Case manager warns of missing documents and information
A mortgage case manager with more than a decade’s experience in the industry, is urging brokers to tighten up on the details they submit in loan applications, to speed up the process - and potentially boost income.
Sharlene Risden (pictured) has been working in the business since 2014, with an extensive background in underwriting, and says the key challenge she faces as a case manager is due to the gaps in broker applications, which she believes is a problem across the board.
The CeMAP-qualified case manager, who has been employed by a number of leading lenders within mortgages, suggests that some mortgage brokers are making basic errors which delay the process by as much as three weeks and could potentially cost them business from clients who don’t refer them to others.
“It's my responsibility to get that application to offer,” Risden told Mortgage Introducer. “So I'm dealing with the client, communicating with them, requesting further information and documents, either from an internal compliance side, if the adviser’s not done their job properly, or from a lender's side. The challenge is the volume of the issues we have.
“Advisers are not always submitting high quality cases, the information's not correct, the basic documents that we are supposed to have on our systems aren't there, so they're doing the bare minimum, submitting it, and we're doing all the legwork. Sometimes what happens, because they made a mess of the application, it takes longer to go to offer, and then you've got a client coming to you, not very happy, and it's the adviser's fault.”
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How are brokers falling short in their applications?
Mandatory documents, such as up-to-date bank statements, payslips, and identification can sometimes be missing, Risden pointed out, and vital details may be omitted. She cited an example of a recent case in which a broker had not submitted information about a client’s childcare costs, even though he had a commitment, according to a bank statement. This can have a bearing on affordability, she emphasised.
In another recent case, a house that was in the process of being sold was not listed as a current financial commitment in the application, and was likely to be picked up in checks with HM Land Registry. “A lot of advisers don't understand underwriting, the logic behind it,” Risden explained. “You've got to know your stuff. It's not just selling mortgages, it's understanding people's circumstances.”
Lenders are now asking for more information, notes Risden, likely due to the greater pressures of the current economic climate. While issues with incomplete mortgage applications are widespread, she said, she tries to feed back to brokers in a positive way, and stressed too that there are examples of excellent advisers getting it right.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “We’ve got some advisers, you fly through their cases and the documents and information that they put on the system. It is like they work for compliance. You know that case is going to go to offer as soon as possible, they have done everything, and gone over and above. Some advisers are very hands on.”
What then would be Risden’s message to brokers about improving their applications and making case managers’ and clients’ lives easier, as well as their own?
“No one's perfect, but give that extra attention to detail and do question things,” she said. “A lot of it is common sense when you look at things and it's only going to benefit advisers. If they can get offers for their clients quicker, those clients are obviously going to refer family and friends to them. Hopefully, it's also going to bring in more business if the client themselves will come back when it's time to remortgage.”
