Written by:

By Rob Fetten

DE Capital Mortgage

The mortgage loan industry continues to suffer through the pain of learning the new way to do business today.   All things have changed from the time a customer decides to purchase or refinance, to the time of closing, and through post closing and loan servicing.

Mortgage loan manufacturing works similar to an assembly line that would make cars, televisions, or even a McDonald’s hamburger.  It moves along a conveyor belt and is touched several times by many different people and many different departments.  With each touch the loan file gets to move forward to the next phase.  The phases are Originate, Processing, Underwriting, Closing, and Post Closing.

Since 2007, there have been regulatory changes in each phase as set by the federal government.  The industry is far more regulated today than in years past.  Barney Frank and Chris Dodd are the congressional leaders who recently passed the latest financial reform.  Beyond financial reform and compliance are the guidelines set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  There have been more than 3,500 guideline changes since the fall of 2008.  That’s a lot of changes.  So many changes have occurred that I would call this a whole new way of originating mortgages.  I’ve been a loan officer for 23 years and I’ve had to learn how to do my job all over again.
A new process that the government and FNMA/FHMC think will provide better loans in the future for investors to purchase.  They have even forced regulation on compensation.  This is their theory and it has yet to be proven.  It’s only been proven to make less people qualify and more people miserable.

The pain begins with the willingness to change. We are forced to work longer hours for less pay, and I have often pondered the idea of
unionizing the mortgage loan work force. We are not unlike the auto union workers or any other class of Union laborers who work in an important economic industry that the government relies on to keep the economy moving forward.

We deserve the opportunity to have collective bargaining agreements with the lords who feed us the new rules to assembling a mortgage loan.

Should we strike, the government and mortgage lords would be required to negotiate more favorable terms and treatment for the workforce who delivers the product to the consumer. It is labor intensive work with rapidly changing technology.  The banks are making huge profits at the expense of the taxpayer.  Banks are being lead by the government and the work force has no representation while being bullied by the banks.

For the consumer who is forced to buy the product because our society warrants mortgages as a part of their financial portfolio, I offer
the following advice:

Get your paperwork in order.

Prepare yourself for a new customer experience when obtaining your mortgage.