Short Sales & the “new” Mortgage Fraud

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see-no-evilShort Sales continue to be problematic for all concerned. So much so that “right” seems to be the minority “opinion”. At least I think I’m “right”…but apparently so does everyone else with a completely opposite opinion.

So you tell me…Am I RIGHT or am I RIGHT?

The pretty simple short of it is: IF you sell your house short…you have to MOVE OUT! While many do not dispute this, I recently commented on this question of a Broker in Florida on this issue. I appear to be the ONLY person in almost 200 comments, most all from agents, who thinks the agent is supposed to check that the seller has moved out on the day of closing, or the day all parties agree that the seller was supposed to move out.

Crazy. Just Crazy!

As my friend in Philly once said to me,

“Ardell, everyone does “the right thing”. We just don’t all agree on what “the right thing” is.

In the post the question is “What is the Penalty for Breaking an Arm’s Length Transaction Notice?”BUT he seems to think his problem is that he drove by months later and the “former owners” waved at him from the front lawn. He thinks he just “found out” the sellers didn’t move out, when in fact he should have been “in charge” of knowing whether or not they DID move out in the first place! I mean…seriously…do agents not accept responsibility for ANYTHING anymore??? …and…wait for it…this guy TEACHES a class on Short Sales. Jillayne’s gonna LOVE that one.

The Buyer, Seller and BOTH AGENTS signed this:

arm's length

No ambiguity there. Seller is NOT to remain in the property…PERIOD! But apparently “see no evil” is the excuse! Didn’t bother to notice that the seller hadn’t moved out on the day of closing? It’s pretty obvious the agent DID know the seller wasn’t going to move out that day…but “thought” that was a short term thing. BUT didn’t write a short term occupancy agreement to cover that and send it to all parties to sign, and the lienholder, PRIOR to closing!

But…no one except me thinks the agent was supposed to check that the seller in fact…MOVED OUT! Crazy. Just Crazy.

Examples of other responses:

“Well you certainly did not do anything wrong and you have little to worry about. the buyer and seller have to worry unless they can prove that the idea of the sellers regain occupancy came AFTER close of escrow..and the longer after the close, the better.”

A general consensus is all is well as long as they did not “intend” to stay as tenants at the time they signed the Arms Length Agreement and LATER decided not to move out. Even the attorney who responded says it is about “intent” when they signed the Arms Length Agreement, and not whether or not the seller actually moved out!

My response was long and very clear that the agent needs to LOOK IN THE HOUSE on the day of closing and make sure the seller is GONE! If not…I list the steps that need to be followed BEFORE the property closes. YES…STOP the closing!

“You are likely at fault for not providing the necessary paperwork for all to sign at closing to address the property not being vacant on the day of closing. The standard is not what you did know. It is what you should have known. If the contract had no post occupancy terms for the lienholder to review and know about before closing, it is because you did not cause them to be there.

So it depends on whether or not they broke an agreement AFTER closing, that you wrote before or at closing. If the contract stated possession day as closing day, then you were aware, or should have been aware, that the possession was not transferring on day of closing in accordance with the contract terms. You should have seen/witnessed a vacant property before closing OR written up a post possession agreement if it were not vacant.

If on the day of closing you knew it was not empty (and you should have even if you didn’t) and the loose agreement between buyer and seller was an extra day or more of occupancy, then you should have written up that agreement with an end date. You should then have sent that agreement to all parties, including the lienholder and the buyer’s lender. If the buyer bought it as owner occupied vs an investor loan, there is potentially lender fraud on two counts, but you can probably get concurrent terms of sentence on that. 🙂

Was the insurance policy at closing for an owner, or a landlord policy? Did it have a vacant property rider? Or was the policy done as an occupied property with a tenant in place? Pretty easy for investigators to note if the buyer’s insurance policy did not note a landlord policy with a vacant property rider, meaning the buyer, buyer’s lender and buyer’s insurance company thought it would be vacant at closing vs occupied.

If the agreement had no post occupancy provision (and since you don’t mention one I’ll assume it did not), then it was your obligation to view the property as vacant prior to closing and prior to giving the buyer the keys to the house.

There is no excuse for your not knowing the property wasn’t vacant and writing up a post possession agreement once you knew it was not vacant immediately prior to closing.

