Luxury Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate, Sterling Bank?

We have had clients that have. Call me and I'll send you our preferred list of lenders. (We never accept referral fees from any vendor).

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

RESPA laws prohibit real estate brokers from receiving anything of value from lenders, mortgage brokers SSPs. The punishment for violation is severe.

That said as a mortgage broker I have several lenders who do jumbo loans. I even have a few lenders who can issue commitments before contract signing. Unlike a pre approval, this commitment gives far more leverage to the buyer. After the contract is signed since the purchaser already has a commitment the lending process is seamless and less time to close.

Ellen Silverman
Licensed Mortgage Broker since 1990 NMLS#60631
No fee to apply
Licensed Real Estate Broker since 1987
esfundingco@aol.com

This is of course true Ellen. But as you know some brokers receive "marketing fees" .

We used Guaranteed Rate to find a mortgage on a non-warrantable condo that no-one else would lend on. We are happy with the result and would use them again.

Keith, that is being done away with per The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Maybe it's already illegal. Wells Fargo did away with it just recently. You can google it.

This is what I am referring to :QUESTION: Is there a way to structure a marketing services agreement (“MSA”) that complies with RESPA?

ANSWER: RESPA permits the marketing of other settlement services by another settlement service provider so long as the payments made for these services represents the fair value for the services provided. A lawful MSA will need to contain the following elements: first, the real estate professional can perform services for other companies in the same field of business (i.e., the agreement is not exclusive); the compensation is not based on the volume of business, but rather on the value of the services provided by the real estate professional; a written contract between the parties which documents the services to be provided pursuant to the agreement; and a written disclosure is provided to the consumer describing the real estate professional’s role in selling the third-party service. That said, CFPB has been active in initiating enforcement actions in this area and appears to take the view that these agreements are going to almost always be an improper referral fee, so anyone entering into a MSA will need to be exercise extreme caution.

@Ellen seems this is a risky proposition. We have always taken the position of accepting no referral fees from any vendor.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

Keith, you seem like a very conscientious broker, and I never doubted you. That's why I made my comment so you could clarify what I already knew.

Also want to mention that I recently had a Banking Examination and a new item was required prior to the exam and that is I had to list every loan I did and the source for that loan. If it was a referral from a real estate broker I was required to give the name of the firm and the address.

Thank you Ellen. Yes we employ a different take on the brokerage biz.

Keith Burkhardt
The Burkhardt Group

Guaranteed Rate twice provided better rates from banks than I got directly from the same banks. That said, recently, Wells Fargo has given me the best rates on jumbo loans. I would use a broker AND call the big banks separately (Wells, Bank of America, Chase, Citi).