Have ever watched the movie “Hunt for Red October” or any other naval war movie as the good guy put a shot across the bow of the bad guy’s vessel? The warning shot send a very clear message and can not be ignored.
Well, consider the Press Release on September 11, 2007 by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning Deceptive Mortgage Ads, as the warning shot by the Federal Government to all mortgage bankers and brokers. The entire mortgage industry is currently in the cross hairs of Congress and that is a really bad thing.
Every time I hear one of those incessant radio ads, receive a fax offer or open a junk e-mail that touts some mortgage offer that is too good to be true or leave out the most important piece of information, I want to tell the world “Don’t believe it”. These types of ads and offers are the driver behind the current mortgage meltdown.
The September 11th press release states that “many mortgage advertisers are making potentially deceptive claims about incredibly low rates and payments without telling consumers the whole story’. The FTC works for the consumers to prevent deceptive and unfair practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop and avoid them. They have brought 21 actions against companies in the mortgage lending industry which has resulted in collectively returning more than $320 million to consumers.
The FTC Consumer Alert titled “Deceptive Mortgage Ads: What They Say; What They Leave Out” is available on their website. The FTC can be contacted toll free at
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
We can all learn from the Sub-Prime Mortgage Melt Down and must be more available to our customers to guide and advise them through these turbulent and confusing times.
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