MT State Law Assignment 1 of 2

CASE STUDY

Danny has been a licensed MLO working for a lending company called S & L Associates for about a year now. And, over that time, Danny has been steadily locking down his own methods for closing loans. Let’s look at one of his latest transactions as an example.

A borrower named Claire comes to Danny for a mortgage loan. She was referred to him by her real estate agent Patricia—whom Danny has worked with quite a few times. Danny takes Claire’s application and sends her on her way. 

Danny knows that, given the volume of loans right now, it’s going to be a little tight time-wise submitting Claire’s application and getting the appraisal done, etc., by the projected closing date. And, what’s more, he has scheduled a remote hiking trip for the following week, so Danny will be out of cell phone range and away from the internet.

While he is gone, Danny asks his buddy and co-worker Scott to look after Claire’s file because Danny will be out of cell phone range and away from Internet access. In exchange for his help, Danny will pay Scott $200 out of the loan commission – just for keeping Claire’s loan on track. Everybody wins!

During Danny’s vacation, Claire mistakenly sends the check intended for the appraiser to Danny’s office, instead of to a third party called On Time Scheduling that S & L uses for scheduling appraisals.

Scott does not notice the check because he is dealing with a licensing issue of his own. Specifically, after fifteen years as an MLO, for the first time, Scott’s license has not been renewed! In scrambling to deal with reinstating his license, Scott forgets to keep tabs on Claire’s loan.

So, after sitting on Danny’s desk for five days, Danny comes back, finds the check in a stack of mail, and forwards it on to On Time, along with an explanation of the situation.

A few weeks later, Claire’s loan is approved and they go on to close on time.  And, even though he nearly dropped the ball with the appraisal check, Danny decides to honor his promise to give Scott the $200 bonus for helping out with Claire’s file. After all, Scott really needs the cash right now.

A year later, seeing that interest rates have dropped significantly, Danny contacts Claire about possibly refinancing her mortgage. After two weeks of phone tag, in which Danny lets Claire know that the rates could swing back up, she finally decides to come in and talk about a refinance.

Sure enough, by the time Claire gets in to Danny’s office, the rates aren’t quite as good as they were when he originally contacted her. Even so, after running the numbers, Danny finds that Claire will still save $85 per month on her mortgage payment with the refi! So, Claire applies to refinance her mortgage (including her correct annual income and length of employment, this time) and is approved.   

Now, Let's Answer a Few Questions:

1.    Is there anything wrong with Danny paying Scott to watch over Claire’s loan?
A.    No, it is completely legal
B.    Yes, Scott let his license lapse
C.   Yes, it is illegal to have another LO assist on a loan
D.   Yes, it is illegal to offer a fee to have another LO assist on a loan

2.    What, if anything, did Scott do wrong in this situation?
A.    He wasn’t licensed as an MLO at the time he was watching over Claire’s loan, therefore, it is illegal for him to receive compensation on the loan
B.    He asked for too much money from Danny to watch over the loan
C.   He misquoted the rate that Claire would be receiving
D.   Scott really did nothing wrong in this situation

3.    Did Danny actually misrepresent the rate he quoted Claire at when she refinanced?
A.    Yes, he told her what the rate would be on the phone, yet the rate she actually received was higher
B.    Yes, he knew the rates were going to go up, but neglected to tell her
C.   No, he explained what the rates where at the time of their conversation, and also told her they could potentially increase, nor did he use an advertisement when dealing with Claire

4.    Did Danny break any laws by refinancing Claire’s loan?
     A.    Yes, he advertised a specific rate to her and then didn’t give her that rate when she was ready to refinance
     B.    Yes, he neglected to warn her that rates could swing back up

C.   No, Danny did not break any laws while refinancing Claire’s loan




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