Let’s say you DID write up a 3 day post possession or a 10 day post possession or even a 30 day post possession agreement, and that document was signed by buyer and seller as part of the contract and sent to all parties and lenders/lienholders. If the parties subsequently extended or ignored that agreement, then you “may” not be liable, depending on how that post posession was worded.

But if the property was not vacant prior to closing and you did not write that up in a post possession agreement, then you are liable for not having done so.

To which several replied:

“See no evil…hear no evil…speak no evil. i would leave well enough alone.”

Forget “crazy”…this answer is INSANE!:

“There is a legal way to get around these laws because this is the United States and people are free to do as they please.”

Lots of nails in this coffin…where are the agent’s brokers? Don’t they read this stuff?

“Shrewd buyer. Approach the sellers “AFTER” the short sale. Sellers are innocent, and you have an “Avoid Jail Free” card.”

“It appears that no one has done anything wrong…”

“Sounds like an issue for the two lenders involved, not the RE agents.”

“I’m sure the bank is too busy with all the other foreclosures and short sales to really be trying to document all the new tenants in homes that have closed. I’m sure you’ll be fine…”

And a direct response from the agent in the transaction who wrote the blog post:

“ARDELL. I completely disgree that I have an obligation to check whether or not the property is vacant at time of closing.”

Recently my friend Kevin Tomlinson said this about The “new” Mortgage Fraud:

“An example of a non-arms-length transaction would be where a seller “short sells

Nobody Gives a RA

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I Give a RA About You

I Give a RA About You

Today is my 5th Anniversary of writing here at Rain City Guide. Not that I expect anyone to give a RA about such things.

It’s been a pretty wild ride for me since I first started mouthing off around here on 1/14/2006. Some things in the Real Estate Industry have changed for the better, from a consumer standpoint that is…many really.

In the next 5 years, because I really DO give a RA about the consumer, let’s work on one thing that hasn’t gotten better. That is “selling people” for 25% of the commission without their knowledge or express consent. Let’s make it a goal to END “selling leads” and giving away people’s money without asking them first if it is OK with them for you to do that.

Five years ago when I started writing here I said it this way and even more succinctly in this comment to that post:

The problem with the lead generating site is not that an agent pays for the lead, but that he pays for it with the consumer’s money (the way I see it anyway).

If you are a consumer and don’t quite understand what I am talking about here, watch this video…and refuse to be “a lead” and refuse to be “captured”. If you are a home buyer, take the extra time to think about whether or not you will be using an agent to assist you. Put a LOT of thought into what you will be paying that agent as part of the sold price of the home you buy, and take the time needed to make a wise choice. It’s your money and it’s a LOT of money.

Don’t just trip over the next body willing to open a door for you and trust them with this important step in your life because you just wanted to “see a house”. That’s both childish and irresponsible. Take the time to choose your agent wisely. You owe it to yourself…you owe it to your family, to get the best your money can buy…because you are going to pay for it either way.

If you are an agent who refers their “leads” out or a bottom-feeder site, make a pledge to FULLY DISCLOSE what it is costing the consumer to go that route. Give the user of your site the information they need to know before they hit that “find an agent” button or the “schedule an appointment to see this home” button. Let them know that by doing so they likely will be picking an agent AND paying 25% of their commission paid, to whomever owns the site or calls the other agent who meets them at the house to open that door.

There are thousands of stories about “worthless agents” and not enough stories about the people who CHOSE them. There wouldn’t be “worthless agents” if people didn’t hire them. There wouldn’t be so many “traps” to “capture” you as a “lead” and sell you…if more refused to be sold.

Here’s hoping that 5 years from now I will be able to report on my 10 Year Anniversary, that this practice has either stopped completely, or at the very least is not happening without the express consent of the consumer.

March Madness for Real Estate Events

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I’m a volunteer on the planning committee for the next Seattle Real Estate BarCamp and I’m amazed at how many events being planned for real estate professionals in March…it’s borderline madness!

