From RealtyTimes:
Robbins Calls for Personal Commitment
by Lew Sichelman
The new chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association has called for an “industry-wide commitment to personal responsibility.”
Taking over the reins of the MBA at the group’s annual convention in Chicago earlier this week, John Robbins said the “industry must take a leadership role so our customers receive the best information possible, allowing them to make an educated decision on the mortgage program they have selected.”
If the business chooses to abdicate that responsibility, Robbins warned in opening the three-day conference, “Then we deserve to be subjected to the unending stream of punitive legislation and regulation (that’s) sure to follow.”
The chairman of American Mortgage Network in San Diego said lenders should have the borrower’s best interest at heart, not their own. The “simple litmus test” should be to “always make sure borrowers have what they need to make the right choice,” he said.
…
Unlike those who blame the media for the black-eye which lenders have received as a result of the negative publicity generated by news stories about predatory lenders, the new MBA leader said the real culprits are those wrote the loans. “They obviously put their personal compensation ahead of their borrowers’ well being,” he told the convention.Robbins also said the MBA could lose it’s well-earned credibility with new organizations, lawmakers and regulators if its members don’t hold themselves to a higher standard.
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It shouldn’t be “just one more piece of paper to sign at closing,” he said.
“If the business chooses to abdicate that responsibility, Robbins warned in opening the three-day conference, “Then we deserve to be subjected to the unending stream of punitive legislation and regulation (that’s) sure to follow.”
“…the new MBA leader said the real culprits are those wrote the loans. “They obviously put their personal compensation ahead of their borrowers’ well being,” he told the convention.”
*double-take*
Wow! A straight-speaking MBA chair! I’m trying to think of the last time I ever heard an industry leader that its business deserved to be punished if it didn’t act responsibly or ethically. I hope he walks his talk. Even if it is well after the horse has left the barn.
I’m really REALLY getting tired of homeowners that want the best schools in the world, with unlimited monies flowing into these schools, who then cry about high property taxes, and wish to push the burden to the entire state by increasing income tax or sales tax to offset the cost of there needs.
I hope prior to any increase in sales or income tax that all homes in NJ get reassessed with the proper price estimate and tax increases applied to these greedy homeowners who have no problem selling there home for insane prices, but cry when the tax man comes.
Too little too late the cow is out of the barn. I think this is just an attempt at preemptive damage control, but fingers will still be pointing at them after the resets start to burn borrowers. Look to see this as a major campaign issue in 2008.
BTW my brother in law knows someone at the MBA who is a vice president, he introduced me to him in 1998. Apparently this guy, my brother in law and David Lareah were playing golf together 2 weeks ago.
Why does CYA morality (including all those high-nosed company intranet links to corporate ethics policies) always come after the music stops and players are frozen, looking at the few remaining chairs, with multiple conflicting thoughts of either being the nice loser or the nasty winner.
Amen Pat. Just watch they will try to say that this was policy all along.