I'm leaving tomorrow for the first family reunion we've had in quite sometime.  I haven't seen my Mother's or Father's side of the family in years.  I'm seeing them both over the weekend, provided that I make it there in once piece.  The only reason I bring up that last sentence is because while I'm not driving, I hate highways and speed on four wheels.  Call it my phobia, my version of Jeff Gordon's antagonist.  Sorry if Mr. Gordon is an out of date reference, but I follow NASCAR about as much as Clay Aikens follows a female into the sack.  Get the drift?  Yup, kind of breezy...

Being one of the younger chaps in the fold, one of the common questions I'm expecting to answer is what I'm doing for a living these days.  Am I doctor?  Am I a lawyer?  How about an Accountant:)  Am I a world renowned proctologist?  Am I teacher?  Am I a preacher?  Am I... no, I'm not.  I'm now a Mortgage Banker.  I used to be a Mortgage Broker.

~The collective sigh may just hush the room~

Most people don't know the difference, especially my folks and most of my relatives who haven't reached puberty in the past ten years.  Bankers were the way to go.  Respected and counted on.  Enter the Mortgage Broker, which is now the maligned entity that did one heck of a job causing all this.

Like my intellect, I'll try to make this very short and sweet.

I won't pretend to sit here, type, and expound on what is the truth or what is not the truth.  What I will do is share my experience since I entered this often heinous gig back in 2001.  Mortgage brokers did some good for a lot of people in their existence and they aren't quite dead yet.  Mortgage bankers have also done some good for a lot of people and their existence seems to be a tad bit more chronic.

Bankers & Brokers were never treated the same because at one point, Brokers held the proverbial Lion's Share of the Market.  When the toilet starting turning brown, the brokers were the ones who were most easily flushed.  The term "Banker" was and still is almost always thought of as more respected than "Broker".

I'm a Mortgage Banker, but I can tell you as a former Mortgage Broker, if/when they put those folks out of biz... options tend to end.  While I'd rather not discuss my trade with my Aunt Lois who is turning 70-years old on a surprise birthday, it will be discussed.  I just hope not to give her nor I a heart attack in the meantime.

Bottom line, what does this mean to you... the consumer?  I don't like it.   The question will remain, do you?  I was forced out of the broker business which made me want to be a Kennedy with a similar liver.  Yet, reality is what it is.  Brokers aren't evil, people are.  Guns don't kill people, people do.  One man's Banker is another man's Pawn Shop.  Gary Coleman doesn't sleep with your ex-wife to just churn out a sex-tape, his agents recommend it to prolong the career.

My guess is that people want more options, not less.  Sure, there was and probably always be incompetence.  But that very incompetence isn't because one is labeled a Banker or a Broker... it is because they may just be INCOMPETENT.

I rest my feelings and thinking on one final note.  Every law that is passed should have the people in mind.  But nevermind the people, it's now law.  Well, I got a nice little link to sing the song that I can't sing...

just click here

My Aunt Lois turns seventy and I love her.  I haven't seen her in years.  With that, she'd probably like this song a tad bit more:)

While I'm a lousy salesman, I'll tell her what I know.  I have a good heart and a bad taste.  I'll stick around until they catch up with eachother.

~Sardi~