Any nonprofit or for profit organization that provides consumer mortgage loans or originates mortgage loans for others is eligible to apply for certification by the Fair Mortgage Collaborative. Certified members must agree to comply with FMC’s Fair Mortgage Standards.
To begin the process of certification please contact
Howard Banker, Executive Director
Bonnie Bruzdziak, Executive Assistant
The Certification Process:
The FMC will verify member compliance with its loan standards through a number of different mechanisms including:
A. Member self-certification
All certified members must annually complete a statement certifying that their organization endorses FMC’s loan standards and intends to comply with these standards in all its lending or loan brokering activities.
B. Certification visits
At the time of initial application for certification and up to once per year thereafter, each certified member may receive a monitoring site visit from FMC staff or contractors designed to ensure that the certified member has systems, policies and procedures in place which are consistent with FMC’s standards and to review a random sample of recent loan files to verify compliance.
D. Consumer notification and complaints
Each Certified member must post a notice in a prominent location within any office where meetings with potential mortgage borrowers are conducted indicating that the organization has been certified by FMC and including FMC’s web address and telephone number for consumer complaints. FMC will respond immediately to complaints from any consumers and if appropriate, may request copies of loan documents pertinent to the complaining consumer, or may initiate a broader review including an additional site visit to verify continued compliance with standards.
E. Loan Data Reporting
Initially FMC will require certified members to provide a bi-annual report listing each mortgage loan originated, including the loan amount, the borrower’s income and race, the zip code of the property, the loan number or other unique identifier and an indication of whether the loan was a “Standard Loan” or a “non Standard loan” as defined by FMCs loan standards. Based on these reports, FMC will request and review copies of complete loan files for a small random sample of all mortgage loans originated by certified members each year. At some point in the future, certified members may be asked to participate in real time electronic submission of key data regarding individual loans made or brokered.
Rights of Certified Members
- A Certified Member may display the FMC trademark in its offices and may reproduce the trademark and describe itself as “Fair Mortgage Certified” any print or online publications, advertisements or other similar documents. FMC will provide electronic and print materials for this purpose.
- Certified members will be listed on the FMC web site with contact information and a description of any relevant consumer services or products.
- Certified members may participate in the governance of the Fair Mortgage Collaborative including by attending and voting at membership meetings, participating in committees, nominating and voting for member representatives to the Board of Directors or serving on the Board. Certified members will be invited to comment on any proposed revisions to the FMC standards.
- Depending on the availability of resources for this purpose, the FMC may make pass through grant funding available to Certified Members to facilitate development of stronger internal systems for providing fair and safe mortgages.
Responsibilities of Certified Members
- Pay an annual certification fee
- Cooperate in an annual certification site visit including by collecting relevant data and loan files in advance of the visit
- Cooperate with FMC in resolving any consumer complaints or other requests for information.
- Provide annual reports summarizing lending or loan brokerage activities.
Revisions of the Standards
From time to time, FMC may need to revise these fair and safe loan standards. Prior to any revision, every certified member shall receive the text of any proposed changes and be allowed 30 days to comment. At the end of this comment period, FMC shall organize a meeting or conference call open to all Certified Members to discuss the proposed change to the standards and make recommendations to the FMC Board of Directors. Final authority for any decision to revise the standards will rest with the FMC Board of Directors. After any revision, Certified Members will be given a minimum of 90 days to implement compliance with the revised standard or terminate their certification.
Networks
FMC will work closely with several existing networks of lenders or loan brokers to facilitate cost effective access to certification for multiple agencies participating in national networks. In some cases networks will simply promote certification to independent organizations within their networks which will each apply separately for certification. However, where the central network is already actively monitoring compliance with standards similar to FMCs, FMC may certify the network to certify its members with FMC monitoring to ensure only that the existing network procedures for compliance monitoring meet FMCs needs. These arrangements will be negotiated on a network-by-network basis.