TODAY'S TRAINING TIP: There's no better time to brush up on credit-related knowledge.

Written by:

Stacey Sprain,

NAMP Volunteer Writer

A loan originator, fresh out of an FHA training class recently asked for my advice on reeling in some FHA loan applications. I told her what I've been advising people for years- "Learn all you can about credit and offer your knowledge to help others." By understanding credit acts and laws that exist to protect consumers, you have an advantage over many of your competitors because you will earn the trust and appreciation of borrowers by offering your own knowledge and experience to educate them.

A great way to market yourself effectively is to team up with other industry professionals to offer credit education seminars to potential homebuyers. You might also consider recruiting the help and advice of your local credit bureau rep to add extra credibility to your session.

I've always felt that our government does a poor job in educating consumers about the acts and laws that exist to protect them. After all, how many people have you met in the past six months who were actually aware that by law, they can request and review a copy of their own credit file annually at no charge? And if they were aware, did they know how to order their free report? Did they carry through and do it? And how many people, including yourself, know exactly how to go about disputing credit report errors so that the credit report is permanently updated? Do you know that you don't need to pay any fees to have outdated trade lines permanently updated? Do you know that you don't need to pay any fees to have duplicate accounts removed permanently from your credit file? Do you have any idea what steps you must take to report identity theft when it affects your credit? Are you aware that you can stop the annoying junk mail offers you receive for credit cards with spending a dime? Do you know what to do to stop telemarketers from calling and leaving those annoying messages on your answering machine or voice mail daily?

If you cannot answer those questions thoroughly or efficiently, you have a HUGE opportunity in front of you. Not only can you learn some things that will be greatly beneficial to YOU for life, but you can use what you learn to positively influence borrowers who have everything to gain from your direction. Your ability to pass on credit-related knowledge and experience will make you more valuable to borrowers as an originator and more valuable to originators as a processor.

The best place to read up on credit-related acts and laws is at the Federal Trade Commission's website at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/resources/guidance/credit.shtm. There you will find outlines of standard credit acts. At http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/resources/articles/credit.shtm, you will find informative articles about important information every consumer needs to know about. The privacy site at http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/index.html includes information not exclusive to credit-related issues but other important subjects as well. I would recommend visiting http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/menus/business/credit/loans.shtm for information on advertising regulations & laws, fraud prevention, identity theft & security information, telemarketing laws, etc.

And lastly, did you know that you can order FREE pamphlets, brochures and booklets on numerous consumer-related issues for yourself and your clients? Visit the FTC's bulk order site at http://bulkorder.ftc.gov:10937/ where you can view and order publications from a number of informative categories. These materials are wonderful for trade shows, office displays, bulk mailings, application kits, internal training, homebuyer seminars, credit seminars, ... the list goes on and on!

About the Writer. As one of NAMP's volunteer writers, Stacey Sprain is currently a NAMP member in good standing and is a NAMP Certified Ambassador Loan Processor (CALP). If you would like to become a volunteer writer for NAMP, please email us at: blog@mortgageprocessor.org.