John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... Rod Cameron understands why the Colorado Division of Real Estate is raising its fees for mortgage brokers.
“I knew they were going up, but I did not know by how much,” said Cameron, who is president of the Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers, and principal of Golden-based Cameron Financial Services.
Starting on Nov. 1, it will cost $245 to renew a license and $350 to get a new one.
“Since we have about half as many mortgage brokers as we had before, one could deduce that fees were going to rise,” Cameron said. “Do I like paying more? No. Am I upset by the increase? Not really. I understand it.”
Cameron said that since the Colorado Division of Real Estate had de-activated about 4,500 licenses earlier this year, leaving about 4,200 licensed loan originators in the state, “some people think that has the connotation that the division was actively weeding the bad apples out of the business. But that is not really the case.”
Licenses had been good for three years, while as of Jan. 1, they will need to be renewed annually, he said. But a number of the people who had licenses under the old three-year licensing time period, were not active in the market, he said.
It’s actually better for consumers to have mortgage brokers licensed every year, he said. In some cases in the past, consumers seeking loans thought that brokers were licensed, but they weren’t properly bonded and meeting all of the other requirements of the state, he said.
Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.
As a mortage originator since 1999 I have seen alot of changes, especially this last year. It's no surprise that with half the income after the deactivation in August, that the commission has increased there fees. Increases are being seen by Realtors as well. Still more changes coming as we deal with FHA, HVCC, RESPA, HUD, YSP reform. I'm just hoping that the consumer isn't hurt as a result.