Mortgage Leads Are “Hot” Commodity

An online source for mortgage news has reported that the industry has become so competitive that two mortgage brokers have begun to steal leads. High property costs and rising mortgage rates have led to a slowing trend in the mortgage market and some people will do anything to stay in the game. Mortgage leads, consisting of data on prospective borrowers actively looking for a lender, were obtained by bribing a company’s information expert to gain access to leads valued at more than $1 million. The Long Island, New York brokers were caught when the company they worked for set up a sting. The result was that a current employee was arrested and two former employees are facing felony charges.

The leads are not the only part that are getting sneaky; some mortgage companies are advertising no-point, no-origination loans, then charging borrowers the fees under different names. Lead companies can be sneaky as well; some companies are selling leads that have deceased people on the list. Companies that guarantee their leads have seen an upswing in their business, providing a small bit of light in the otherwise dark days of lending.