Here are a couple that I’m aware of:

March 2, 2011 – Northwest Video Marketing Summit brought to you by Frank Garay and Brian Stevens of TBWS fame.   Cost is $100 and you’ll leave the day long event at the Seattle Center with your own video blog.  Follow on Twitter:  #vmssea

March 3, 2011 – Seattle RE BarCamp takes place at the Seattle Center Northwest Rooms (same location as last year).   RE BarCamp is a FREE event where the real estate industry can come together to learn from each other (social media, tech, trends, etc.).  It is NOT intended to be a “class room” with instructors.   It’s an “un-conference” where participation from attendees is required.  The agenda is determined the morning of the event based on what is suggested by the participants.  If you’re wanting to be taught and not comfortable with the BarCamp format, you might want to consider other events.  Twitter: #rebcsea

March 9, 2001 – Agent Reboot  at the Washington State Convention Center.  This is more of a sit down and learn type program with a set schedule of what will be taught.   Cost is $49 if  you pre-register.

March 15 -17, 2001 – Real Estate Coach Tom Ferry will be at the Meydenbauer Center.  Cost $197.

Am I missing anything?

New Predatory Scam: Mortgage Litigation Services

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The subprime lending industry barfed out hundreds if not thousands of loan originators in 2008 who had a taste of the six figure lifestyle and didn’t want it to end. The predators quickly swarmed into the loan modification industry and when state regulators started clamping down, they morphed into predatory short sale negotiators like parasites steadily evolving to bypass an organism’s defenses.

halo 3 plasma pistolSo where might they go now that the Federal Trade Commission is using the Halo plasma pistol on upfront fees Jan 31, 2011? Do you think they might crawl under a rock and die? Of course not.  The newest scam is called “mortgage litigation services” and the scammers are already swarming my inbox with email spam telling me that I can make six figures a year with no experience. All I have to do is refer people to their company. So what is the new scam?  From their email marketing:

“This is not a loan modification. Mortgages can become free and clear! XYZ Legal Services has put together a turnkey system that allows you to start offering mortgage litigation to your clients in days. This turnkey system is designed to run side-by-side with your existing company. XYZ provides all the required backend services to support your sales operation and business objectives. Our focus is on providing the very best customer service and attorney services for your customers. I am very confident that we will be able to help you and I think you will quickly see why our customers find our attorneys to be the experts when it comes to helping them get their financial issues resolved. Here are just a few key components that separate XYZ from the competition:·
Provide a REAL service to homeowners
You collect NO paperwork
All you do is fill out a one-page form online
Highest Marketing Fees to Affiliates
Make a Huge Income by Helping Others

Someone with a law license please explain to raincityguide readers how this could be legal.  It looks like they want people to sign up to become an affiliate and send referrals to their company, and for that the company is going to send out a referral fee. Predators love scams where they do no work and collect a fee.  So if these ads are targeting loan originators and other people in the real estate and mortgage lending industry, it looks like the company wants referrals of consumers who are in a position to challenge their lender.

We already have a 2009 law in Washington State where the lender is required to prove they hold the note before foreclosing. I don’t see how this service can help struggling homeowners. I do see how people who will believe anything will once again be scammed out of an upfront fee before any work is performed.

December 2010 King County SFH

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There’s a big hoo-ha brewing over the December 2010 “increase” in home sales. Not to worry. It’s more of a “Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics” argument, than a true market change of any kind.
bottom chart

As you can see in the chart above, prices are still trailing along the bottom from the price in the red block of March 2009.

Volume for the 4th Quarter is higher than 2008 and lower than 2009. The December up is simply a correction for November down. That correction could simply be a matter of reportings vs actual closings OR it could simply be longer loan processing times throwing some November closings into December.

Don’t worry about the noise, but do worry that more home buyers seem to be overpaying for homes these days than they have been for a couple of years. There is no market trend that will cover up those kinds of mistakes.
********
Required Disclosure: The Stats in the above chart are compiled be ARDELL and are NOT compiled, verified or posted by The Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Note: The primary variance in my numbers vs other reportings is that most count townhomes in Seattle but not elsewhere. I even that out by not counting townhomes at all.

Loan Originator Feels Entitled to Overage and Asks for Jillayne’s Advice

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This is a good representation of the emails and blog comments I receive daily over at the NAMF website on the topic of loan originator compensation:

Dear Jillayne, I read your article because I am trying to determine when the loan originator compensation limits will go into effect and what I’m going to do if this acutally happens. As an LO for 10 years, I take great pride in being a member of the lending industry and in my opinion, I have provided an invaluable service to my customers over that period.  I will also admit to having earned the ocassional “overage” in a transaction.  I did not price my loans to make overage, however if the par price paid less than 1% (as often happened because of the rate sheet) I felt I was entitled to do it.

