Mortgage Broker

10 Questions to Ask Your Mortgage Broker

If you are planning on using a mortgage broker to help you find a home loan, investment loan or commercial loan, there is some information you should find out from your broker before you start.

Use the following check list as a guide when choosing your mortgage broker.

Does the broker have an Australian Credit License (ACL) or is Credit Representative (CRN) of a licensee that has an ACL

All brokers must be registered with ASIC and will either have an ACL or a CRN. Most brokers will be members of an industry body such as the Mortgage Finance Association of Australia (MFAAA) or Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) They are all required to have professional indemnity insurance and must be a member of a dispute resolution service in the event you need to make a complaint about that broker.

How does the broker get paid? Make sure that the broker does not let the size of the commission they will be paid by a lender cloud their judgment. While some lenders pay higher commissions, brokers should not favor higher commission-paying lenders over others.

Brokers must disclose any commissions they receive from the lenders or any other source to the client. They must disclose their lender list, commissions received and conflicts of interests such as bonuses they may receive from a lender. Most brokers do not charge a fee for their service and are remunerated by the lender

Ask what privacy guidelines they follow when handling your information. They should comply with the Privacy Act Credit Reporting Provisions and the National Principals for the Fair Handling of Personal Information

All brokers must handle your personal information in accordance with the Australian Federal Privacy Act 2001.Mortgage Brokers must also abides by, the Trade Practices Act, ASIC Act, the Fair Trading Act and the UCCC. Generally speaking we follow all the best practices that comply with all legal requirements associated with state and federal law