Assignment Objective:
The objective of this Assessment Task is to demonstrate that you have the skills and knowledge required to conduct a client relationship and comply with statutory, industry and organization compliance requirements.
Task 1: Identify and Interpret Compliance Requirements
1.1. Identify compliance requirements
Mortgage brokers face important compliance requirements, the foremost among them being the reasonable lending provisions of the NCCP Act. The penalties for non-compliance include loss of license (for businesses) and removal from the industry (for individuals). If fraud is involved there may also be the criminal penalties of fines and / or imprisonment.
Compliance requirements are not static. It is therefore important to stay up to date with them.
Mortgage brokers also need to keep up-to-date with the actions of the regulatory authorities such as APRA and the Reserve Bank. Their actions may not amount to direct regulation, but through their effects on interest rates and bank lending these authorities can have a very direct impact on the business mortgage brokers are able to do.
(a) A key requirement of the responsible lending obligations is the 'unsuitability test.' What must a mortgage broker do to comply with the unsuitability test?
(b) List the sorts of items a client's requirements and objectives could include (as indicated by ASIC).
(c) Leading credit providers and other financial organisations have code of ethics, sometime called codes of conduct. Select one of them and summarize it by itemizing its main principles.
(d) In point form, list the key information that the NCCP Act requires to be contained in a Credit Guide.
(e) It is important to keep up to date with compliance requirements so that the required changes can be made to organization procedures and product offerings. Suggest three sources that you can use.
(f) Explain the requirement for Australian Credit Licensees to keep a training register.
(g) Explain APRA's current attitude towards bank lending for investment properties.
1.2 Interpret, analyze and prioritize identified compliance requirements
Some of the compliance requirements are difficult to meet. Unfortunately, also there have been some 'rogue' mortgage brokers who have failed to comply - with the disadvantage of their clients.
The finance planning industry has been plagued by non-compliance in the largest planning groups, with the image of the industry being substantially tarnished as a result. It may not suffer greatly because of the absence of an alternative source of financial advice.
This is not so with mortgage brokers. They are just establishing their reputation and consumers always have alternative of going to the lenders directly.
(a) Select three tasks you perform on a regular basis that are subject to compliance requirements.
(b) Identify the compliance requirements that are relevant to the three tasks selected, indicating the name of the relevant legislation, regulation or code of conduct.
(c) How does your organisation monitor your compliance?
Task 2: Deliver and Monitor a Service to Customers
Identify customer needs:
The relationship with a client is generally described as beginning with the establishment of empathy. In other words, it is first necessary for a mortgage broker to establish that he / she is truly interested in the client and the client's needs. It is only after that that the mortgage broker has established the right to interview a client.
(a) Use the internet or any other source to find a definition of empathy.
(b) List three open-ended questions that assist in developing empathy with a client? How do such questions indicate empathy?
(c) List and explain the steps involved in an 'active listening approach'.
(d)How is client service commonly monitored in your organisation? What are the two possible outcomes?
2.1 Deliver a service to customers
In a survey on the reasons for referrals conducted by David Maister, only 10% were due to the quality of technical work. The remaining 90% of referrals were due to the quality of service.
This indicates that the key to maintaining client relationships and gaining referrals is the provision of outstanding service. This has been described by Maisteras 'over-servicing'.
(a) Describe three ways in which a mortgage broking organisation can attempt to 'overservice' clients?
(b) How would you keep a client informed about the progress of an application as it passed through a creditor provider's hands? What approximate timing might be involved?
(c) Describe how you might attempt to resolve conflicts with clients.
(d) How do you can prepare clients for the hiccups that can happen while their credit application is being processed?
(e) The chapter on Operating a Mortgage Broking Business contains an example suggesting that a mortgage broker acting in the best interests of clients should act as a Protector rather than an Expert. What are the implications for this in regard to (i) advice given to clients and (ii) recommending the most suitable loan products?.
(f) How could you prepare yourself to deal with client concerns?
(g) Give examples of the following legal breaches: breach of the duty of care, false and misleading conduct, unconscionable conduct & conflict of interest without disclosure.
(h) Once a desirable market segment has been identified, a mortgage broking business can put its mind o developing suitable marketing strategies. List examples of different strategies that might be used.
(i) What steps can be taken to keep up to date with product changes and ensure that this knowledge is properly disseminated?
(j) What are the procedures for dealing with client complaints in your organisation?
(k) What normal protocols should for protecting the confidentiality of client files?
Task 3: Contribute to OHS Hazard Identification & Risk Assessment
Contribute to workplace hazard identification:
Occupational health and safety hazards are often considered only in terms of physical injury, perhaps the result of working with heavy machinery, working in an excessively noisy environment, or slipping or falling. Just as relevant, however, is work-related stress. This describes the physical, mental and emotional reactions of workers who perceive that their work demands exceed their abilities and/or their resources (such as time, help/support) to do the work.