I do take issue with you on the amount of work that an LO does to earn their compensation, a competent LO not only takes the 1003 loan application, I take an appropriate amount of time on the front end of the transaction to thoroughly explain the loan process. I tell customers exactly what they can anticipate.  I then take a complete application and discuss what documentation will be required and why. I spend at least 2 hours reviewing every disclosure, state and federal, that they are signing.  I then collect all documentation, prepare the loan package, sort the package to a stacking order, order title, order appraisal, register the loan and submit to processing.  I get the conditions which I discuss with the processor, and then collect the conditions and submit for final approval.
 
My company has just announced that they are discontinuing payment of all overage effective January 1, 2011.  Regardless of your opinion on overage, it is a significant component of any LO’s income.  While we can debate whether it should or should not be, the fact of the matter is, it is!  The companies are not going to increase my compensation to account for that loss in income, and I find myself having to generate 50 or 75% more sources to find loans.  How would you approach that change in your income?

Dear Entitled to Overage,

We exchanged two emails in which I asked you how many hours you spend, on average per file and I also asked for your average loan amount.  E2O, you said you spend an average of 15 hours originating each loan and your average loan amount is $175,000.  Let’s do the math.  I’m going to estimate that in today’s competitive market, a loan originator would be hard pressed to get away with earning more than a 1 percent loan amount with a 1 percent overage

Let’s pause and quickly educate readers on overage income: This means marking up the wholesale interest rate and selling the consumer a higher interest rate at retail rates. The lender funding the loan, who is very happy that you’ve sold a much higher rate, rewards the loan originator by paying them a percentage of the loan amount at closing.  Mortgage broker LOs disclose ALL their compensation on line 1 of the Good Faith Estimate.  Mortgage banker LOs do not have to disclose this overage income as of today. However, two rules at the federal level will change this come April 1, 2011: The Federal Reserve Board Rule and Dodd-Frank Wall St Reform.  More on LO Compensation limits in a future blog post.

So E2O, I’m going to estimate low. Let’s say you currently feel entitled to make 2 percent of the loan amount as your fee for working 15 hours.  That’s $3500. Let’s divide $3500 by 15 hours.  That comes out to $234 per hour.  Please help me understand how a position that does not require a high school diploma is worth $234/hour?  If a person making this kind of hourly wage works a full, 40 week, that means this same person is grossing $486,720 per year.  No wonder loan origination attracted so many people who were only in it for the money.  LOs could work as little as 10 hours a week and make a comfortable living.

Let’s get back to your question. You’re saying that your company is going to take away your ability to earn the hidden “overage” income immediately and you’d like my advice on how to approach that change in income. 

First of all, I highly doubt that you’re working a full 40 hours per week.  If indeed you were actually working that hard, you’d have more business sources than you’d know what to do with so my first suggestion is to honestly reflect back on how many hours you actually spend working on the job of origination.  Subtract the hours spent going to the gym, talking sports with the guys over coffees or beers, subtract the hours spent on Mortgage Grapevine and the right wing political conspiracy blogs or Huff Po or wherever you’re currently wasting time and look at the bare bones number of hours spent talking with past clients, getting off your butt and into Realtor offices drumming up business.  My first suggestion is to work harder.  Don’t like that? Go find another job in another field that will pay you $233/hour.

Second suggestion: Ask yourself how much you love mortgage lending.  If you’re only in mortgage lending for the money ONLY, then my second suggestion is to leave the industry. That’s right, get out of mortgage lending and go do something that you really love.  Life is short (and life is long. It’s a paradox.)… life is too short to spend it in the mad, mad, mad world of mortgage lending unless you love what you’re doing so much that you wouldn’t dream of spending life any other way. This is the choice in attitude it’s going to take to get you through 2011 and beyond. 

Third suggestion: If indeed you really, truly are worth $233/hour then go ahead and charge that! Charge your clients a 2 percent loan origination fee on line 1 of the Good Faith Estimate and when they shop around and find a lower interest rate and lower loan fee, explain to your clients the reason why you are worth that amount.

