Our clients sometimes comment that they're asked 'why would you use a mortgage broker?'. Presumably those who ask just go to their banks and trust that they're led in the right direction.This trust could be misplaced, if you look at the current issues several (all?) banks are facing.
First up, provision of Key Fact Sheets for home loans became mandatory (when requested of a lender by a customer) on January 1. And yet consumer group Choice recently ran a shadow shopping exercise and found that not one bank provided them. Hmmmm....
Next, Bankwest is under fire from disgruntled business banking customers whose loans have been called in early, despite them not being in breach of their loan agreement. Nationals Senator John Williams has called for a federal enquiry into the bank's aggressive policies since its takeover by Commowealth Bank in December 2008. A class action suit is being prepared. Uh-oh.
CBA has also been in the headlines with ASIC very unhappy about recent advertising which advertised home loan rates applicable to Wealth Package holders without disclosing or including the annual package fee of $350. CBA reckon that package fees don't count. (Oh really? I bet the competitors rates shown in the ad included their fees.) The bank eventually backed down in response to what ASIC called "concerns that the rates used in ads were incorrect and potentially misleading".
So, how trustworthy is your bank?
Some other 'issues' which we have recently resolved with lenders (especially those mentioned here) on behalf of our clients include: refund of overcharged Lenders Mortgage Insurance premium ($1300) to our first home buyer clients and a refund of over $6000 in overcharged interest, which we picked up when reviewing our existing client's home loan. ('Hang on, that's not the loan product we settled for you....').
So, why would you use a mortgage broker again?
