A new association that defends the competitive posture of community-based mortgage lenders has added 100 members during its first month in business.
Since founding last month, 100 members have joined the Community Mortgage Lenders of America, the group announced Monday.
In an interview earlier this month, Scott Stern, chairman of the association, told MortgageDaily.com that the group hopes to eliminate the disparity between financial institutions and non-bank lenders also places banks in a far more competitive position in recruiting loan officers.
Stern also noted at the time that 120 members of Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative — where he is chief executive officer — had committed to joining the new group.
“CML America will advocate in Washington, D.C., for uniform rules for all mortgage lenders, and will oppose measures that would put community mortgage lenders at a competitive disadvantage,” yesterday’s statement said. “CML America will be the first and only group in Washington that solely represents community mortgage bankers and their customers.”
CML outside counsel Howard Glaser noted that even though community-based lenders didn’t create the products that led to the mortgage meltdown, federal legislation threatens to put community-based lenders out of business, “leaving the mortgage system in the hands of those who created and marketed high-risk products.”
CML proclaimed that prospective borrowers should not need to consider what type of charter a lender has in order to understand how they are protected.