For the questions that follow, please read 'Overview of Work-related Stress' from the NSW Government.
(a) How would you define workplace stress?
(b) Suggest at least two ways in which work-related stress may affect client relationships.
(c) Suggest at least four approaches you can take to reduce workplace stress? (Hint: you may find suggested ways if you key 'handling workplace stress' into a search engine).
3.1 Gather information about workplace hazards In assisting in the control of work-related hazards, you will need to be access suitable information.
(a) Explain the distinction between 'job demands' and 'job resources' risk factors.
(b) Identify two 'job demands' risk factors that are relevant to your workplace and describe what detrimental effect they might have.
3.2 Contribute to OHS risk assessment
Once risks have been identified, they should be controlled. A way of doing this is to use "job resources" available in the organization.
Once again, please refer to the 'Glossary of Job Demands and Job Resources' that was referred to earlier.
Apart from OHS issues, there are other significant risks that have to be dealt with at all levels in an organisation.
(a) List the job demand factors you have identified previously and for each one select one or more job resources that might be used to mitigate these risks.
(b) Select one of the job resources listed and suggest how you could apply it in your work situation.
(c) Select a significant risk issue, other than OHS issues, that has an impact on the way you perform your duties and explain how it is managed.
3.3 Environmental risks:
The risks that should be considered in management decision-making include environmental risks.
This is giving rise to a new way for businesses to report to stakeholders that goes beyond traditional financial reporting. It is called "triple bottom line" reporting.
(a) List the three criteria of triple bottom line reporting. What is the likely effect of this form of reporting on management decision-making at all levels.
(b) Select the annual report of a leading financial organization such as a major bank and, after identifying the organization, summarize what it says about its environmental impact (suggested maximum length of 50 words).
(c) Briefly indicate the environmental protection assistance that your business organization is able to receive from your State or Territory environment protection agency.
3.4 Effective team management
Risk assessment also requires effective team management and participation and the right sorts of questions being asked.
(a) Describe the benefits of team meetings.
(b) Consider your own role in team meetings and describe the approach you and other members should take to information sharing.
(c) Give examples of the types of risks that should be considered in all team meetings.
(d) Explain why leadership is important in risk management.
Task 4: Set and meet own work priorities
One of the challenges we face in a workplace situation is time management. Management theory on the subject began with the Pareto Principle, suggested that only about 20% of the things we do produce 80% of the results we achieve. The challenge than becomes to set time aside for the 20% that matters.
The theory was taken further with Stephen Covey's Time management matrix.
(a) Describe Covey's Quadrant 2.
(b) List three of your work activities that should belong in Covey's Quadrant 2.
(c) Suggest ways that you might utilize to ensure that proper time is spent on Quadrant 2 activities so that stress is avoided.
(d) Digital diaries are now available as both computer and mobile phone apps. Describe the place of digital diaries in managing personal work priorities.
(e) Describe the importance of setting goals in terms of personal well-being.
(f) What does Stephen Corvey recommend for "re-creation" (a Quadrant 2 activitiy),
(g) What are the common characteristics of work goals?
4.1. Develop and maintain professional competence
One of the outcomes of spending more time on Covey's Quadrant 2 is that we have more time for professional development. Desirable professional development includes a range of activities begin with reading the morning press to undertaking a degree course at university. Increasingly these days, it may also involve doing a course through the internet.
Setting professional development goals is part of the goal setting we should undertake in are working life. If we have personal goals we are more likely to make things happen. Also, research suggests that goal setting relieves stress and increases physical wellbeing.
Goal setting of this type is a Covey Quadrant 2 activity. As such it is something we have to deliberately set time aside for. This may be easier over time because that way it becomes more of a habit.
Ideas for professional development do not come out of a vacuum. You should be prepared to seek advice from colleagues and other mortgage brokers.
(a) List three activities you might consider undertaking to increase your competency (in addition to formal professional development training) to comply with ethical, legal and procedural requirements.
(b) Describe how you can obtain ideas for professional development from (i) feedback and (ii) competency standards.
(c) Where do you see yourself in three years time? List three skills or competencies you will need to arrive there. Against each skill or competency nominated, suggest how you will attain it.
(d) Suggest ways in which mortgage brokers may network to assist other mortgage brokers.
Task 5: Develop professional business relationships
David Maistre has defined professionalism as an ''... an unqualified dedication to excellence in serving clients and their needs.' This has important implications for how client relationships are established and maintained.
Mortgage brokers are also able to develop and benefit from relationships with other brokers because their main competition is not with each other. Rather, it is the banks and other financial institutions.
Networking within the industry is therefore important.
Meeting other mortgage brokers requires much the same techniques as meeting clients, other professionals and third party referrers. The relationship depends on the development of rapport and the ability to contribute to the relationship in key knowledge areas.
