice for brokers at the national table, which will work in conjunction with CAAMP,” he said. “It would also be more specifically focused on addressing the three major challenges that brokers are facing.”
Those hurdles have been there for a while and centre on public misconceptions around fraudulent activity within the industry, inconsistent and inexperienced brokers and the broker-lender trust issues that prevent them from “co-owning” the client.
“As a lender, I know that there has got to be a deeper trust between those two camps,” said Hugh, who’s also worked with all of the major commercial banks in this country. Brokers have to understand that lenders control the money and take all the risks, and lenders need to better appreciate the role brokers take in educating the consumer and driving business.”
