the power hour
the lenders through CIFAS. So at least there’s a little bit of progress there and they are leading the way. GS: What’s your membership like from this sector? BY: In the mortgage sector we have nearly all of the major mortgage lenders. JB: It’s important to bear in mind that there are a lot of stakeholders involved in the mortgage fraud space. So you’ve got brokers, surveyors, solicitors, a whole range of stakeholders who need to come together. In terms of taboo, what I’ve noticed is the likes of the NFA getting forums together is a really important part of gauging the priorities for people around mortgage fraud.
what is the nationaL fraud authority doing to bring peopLe together? GS: If we can get representatives around one table, identify issues and come up with solutions, we’ve got an advocacy rule with government to advocate legislation change. That can be a quick process provided you have the empirical data to compel it. On a number of different projects we’ve got, we’re now in a position of more accurate data sharing with partners getting some kind of checking systems put in place and the government has seen real value in that and they recognise that some areas will need legislation change and regulation. We need to get the data in, we need to find where the problem is and that’s one of the main aims of the Mortgage Fraud Forum. I should perhaps plug a bit, that I’ve got to do a paper with CIFAS. I’m looking at for the issue of specifically identification verification. JMal: One of the biggest crimes that has happened in the last three to four years is identity theft. People are getting slightly better at shredding their personal
documents but identity fraud has been such a big issue. You only have to talk to Anthony Thomson, chief executive of Metro Bank, and when he was opening accounts they were absolutely staggered by the number of people trying to commit fraud. GS: The branch they opened near Southampton Row uses a system called VeriScan which flags up whether passports are genuine or not. It’s not the cheapest and I’m not here to advocate it but they arrested 43 people going into that bank to get a false account in the first morning.
what can brokers do to prevent soft fraud from happening when they’re not coLLuding but they’re being taken for a ride? JMal: I think the first thing is to read the Mortgage Fraud Against Lenders document from the FSA. A lot of intermediaries come to me and say that fraud doesn’t affect them. But it does. JMaw: I think it’s a question of everybody in the process taking part of the responsibility and brokers don’t know or
believe they’re involved in the fraud because of course nobody ever tells them that they’re involved in fraud until they get to court. But actually a broker can do very simple things to satisfy his responsibility to the lender. Go and visit the client at their home, check the address on the utility bill and the name on the utility bill match. Pick up the telephone to an employer. Not difficult. AS: How would brokers react if it was introduced that they could have a claw back on their fees if they hadn’t gone through due diligence and identifying that person. JMal: Well there are one or two lenders starting to instigate that and that is a significant issue not just for the intermediary but also for the network who might be the principal for that broker. AS: But that would concentrate the mind that you should go through due process. JSR: The other thing worth raising is that everybody who is involved in the process has a role to play whether it’s the broker, surveyor or solicitor. The question we discuss is that who takes the responsibility of the risk. JMal: I believe if you go back to my day when I was mortgage broking, lenders
Catch-up with the news @mortgagechat 40 mortgage introducer AUGUST 2011
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60