I h
ave no problems with walking in the gray area of ethics. It's really a part of our job. Sure we live and are trained to do the right thing all of the time. Frankly, our clients demand it from us. Questions need to be asked when the grey of the night comes into our daily practice.
When I first got in the business I had a decent experience in ethics. I was only about 3 months into lending. I needed a signature. Pre-fax machine....my old boss told me that I should copy a signature from the file in order to put it on a form that the borrowers verbally agreed to so long as the borrowers agreed to it. Since they didn't have the time to come in, I told them that I could just copy their current signature onto the new form if that would alleviate their concerns. He got on the call to verify that the borrowers agreed to do certain things before ordering me to photocopy this signature and paste...BECAUSE WE WERE ONLY FOLLOWING THE CLIENT's desires. Needless to say, I was less than 3 months into the business and didn't know any difference. There was no intent. We had the verbal verification from the client and was just following his orders. The problem is that even without and intent to deceive, it was wrong. Horribly wrong. This was all pre - 'CONTINUING ED."
Gray is OK. I don't mind OK, but since being exposed to committing loan fraud, I never act without clarity. WHEN IN DOUBT, SEEK ADVICE.....SEEK ADVICE WHEN YOU'RE NOT SURE....The resources today are so much better than what I had back then. There's:
- A real decent manager or broker leader;
- Real Estate Attorney's;
- The office of Banks and Real Estate or whatever state governing entity exists that oversees realtors, real estate, mortgages and mortgage bankers, etc.;
- How about a novel idea that wasn't around in 1994 when I was graduating law school....THE INTERNET. The resources are awesome on the net even in the area of real estate ethics.
As a result of my past experiences, to this day, if I'm not sure, then I ask the question. 
If no clarity comes results, then I ask and ask and ask again. I ask until I'm sure....You can't forfeit your career on one closing. You can't forfeit your career for one commission. I tell people who push the gray, "I like you, but I don't want to be you're roomate, er., cellmate. I don't like you that much.
In my interviews with many loan officers I find that as a way of life they openly admit that ethical shortcuts are presented to them every day. Some decisions are clear, but some aren't. I feel that governmental agencies need to prosecute people who take shortcuts or dive for the cash."do these sort of things as well as teach these sort of things. To this day Im amazed that this industry is so loosely run that people openly admit to others that it is routine in their business.
Remember....I like you but I don't want to be your roommate. Without clarity, you really can't proceed.
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