Fourth suggestion: Accept that you’re not worth $233 an hour.  Why? Because if you were, you wouldn’t be asking for help.  Banning overage income is going to separate the men from the boys and the women from the girls.  Loan originators: You never were worth $233 an hour as a brand new, unexperienced loan originator.  All it takes to get a license is a 20 hour prelicensing class, passing a background check and a national and state licensing exam, and to not have any felony convictions in the past 7 years. And if an LO wants to work at a depository bank, NONE of that is required!  No loan originator is now or was ever worth $233/hour when they are first licensed.  Maybe an extremely experienced LO with, say, 25 years experience (which means they entered the industry before the subprime lending era) is worth that much.  Why? Because he/she can originate a loan IN LESS THAN 15 HOURS.  That 25 year veteran knows his/her products, knows FHA/VA/USDA, knows the FHA 203K Program which will be highly used as soon as more REOs hit the market. That 25 year veteran has seen the rise and fall of the Savings and Loan crisis, has seen many refi booms, has lived through countless underwriting guideline changes, as lived through the same amount of federal law changes, and has the experience, maturity, and knowledge to help a wide variety of clients.  This loan originator is very valuable.  A brand new LO was never worth $233/hour and one of the big mistakes company owners made was to recruite people through greed to be LOs.

Fifth suggestion: Now that you’ve accepted that no green LO is or was ever worth $233/hour reset your own worth. If it seriously takes you 15 hours to originate a loan, I’d say that you don’t know as much as you think you know (this is very common for LOs who were hired during the subprime era) or you need to learn how to work more efficiently and spend more of your time procuring new clients.  Don’t like Realtors? The majority of LOs who were birthed in subprime boiler rooms despise all Realtors because Realtors tend to hold LOs accountable.  So if you don’t like Realtors and you don’t want to work harder to procure more clients…..

E20, my sixth suggestion is to accept that your value to your company is much less than you think it is. Reset your lifestyle and spending patterns to match your worth to your company and client, or prepare to work harder and smarter in 2011 and beyond.

I suppose there’s another option. You could open your own bank or mortgage bank.  Now you get to keep the profits for yourself.  As I look around the mortgage lending industry I see many faces of company owners who started out as loan originators and worked their way up the ladder to the point where it was time to start their own company.  This is always an option for any of us…who want to work that hard.

Perhaps You Should Lock Your Rate Today

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If you are “floating” a conventional rate right now,  you might want to contact your mortgage originator to discuss whether or not you should lock today.  Typically, I don’t like to make bold predictions with mortgage rates as there are too many factors that impact their direction and traders may  not always react consistently to these factors… but today I can tell you quite confidently that Monday’s conforming rate will cost more from many wholesale lenders.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are revising their price adjustments (LLPA) on mortgages with a term greater than 15 years.   This will go into effect on loans they purchase April 1, 2011 or later.  However, this means that wholesale lenders need to make their adjustments well in advance so that by the time Fannie or Freddie buys the loan from them, the wholesale lender isn’t stuck with that price hit…not to mention, if they sell the loans prior to the April Fools increase, they’ve made some extra coin.  

The adjustments range from 0 – 0.5% in fee depending on credit score and loan-to-value.   For example, someone locking today with a credit score of 740 and a loan to value of 80% or higher does not have a base price adjustment.   With the new LLPA, this person has a price adjustment of 0.25% in fee.   On a $400,000 loan amount, this boils down to $1,000 in fee and may or may not make a difference in rate (typically 1% in fee = 0.25% in rate) depending on how pricing is at that moment.  

Someone with a 680-699 mid-credit score and a loan to value over 80% will see an increase of 0.5% to fee for their conforming mortgage rate.   0.5% in fee tends to pencil out to a 0.125-0.25% higher interest rate or the borrower can pay 0.5% more in fee (discount) to buy their rate down.   

Homebuyers who are putting less than 20% down payment with credit scores below 740 should make sure their mortgage professional is approved to originate FHA loans as they are well worth the consideration.   As always, I strongly recommend getting started with the preapproval process early so that you can work on improving credit, if needed, as one digit lower may ding your mortgage rate.

If you or your mortgage professional are convinced that rates will be going down, then you may not want to lock.  They will just need to go down low enough to compensate for the increase to conforming price adjustments (LLPA) which will be factored into the pricing of conforming rates.

13 Reasons Why 30% of LOs Fail the National Loan Originator Exam

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The first time “pass” rate of the national loan originator exam has fallen to 69 percent.  This is an indication that the test is not too easy.  A high pass rate means an exam is too easy.  A low pass rate means an exam is too hard.  The numbers that tell a different story are the repeat test takers.  Test candidates who fail the LO exam the first time and retake the exam pass the exam only 44 percent of the time.  The SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act is working the way it was intended.