(a) What needs to be demonstrated at the outset in a client relationship? When is appropriate to demonstrate competence?
(b) Imagine that you are explaining the function of mortgage broking to a client. What words would you use?
(c) Explain the importance of a code of ethics in the relationship between a professional and clients.
(d) Drawing on your own experience or the experience of a more experienced colleague or manager, describe a situation where a need was identified to use language and concepts appropriate to cultural differences. How was the need met?
5.1 Build and maintain business networks and relationships
For a relationship with a client to continue, they need an assurance of continuing mutual benefit. The continuing mutual benefit is also important in relationships with other professionals, including relationships with 'outsiders' such as accountants, real estate agents and other professionals.
(a) List two others type of professional your organization uses to develop client relationships and indicate in each case how it is able to provide them with a benefit in the relationship.
(b) Surveys indicated that two-way dialogue, or 'conversation' is of overriding importance in developing client relationships, relationships with colleagues and also other professional relationships. List four characteristics of this process.
(c) Other professionals that a mortgage broker might forms contacts with are referred to in marketing literature as 'Centres of Influence' (COI). Why does David Maistre place them in his 'second tier' in order of effectiveness. What activities in David Maistre's first tier does your organization engage in.
(d) List four occupations and professionals that may become Centres of Influence.foryour organisation.
Task 6: Promoting the Effective Use of Credit
Read the following scenario then answer the questions that follow.
Roslyn qualified as a schoolteacher some years ago, but failed to take up a teaching position after graduating because she became a single mother. Fortunately, she has been able to live with her widowed mother, but now that her daughter has reached school she is taking up a position as a schoolteacher some suburbs away.
Because of the distance of her new school from her parent's home she will need to buy a car. After careful consideration, she has chosen a small hatchback that has an on-road cost of $15,800.
She will be working full time with a starting salary of $50,000.
She knows little about finance and has come to you for advice. She would prefer to finance the full cost of the car because she has little in savings.
Task 6.1
(i) Suggest two financing options that Roslyn might consider.
(ii) Explain the main features of each.
(iii) Choose one of these options and explain your choice. Are there any disadvantages that need to be considered?
Task 6.2
Write a letter to Roslyn letting her know about your preferred, explain how she will make payments and giving your reasons for choosing it as the option more clearly meeting her needs. You should take care to proofread your letter.
Task 6.3
Roslyn is concerned that the lender will apply for a credit report. Explain:
(i) The procedure and cost involved in obtaining a copy of her credit file.
(ii) The right of a lender to access credit report information.
Task 6.4
Roslyn mentions that her mother's washing machine has broken, and she urgently needs a replacement washing machine. The cost is less than a thousand dollars and she plans to use her credit card for the purchase. She tells you that she will make the minimum required repayment per month until she pays the machine off.
Draft a letter to Roslyn providing advice about her plan.
Task 7: Prepare a loan application on behalf of mortgage broking clients
Case Study - Evaluating and processing a loan application
Read the following case study then answer the questions that follow.
Ross and MelissaCooper is a young couple who have been married for five years, during which they have been renting an apartment while saving to buy an apartment of their own. They do not have any children at this stage.
After some months searching, they have found a small two-bedroom apartment that suits their needs. The purchase cost of the property is $480,000, and they have provided a deposit of $60,000. You are recommending a standard variable loan.
Ross has been working at Gaines Consulting Pty Ltd. for 12 years and has a salary of $80,000. Melissa has been working at Jackson Equipment Hire Pty Ltd for 8 years and has a salary of $70,000. Neither has had previous employment, apart from casual work when they were younger.
The full details of Ross and Melissa that you have collected are as follows:
Task 7.1
Apart from requiring the presentation of a Credit Guide, the NCCP Act says nothing about what a mortgage broker should say about him/herself at the beginning of a client interview. In the space below, make a few brief points about what you would say about yourself and your firm at this stage. Remember that at the outside the client is primarily looking for assurance that the broker is concerned about them and their interests.
Task 7.2
List in point form the important information a Credit Guide conveys to the credit applicant.
Task 7.3
Under the Anti-money Laundering and Counter-terrorism Financing Act 2006 (AML/CTF Act), mortgage brokers are required to establish the identity of their clients. To do this they must cite original copies of at least three primary documents and one secondary document. List three primary documents and one secondary document below.
Task 7.4
Mortgage brokers should present adequate information to clients to enable them to make a choice between loans. This involves conducting research to determine suitable loans and presenting clients with a choice among, say, three loans that are considered to be suitable for the client's requirements. The characteristics of the three selected loans are then presented to clients in a way that allows a comparison to be made. The presentation may be made a piece of paper, or other means such as a PowerPoint overhead.
