After five years of intense consultation with State and Federal Governments, the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) hailed today’s introduction of new national consumer credit laws into Federal Parliament.

MFAA CEO Phil Naylor said the new laws reflected the key issues the MFAA had raised on behalf of its members for efficient regulation and consumer protection.

“These laws demonstrate our commitment to MFAA members and borrowers; they ensure proper protection for consumers and the exclusion of rogue operators from the lending industry,” Mr Naylor said.
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People considering a reverse mortgage or any other multifaceted loan product should seek the advice of a professional broker, trained in complex mortgage products, the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) said today.

“We recognise that reverse mortgages are complicated products that can be of great value to retirees who are asset-rich, but cash-poor and who are seeking a line of credit,” Phil Naylor, CEO of the MFAA, said.

“As an organisation that has been educating people on equity release products for a long time, the MFAA supports all efforts by other organisations seeking to do the same.”

ASIC and the Australian Government Financial Literacy Board yesterday launched Thinking of Using the Equity in Your Home?, a guide to assist people in assessing whether an equity release product is right for their individual situation.
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Stamp duty on home loans is an inefficient and unproductive cost that must be abolished, the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) said today.

The wide-ranging tax review by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry is reportedly considering proposals to remove the stamp duty charged by state governments on housing loans.

Tax experts are reported to have told the Henry review that home loan stamp duty acts a barrier to moving house and creates inefficiencies in the wider economy by — for example — discouraging labour mobility.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) today welcomed reports that the Federal Government is examining ways to help make non-bank lenders more competitive in the mortgage market.

Treasury officials are said to be preparing options that will make it easier for regional banks and non-bank lenders to access funds and therefore to offer lower mortgage rates.

“The possibility of Federal Government support is appropriate and welcome,” said Phil Naylor, CEO of the MFAA.
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By Jill Fraser from Lending Central.

Is FirstMac’s Chief Executive Officer, Kim Cannon emerging as the brokers’ champion?

Not long ago he issued a warning about banks playing with commissions and broker loyalty. Now he’s committing to ease brokers’ suffering brought about by “the credit hold-up handcuffs the banks have the industry in” by guaranteeing a 24-hour turnaround of loan applications.

Is there an agenda? Of course there is. FirstMac along with all other non-bank lenders have been doing it tough and Cannon needs brokers’ business. But that doesn’t dilute the message.

Hearing brokers voice their grievances at the MFAA industry round table and watching the banks “turn around and tell them, you’re the problem” infuriated him.

He admits to Lending Central that it’s a hard battle re-building the non-bank brand from the ground up after so much damage has been done by “thoughtless” companies like GE and that he is trying to rally other non-bank lenders to present a unified front.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) today called on the Government to keep the new licensing procedures proposed for the industry simple and easy to avoid driving smaller operators out of mortgage broking.

The calls came as part of the Association’s submission on the National Consumer Credit Protection Bill draft.

“The overall thrust of the exposure draft is sound, and the MFAA supports stronger legislation to stamp out predatory practices and better protect consumers,” said Phil Naylor, CEO of the MFAA.

“However, the vast majority of the mortgage brokers practicing today as small operators and we need the Government to ensure that the licensing requirements are not cumbersome or onerous and do not prevent these small operators from staying in business.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia has been granted conditional authorisation to enable it to continue to give effect to its Disciplinary Rules, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.

The MFAA has approximately 13,000 members Australia wide including mortgage brokers, finance brokers, mortgage managers, lenders (bank and non-bank) and originators, lawyers, accountants and educational institutions associated with the industry.

Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC can grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
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MFAA CEO, Phil Naylor told Lending Central that following requests by consumer groups to include in the new legislation a ban on the use of caveats by brokers to secure fees it is now part of the proposal.

The MFAA strongly supports the ban. In a submission made yesterday to the government the MFAA stated that it supports the consumer groups’ lobby to include the ban in the bill.

Affordable Home Loans is not a member of the MFAA. Naylor says that MFAA membership is close to 13,300, 12,500 of which are brokers or broking groups. He calculates that this equals around 75% of all brokers and broking groups in Australia.

22 representatives of broker groups, mortgage managers and lenders (bank and non bank) met on April 28, 2009, under the auspices of the MFAA, to discuss industry issues, including lender service levels, broker submission quality and competition.  The robust discussion was professionally moderated by Peter Switzer.

This meeting was the first of its type and the MFAA is proud to use its leadership role to bring the industry together and facilitate this unique event in which all who participated represented the vast majority of MFAA’s 13200 membership.

The meeting acknowledged that many of the current concerns of the mortgage and finance industry had resulted from the unique coincidence of the following circumstances:
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By Jill Fraser for Lending Central

The MFAA’s upcoming round table discussion between aggregators and lenders, which has been called to address industry issues, has been declared a charade.

Citing a lack of broker representation at the meeting Australian Institute of Professional Brokers (AIPB) co-founder, Maria Rigoni maintains that aggregators are not independent enough to represent brokers.

Referring to next Tuesday’s summit as a “get together that makes it look like we’re doing something for brokers” Rigoni says yet again brokers are being excluded from a significant industry decision-making process.

The crisis in service to brokers and the subsequent departure of growing numbers of brokers from the industry will be one of the main items on the agenda but Rigoni’s request to be included was declined.
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission proposes to grant conditional authorisation to the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia to enable it to continue to use its disciplinary rules, ACCC Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, said today.

Authorisation provides immunity from court action for conduct that might otherwise raise concerns under the competition provisions of the Trade Practices Act 1974. Broadly, the ACCC may grant an authorisation when it is satisfied that the public benefit from the conduct outweighs any public detriment.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) today highlighted the need for mortgage brokers to provide disclosure to customers, saying it will not only increase business now, but that it will benefit brokers when new national credit legislation comes into place later this year.

“There are other major advantages to this approach. Our latest Mystery Shopper report carried out towards the end of last year clearly explains that brokers who made disclosures about supervision, complaints, procedure and commission were much more likely to get the sale,” Mr Naylor said.
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The peak body for the mortgage and finance industry has urged the Government to extend the First Home Owners Boost beyond June, saying that the added incentive was attracting additional first time buyers to the market, buoying the housing sector.

Phil Naylor, CEO of the Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) said: “First time buyers are an incredibly important element of the housing industry and any comeback in the housing industry is reliant on new entrants and people purchasing their first home.
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The Mortgage and Finance Association of Australia (MFAA) has today announced the release of the MFAA Business HealthCheck - a unique diagnostic tool, developed in conjunction with one of Australia’s leading business consultancy groups, Business Health

“The MFAA HealthCheck will provide MFAA members with the opportunity to gain an objective assessment of the operating ‘health’ of their business,” Phil Naylor, CEO of the MFAA, said.

“The HealthCheck is an industry first and available exclusively to MFAA members. It will bring great benefit to our members as they strive to successfully manage their businesses in today’s challenging economic environment.”
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Mortgage Choice is proud to have placed on the BRW Magazine’s Fast Franchises list for the sixth consecutive year.

The only financial services company in the past six successive years to achieve this feat, Mortgage Choice is one of seven businesses to have appeared on the annual list each time since its inception in 2004.

Mortgage Choice Managing Director, Paul Lahiff said he is delighted that the company and its franchise network have achieved such high-profile recognition by one of Australia’s most respected business publications.
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