This blog post is for loan originators seeking help who are trying to pass the test the second, or third time.  Test candidates must wait 30 days between tests and if they fail after their third attempt, they have to wait 6 months before taking the test again.  I know it sounds unfair, but in all seriousness, not everyone is going to be able to pass this exam. The six month cooling off time is like a forced reflection period for a candidate to either get serious in addressing their repeated fails or get serious about studying.  The SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act of 2008 is only the beginning.  Over the next decade loan originators will slowly transform from being less like retail salespeople and more like professionals. The loan originator exam will never be as easy as it was in 2010.

I teach the SAFE Pre-Licensing course for new to newer loan originators which is a 20 hour course. I also teach an exam prep course for experienced loan originators and have had the opportunity to interact with hundreds of loan originator students. In this blog post I’d like to share some reasons why folks are not passing the exam so those who need help can identify their challenges and meet or reset their goals.  The following reasons are numbered for conversation sake and do not appear in any particular order.

1. One reason why people are not passing the loan originator exam is the same reason why people all over the world don’t pass comprehensive exams: Not enough studying. A 20 Hour pre-licensing course is definitely not enough time to teach and learn all the complex knowledge required to pass the national LO exam.  20 hours could be three, 7-hour days or two, 10-hour days.  Take a look at the test content outline.  There’s NO WAY an average human, who has never been in the mortgage lending industry, is going to be able to learn let alone understand, memorize and apply this content with only 20 hours of education.  One reason the number of classroom hours was set at 20 may have been because during 2010 there were a huge number of experienced LOs who worked at non-depository lenders who needed this course. Two days is plenty of time to spend with an experienced originator but not someone brand new.  In the future, expect the pre-licensing hours to be expanded to a full week of education. Until then, some students will have to spend way more time outside of the classroom studying on their own.

NMLS Resource Center2. “There’s no good study material available”
NMLS-approved course providers are not allowed to take the test only for the purpose of telling everyone what’s on the test.  In fact, we agree to NOT do this.  If we’re caught doing this we lose our ability to teach NMLS approved courses! If you think about it, if it were that easy to cheat on the exam then why bother with the SAFE Act? Why not just give anyone who wants a license a license and not test them.  The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS) does not provide a study guide book. Instead they encourage test takers to seek out study material from course providers….however, slow down a bit and you’ll see right inside the test content outline, NMLS TELLS YOU WHERE THE TEST QUESTIONS COME FROM. Look at page 3 of this pdf.  Those who are seeking good study material don’t have to pay to get it.  It’s all available for free. However, that means you’ll have to actually read it. More about reading soon.

3. Wanting the answers/not wanting to study
Loan originators ask their compliance person for the answer when they have a question about Fannie Mae, RESPA, disclosure requirements, etc.  So in attacking this exam, LOs expect to call a course provider and have that course provider hand them a set of 100 questions that will be on the exam. And by the way, anyone who claims to “have THE 100 questions you MUST know” is probably wrong. Any list of questions floating around out there will eventually make their way to NMLS and I’m sure they’ll pull those questions. Okay, so maybe you don’t expect the answers but you expect someone to sell you a book that tells you what will be on the exam.  That book doesn’t exist either.  What about a book that summarizes the test content outline?  Yes there are books available and I think those books would be very helpful for some folks but no book will tell you the exact test questions you’re going to get! Relying only on a book is a mistake.

4. “I know the material, I just can’t pass the test.”
It’s possible you don’t know the material. Re-read numbers 1-3. Or perhaps you have test anxiety.

5. Test Anxiety
I  have met several LOs who are have a high degree of test anxiety that goes way beyond normal nervousness.  Yes, passing the test is important. In their mind, people with high test anxiety go from “not passing” to “living in a van down by the river” in one heartbeat.  Test candidates get themselves all worked up so they can’t eat, sleep, think, or do anything let alone actually learn and understand the test content.  There’s lots of tips and ideas that have been written about dealing with test anxiety and even a little self-quiz you can take here.  One thing the experts agree on is that a person with high test anxiety isn’t going to be able to learn much while studying.  If you want to pass the LO exam, you must deal with your anxiety first and foremost before taking any exam prep classes.  There is no time in anyone’s classroom to give personalized psychological counseling.  Besides, most of the instructors teaching classes whether they’re live or online specialize in mortgage lending not test anxiety. Your challenge is different. Know thyself….pass the test.  Maybe your anxiety comes from not wanting to be honest with yourself about a possible learning disability.

