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The recent rollout of minimum volume quotas by some of the nation’s major lenders has raised concerns that brokers may now struggle to remain accredited with every lender.
According to the latest Mortgage Business’ weekly straw poll, 85 per cent of the 1,145 respondents believe minimum volume requirements will prevent them from retaining their accreditation with all the major lenders.
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The 965 majority said they would not be able to retain their accreditation, while 137 respondents said they would.
Mark Lewis, managing director of Bernie Lewis Home Loans, told Mortgage Business the minimum quotas may make it difficult for brokers to retain their accreditation with all the major lenders.
“At the end of the day, a broker’s role is all about getting the best outcome and the best product for their client.
“Some of my top loan writers would have fallen foul of the requirements at one stage or another, simply because at certain times the products being issued by some of the major lenders were not competitive and would not suit any client,” Mr Lewis said.
“The banks are using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut. If it is about driving education and hence removing part time brokers from the industry, then they should target them specifically not the industry at large,” Mr Lewis said.
Smartline executive director Joe Sirianni told Mortgage Business he understood the banks’ reasoning behind the minimum quotas, however, he questioned whether or not there was a better alternative.
"Overall I think minimum quotas will generally drive an increased level of education among brokers, and it will also help the industry to clean out some of the part time brokers who may negatively impact the reputation of full time, professional brokers.
“That said the issue has been raised that perhaps some of the quotas being imposed by the major lenders are a little heavy handed.”
CBA’s executive general manager of third-party banking, Kathy Cummings, told Mortgage Business the quotas put in place by the bank were easily achievable.
“Commonwealth Bank’s requirement is to lodge a minimum of four loans in a six month period. This breaks down into one loan every six and a half weeks,” Ms Cummings said.
“We believe this provides serious brokers with ample opportunity to maintain their full accreditation with us and other lenders.”
Ms Cummings said the bank’s 22 per cent share in the home loan market meant it was not unrealistic to expect that one in at least every five customers was a potential CBA client.
