A new Web site for consumers will provide potential borrowers with a database of mortgage loan officers that meet certain standards and the opportunity to read comments about the brokers from others who have worked with them.
The site, bettermortgagebureau.com, is run by the newly established Better Mortgage Bureau, located just outside Baltimore.
When a loan officer applies to be listed on the site, BMB will verify the license numbers of the mortgage broker with the states where they are registered and conduct a background check for lawsuits or judgments against the broker, a process that could take up to five days.
The company’s founders, financial advisers Lance Cassell and Chris Nickerson, work for TrainingPro, a mortgage continuing education company that assists loan officers in obtaining and renewing loan licenses.
“Coming from where we came from, we saw the industry was for the most part unregulated,” said Cassell, who said about 18 months of research and planning went into the site.
Cassell said they plan to introduce a ratings feature on the site in mid-September that will enable consumers to post comments, either positive or negative, about brokers they have worked with.
Loan officers have to pay to be listed, with rates varying depending on the number of states they wish to be listed in.
The goal is to have about 10,000 officers listed, and the site has the capacity to expand, Cassell said. Eventually, Cassell hopes the site can work with TrainingPro to provide brokers information on expanding their licenses to other states. A number of brokers at large area firms declined to comment or were not yet familiar with the site.
The site is similar to the Better Business Bureau, although Cassell said while the BBB addresses companies, the BMB will evaluate individual mortgage professionals.
“We think it is a very opportune time for an organization like the BMB. The bottom line is to protect the consumer and defend the industry,” Cassell said, an industry that is “one of the staples of our society.”