6. Maybe you have an undiagnosed learning disability.  As I’ve mentioned in other articles, back in the 1970s there were no para-educators available to follow kids around giving rambuncious kids extra support. Instead students survived in other ways. Humans listen and talk at a much faster and higher rate than we read and write.  Some LOs are high functioning talkers but low functioning readers.  Some people are dyslexic or have other bona fide learning disabilities that they know about but don’t want to deal with the stigma associated with being labeled.  Well if you want to pass the LO test this might be that point in your life where you finally are going to have to come out of the closet and get some help.  Repeated on purpose: Most of the instructors teaching classes whether they’re live or online specialize in mortgage lending and not learning disabilities. Ask your primary care physician for a referral to a doctor or counselor who specializes in diagnosing learning disabilities in adults.  The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System will make reasonable accomodations for people with documented learning disabilities.  See page 14 of the MLO Testing Handbook for more details.

7. Subprime LOs who fell out of the industry during 2008 and are trying to re-enter the business are having a very, very hard time passing this test.  The main reason is because they think they already know how to originate and don’t want to spend the time studying or don’t think they have to study so they repeatedly fail the test. Anyone who entered the industry around 2002, left the industry in 2007 or 2008 and only originated subprime received very little compliance training if any. 2011 is a radically different world compared with 2007. If you still think stated income loans should come back, if you still believe that a pay option ARM is “the right product for the right person” and if you think it’s unfair that people can’t use seller downpayment assistance programs please do not re-enter the industry.

8. “The test contains trick questions!”
Actually, the test doesn’t have any trick questions.  Test writers try very hard NOT to write trick questions. The reason the test question sound tricky is because LOs are not use to looking up answers and reading the statute.  Instead they ask their boss or the compliance person, their processor or the person sitting next to them for the answer and move on.  People use language differently in different parts of the U.S.  Teaching a class in Oklahoma or Idaho is vastly different compared with teaching in Seattle or Virginia.  Test writers can’t use spoken language and coloquialisms from different parts of the U.S. when writing test questions for an exam to be delivered in all 50 states. The only fair way to write test questions is to copy and paste directly from the law.  That’s why the test questions sound and look “tricky” but really the trick is on you. If LOs would simply study directly from the law, the test questions would look very, very familiar. Re-read number 2.

9. You’re ESL
English language learners are my best students. Why? Because they are typically more emotionally mature, know good and well that they have to listen, ask lots of questions, and study over and over again to pass this test.  ESL LOs…you WILL pass the test. Read more here.

10. The test has too many “situational” questions
So you know RESPA. You know TILA.  You’re scoring high on all your practice exams but the test isn’t going to be as easy as just knowing that you have to send out early disclosures within 3 days of the application.  Instead the test will contain situational questions that will require you to understand how and also why TILA and RESPA interact with each other. This requires you to look at a test question and understand what information you DON’T need and cast it aside. Only then will you be able to understand what content the test writer is testing you on.  This means memorizing test questions is a bad way to study. Instead you’re better off studying the laws and rules that govern mortgage lending.  Mortgage loan origination is all situational. These are highly appropriate questions for the exam and I hope we see more in the future.

11. Part Timers
The national LO test sets a bar and asks people who want to originate to show proof of knowledge of a body of information. Loan origination is no longer a sales job. It’s transforming into a profession. It’s really hard to be a part time doctor, lawyer, engineer, dentist, CPA unless that person is entering semi-retirement. The knowledge, skill set, and industry changes are too wide and deep and the consequences of screwing up are too high.  Welcome to mortgage lending in 2011.  You must be on your game full time or no one will want to hire you. And those companies that do hire part timers are going to have huge liability issues supervising you in 2011 and beyond.  Commit to origination as a profession. Now start over and re-read items 1-3. Part timers have a high opinion of their knowledge of mortgage lending and are sometimes too proud to want to hear that they need more basic education on the entire mortgage lending process.