You are now required to use the internet or other sources to choose three loans that you believe will meet the requirements of Ross and Melissa. The relevant details should be placed in the spaces provided.
Task 7.5 (a)
Explain significant features of the loan products that you have chosen in words that the client would understand. Your answer should be restricted to features relevant to the clients.
Task 7.5 (b)
Credit providers always have other fees and charges beyond their stated interest rates. Select one of the loans you have set out in Task 7.4 as the one preferred by Ross and Melinda, and explain any additional fees and charges in a manner that your clients can understand.
Task 7.6
It is important to verify the information that you obtain from clients, particularly information that relates to income. List the documents that you should ask for and then examine to verify the incomes of Ross and Melissa.
Task 7.7
In dealing with clients, it is important to explain technical concepts in 'plain English' so that they understand them. In the first two spaces below, explain the terms 'LVR' and 'insured' LVR' in terms that that your clients will understand. Then, in the third space, explain how Lender's Mortgage Insurance is normally paid, once again expressing yourself in a way that the clients are likely to understand.
Task 7.8
Mortgage brokers assist their clients to complete their preferred lender's credit application form, as well as applications for the First Home Buyer's Grant and (where applicable) stamp duty exemption. Examples of these forms are set out over the following pages and you are required to complete them on behalf of Ross and Melissa. In this case, please fill in our sample of ANZ application form. Treat these buyers as first home buyers and treat this property as a new property, for the purpose to get use to filling FHOG and Exemption forms. Remember that each form must be signed by the client, so facsimile signatures must be attached
Task 7.9
It is important to keep clients informed about the steps involved in the credit approval process. Indicate how your organization keeps your client informed as the loan application proceeds. What are the likely normal time intervals for each step that you explain to your clients.
Task 7.10
Assess the loan application of Ross and Melissa Cooper against the five C's.
a) Character
How would you assess the applicants' character?
b) Capacity
(i) What will the applicants' monthly payment be, given the current variable lending rate of 6% p.a.?
(ii) Using the 'income percentage method', assess the applicants' capacity to repay the loan (25 words)
c) Capital
(i) How would you verify the equity the applicants intend to contribute to the purchase?
(ii) What should you be careful about regarding this contribution? (50 words)
d) Collateral
(i) Assuming the valuation placed on the property is $480,000, calculate the loan to valuation ratio (LVR).
(ii) Given the LVR that you have calculated, what steps might the bank take to protect its position? (25 words)
e) Conditions
Using the information that has been presented, identify any 'conditions' that might impact on this loan application. How should they be handled?
Task 7.11
What is your organization's policy about notifying applicants of the outcome of their application?
Task 7.12
The credit application that is forwarded to the credit provider is accompanied by supporting documentation used to verify the information concerning the financial position of the client. List six types of document that is likely to be forwarded. In the case of Ross and Melissa Cooper.
Task 7.13
What should be the rules regarding access to client files?
Task 7.14
There are times that you might suggest to clients that they should have a fixed interest loan for a period. Explain why you would do this.
Task 7.15
List the information you should include on a client file.
Task 8: Steps Taken by the Credit Provider
Build and maintain business networks and relationships
As indicated, the process of interviewing a client, carrying out a preliminary assessment, and forwarding a credit application to a credit provider should take no longer than two days. The credit provider's task, however, is more involved and takes longer because there are more matters to consider than the final assessment, which is normally carried out soon after the credit application has been received from the mortgage broker.
These matters include having the security valued and negotiating any additional support, checking all details, preparing an offer letter, preparing security documentation, having the loan documentation signed, attending settlement, registering the mortgage and having the mortgage documents stamped.
The offer letter is in fact the loan contract the mortgage broker becomes involved once again - to check that the requirements of the loan purpose are met and to ensure that the client understands all terms and conditions.
Task 8.1
The final assessment of the credit application is carried out by an officer of the credit provider, or at a higher level if that officer's authority is exceeded. What is that officer's responsibility in terms of the NCCP Act.
Task 8.2
Give examples of the information that the mortgage broker may be asked to obtain at the time of the final assessment.
Task 8.3
Sometimes additional support, such as a third party guarantee is required in housing loans. Indicate when such support may be required and the matters about which the credit provider should seek to be satisfied. How is the required evidence about those matters normally obtained?
Task 8.4
Distinguish between the credit provider's final assessment and the credit review carried out by the credit provider?
Task 8.5
List five of the checks the credit provider would normally perform before preparing an offer letter.
Task 8.6
Why do mortgage brokers become involved once again when the offer letter is forwarded to the client? What legal responsibility under the NCCP Act leads to this involvement?
Task 8.7
List four other matters relating to the offer letter that the mortgage broker should check.
Task 8.8
Imagine that you are the client's solicitor writing to the client. In words that the client is likely to understand explain: what happens at settlement; how funds are normally disbursed following settlement; and how the title document is registered?
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