Comments on: Lead Police and the Mortgage Lawsuit Powder Keg?

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:57:29 +0000

Jeff…good to know. Thanks for following up.

11/08/2006 by Robert D. Ashby, CMPS, CITRMS

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:57:09 +0000

100% agreed Robert.

The Lead Police are addressing some of my concern in recent posts regarding mortgage lead aggregation sites like Bankrate.com and Lending Tree not holding up to a baseline standard, thus allowing consumers to be delivered to the wolves. While they don’t have a direct consumer solution, they are cleaning up some of the problem areas and enforcing a level of compliance.

Screening out lead companies that sell trigger, unsolicited, fake, ice-cold, DNC registered, just plain junk leads is a decent start.

11/08/2006 by Jeff Corbett

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:56:46 +0000

Jeff,

I guess what my concern would be is that while policing the lead generation companies, like the ones you mentioned, is a good start, they are not helping to guide people to true mortgage professionals per se.

They may get the cheapest, which is debatable on several levels, and they will get a chance to hear from 4+ lenders. The problem is that the 4+ people they get responses from to “compete” on their loan may all be idiots, or they might get lucky. There is no guarantee there.

That is what I meant by looking out for the consumer.

11/08/2006 by Robert D. Ashby, CMPS, CITRMS

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:56:03 +0000

After reading their FAC I noticed they mentiond how the lead sellers fill out a lengthy application, but do the Lead Police actually verify the information on the Application? They did not mention if they did.

11/08/2006 by Dennis Serra

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:55:44 +0000

In attempt to ‘regulate’ the entities that aggregate consumer info for widespread redistribution, the Lead Police may serve as an ‘early stop-gap’ to frivolous lead companies who end up serving up the consumer to an unscrupulous loan provider.

In a time when everyone is clamoring for ‘the good leads’ its nice to know someone is ‘policing’ the Lending Trees and Bankrate.com’s out there, so they cant turn the cheek to their paying partners grievous ways…

11/08/2006 by Jeff Corbett

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:55:27 +0000

Interesting stuff Jeff. I am also curious to see if they are active in Florida. We lead the nation (if I remember correctly) in fraud.

I noticed they are just policing leads though, so what exactly are they doing for the consumer?

11/07/2006 by Robert D. Ashby, CMPS, CITRMS

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:55:10 +0000

Kind of like a smaller circle within a circle…and yes, a very active one at that… A *featured post* will get some solid and immediate feedback…thx Pat.

11/07/2006 by Jeff Corbett

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:54:47 +0000

Lead Police is an interesting niche play… I’ll research them more. Thanks for your comments on my AR site this morning…

I have to rethink AR… particularly seeing the activity of the AR members… AR is tied to, yet separate from the traditional RE blogosphere so I see how AR provides a second venue for us bloggers.

–pk

11/07/2006 by Patrick Kitano

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:54:21 +0000

I believe they are a nationwide provider…let me know if you discover anything further….

11/07/2006 by Jeff Corbett

By: The XBroker

The XBroker — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:54:05 +0000

Would you happen to know if they cover only California? If they aren’t in NY, I’m assuming they will be or someone else will cover my state.

11/07/2006 by Peter Andres GRI MBA Broker