12. Lack of Basic Education
The SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act does not require a high school diploma or equivalent to become a licensed loan originator. Instead, those without a diploma simply must have proof of three years of experience in the mortgage lending industry.  Subsequently, the national LO exam will be that barrier to entry for folks who may have a learning disability or folks who may not have the ability to think, reason, and understand above a 9th grade level. Some of the math questions on the exam will require a basic understanding of 9th grade algebra. Some of the questions will require the ability to understand how two federal laws relate to each other and to the consumer.  Some people only have the ability to understand one federal law at a time.  Mortgage loan origination today requires the ability to multi-think all day long.  My recommendation: Finish high school first.  The discipline required to obtain a GED will be good practice for studying for the LO exam.

13. Learning Style Not Matched with Study Choice
Visual, auditory, tactile, whole body, emotional…These are all learning styles and passing the test means knowing how you best learn. Learning requires understanding. If you can teach another person something, this is a good sign that you know that concept and will be able to select the correct answer on an exam.  Some people have to see pictures. Other students need to hear the content.  Sometimes instructors tell stories about legal cases. Stories evoke emotion which triggers long term memory.  Sometimes students learn best if they get their whole body involved in the learning process. Everyone is different. Choose a course provider that understands learning styles and find one that matches your particular style.  In my experience, most students have a mixed style so find an instructor/course provider that mixes it up for you. One student had me on the phone grilling me with questions about my course for at least 15 minutes. We figured out that we’d be a good match for each other. She attended my course and passed the test the next day.  Don’t be afraid to call course providers and ask lots of questions.

Every test candidate is different. Some people listen at a higher/faster rate than they can read and write. Some people need to simply read through 400 sample test questions and that’s all they’ll need.  Some people have undiagnosed learning disabilities.  If you’ve taken the LO exam and failed, re-evaluate your learning style, the time you’ve spent studying and any of these other ideas and try again.  If you still cannot pass the exam ask yourself how much you love the mortgage lending industry because there are other positions available in lending that do not require an LO license.  And remember, you can always go work at a depository bank.  Bank LOs do not have to pass the exam…..yet.  Someday they will.

I Don’t Need No Stinking “Database”

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The Christmas Season is here, and I have had a chat or two with some of my colleagues around the Country regarding why we in the Real Estate Industry should strike the word LEAD from our vocablulary. Wrap the word “LEAD” up in a box with the word “DEAL” and set the box on fire before the New Decade begins.

I had a very startling conversation with an agent who not only had no friends who were past clients, but referred ALL family and friends OUT, and refused to work with family and friends. That is such an opposite experience to mine. I still get calls from past clients and family around the Country, who will not buy or sell a house without consulting with me first.

Seriously. If you are not “good enough” for your own friends and family, if you are not the “go to person” for your friends and family with real estate needs, why should anyone else hire you to help them and their friends and family? Why would you have on your business card “Call Me For ALL Of Your Real Estate Needs” and then tell friends and family to call someone else??? Maybe I just don’t “get it”.

client friends
Twenty years ago when I started in this business, someone said to me “make a friend, and then help your friend buy/sell a house”. I have always tried to apply that, and clearly never forgot it. A real estate broker should apply the top level of care when assisting a friend or relative in the purchase or sale of a house, and then apply that same level of care to all clients. It’s what keeps you “on top of your game”.

Many articles have been written on “How To Choose a Real Estate Agent”. Truth is your real estate agent will likely know (and need to know) MUCH more about you to assist you well, than your family and friends know about you.

If you can’t envision your agent as someone you might call over the years AFTER you buy a house to ask about most anything home related, you likely should not have chosen that agent in the first place.

What causes “a client” to move to the right of the Venn Diagram, vs someone bounced back to the left, to only be spoken with if and when they need to buy or sell a house again? What would cause a Past Client, or even a Vendor, to not pass through to the “friend” side of the diagram, and become merely a name and address in a DATABASE to “drip” on?

Back to Christmas. Each morning I wake up to new emails from past clients, wishing Kim and I the best in the New Year. Emails asking how we are doing, and sending warm holiday greetings. Yesterday a gift box arrived from a “past client” who bought a house in 2009, thanking me for helping them with something home related in 2010. Something I did as his friend and “real estate agent for life”, vs something that ended up in a commission for me.

So no…I Don’t Need No Stinking Database”…unless you want to call my Christmas Card List “a database”.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Decade to you and yours!