Q: What do HVCC, HERA, and mortgage brokerage fee agreements have in common?

A:  They make our job a lot easier..BUT we're screaming about it..and that makes us look anti-consumer.

Here's my dirty, little secret: HVCC is working out well for me!

I have NO control over the appraisal process so REALTORs can't badger me like they have in the past. No more double-apps and borrowers paycloser attention to  mortgage rates. I'm no longer the "market-maker",  I'm a consumer advocate.

New TILA disclosures?  I embrace them.  I don't tell consumers that their closing is going to be delayed, I inform them that it MIGHT be delayed if  they don't sign and return the loan disclosures in a timely matter.  I get to cite transparency and consumer protection as my compass.

How about the fact that Bank of America makes mortgage brokers use that a prior negotiated mortgage brokerage fee agreement?  I swiped that sucker and use it on every loan, regardless of the lender. 

I use transparency as a weapon against the banks.  I walk into a bank branch and snap a picture of their mortgage rates, on the lobby sign.  I e-mail that picture with a copy of the wholesale rate sheets (from the same bank), and SHOW THE CUSTOMER HOW MUCH "SECRET PROFIT" THE BANK IS MAKING ON ITS MORTGAGES. I explain how yield spread premium can lower the portion of the mortgage brokerage fee they pay me.  Sometimes, I lock the loan with the same bank and laugh along with the customer. 

Customers think of me as the guerrilla mortgage guy, sneaking behind enemy lines, to win the war for them.

Customers love you when they know you're working on their behalf.  HVCC helps them get a fair appraisal without undue influence.  Early TILA disclosures, disclosed with a written lock-in agreement, and upfront mortgage brokerage fee agreements tells them you have nothing to hide.  Why would you hide ? You're a hero, helping your customer navigate the murky maze the big banks legislated.

Get out of your own way and get on the customer's side. Stop fighting the Goverment and the big banks; use their strength against them... like a Guerrilla Warrior.