Mortgage brokers need to be regulated: Caird

The head of Mortgage Choice in New Zealand, Miranda Caird, is calling for all mortgage brokers to be regulated.

"I would like to see (mortgage broking) legislated," she told a session at last week's Financial Planners and Insurance Advisers Association Conference in Christchurch.

Currently, mortgage brokers aren't covered by any form of regulatory control and anyone can call themselves a broker.

Lenders estimate there are about 1000 people selling mortgages in New Zealand and that number is likely to grow as mortgage brokers capture a bigger slice of the market.

Estimates are that brokers account for about 25% of all the mortgages written in New Zealand each year, and that figure, based on international trends, is likely to grow to 40%.

About half of the brokers belong to the Mortgage Brokers Association.

Caird, who was a founder of the association, no longer belongs to it.

She told the FPIA conference that the MBA's standards weren't high enough.

"I'm not prepared to be part of it until it lifts its standards."

She says her franchise operation has high standards than the association, and "they have to come up to us."

Caird says mortgage broking is at an adolescent stage in its development. As it matures minimum standards will rise and it will be difficult for one-man bands to survive.

Dunedin-based Mortgage Choice has 28 offices in New Zealand and is currently trying to expand its number of franchises in Auckland and Christchurch.

• See what Miranda Caird said: Mortgage Brokers need to be regulated
• Mortgage Brokers defend themselves: MBA claims high standards
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