Another article in the Toronto Star has showered praise on mortgage brokers, but one broker feels his industry is being done a disservice with what he calls “PR pieces” by CAAMP, when instead it should be addressing real concerns in the channel such as REDX reports.
Another article in the Toronto Star has showered praise on mortgage brokers, but one broker feels his industry is being done a disservice with what he calls “PR pieces” by CAAMP, when instead it should be addressing real concerns in the channel such as REDX reports.
“CAAMP misses the mark again,” says Paolo Di Petta, a broker with EQRON Mortgage. “Jim (Murphy) has plenty of time to do PR pieces for the Star, but won't comment on the AMP debacle.”
The Saturday Star article cites a Bank of Canada study showing loyal bank customers don’t get the best deal upon renewal, compared to those working with brokers. It includes a reaction from CAAMP President Jim Murphy, who explains why first-time buyers tend to shop around more as they are more comfortable using the Internet and social media for research – and in turn, using mortgage brokers instead of banks.
The AMP debacle Di Petta refers to is the recent article broken by MortgageBrokerNews.ca last week on the concerns by brokers that REDX reports are highlighting their decision to let an AMP designation lapse. The result, they charge, is that lenders perceive those reports as black marks against mortgage professionals considering REDX is ostensibly focused on helping lender vet fraud.
CAAMP hasn’t yet responded to broker concern expressed in reader comments attached to two MortgageBrokerNews.ca articles. REDX parent company Teranet has gone on the record, stating that the association does not directly file incident reports on brokers who drop the AMP designation. It has not explained why the incident reports on AMP membership are filed at all.
The Star article doesn’t address that internal conflict, but Di Petta is concerned it does perpetuate the idea that the broker value-add is solely rate-focused.
“This is the second such piece I've seen in as many weeks,” says Paolo Di Petta of the Toronto Star article. “Yet, it still does nothing but commodify us into (tools for) rate shopping, instead of presenting us as true mortgage advisers.”
In addition to explaining the benefits of using a mortgage broker over a bank, Murphy was quoted in the Star as saying “We don’t do as well with renewals. Your lender sends you something in the mail, you’ve paid off some principal, the new rate looks pretty good, so you say ‘OK.’”
