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I am involved in Little Athletics, and recently it has become a requirement that, as a coach, I must have completed a Working With Children Check.
Though a bit of a bother, I can see the benefit for myself as a coach and the parents whose children are in my care. Road safety is another sector that benefits from having rules and regulations in place – it would be no good if we didn’t want to stick to the left when driving.
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As a finance broker, there must be regulations. We are involved in often the biggest investment our clients are going to make, and although there has been the odd instance interstate of brokers doing the wrong thing, I cannot imagine this happening in Tasmania – it is too small, and our business depends on referrals from our satisfied customers. My primary role as a finance broker is to find the best loan product suited for my clients, whether the criteria is best rate, lower fees, free redraw or investment assistance.
We must have our further education and qualifications, as well as maintain our paperwork, insurances and memberships. Does this help give our clients a better loan product? Maybe, but I think most of this generally comes from our understanding of our panel lenders product, often assisted by the lenders BDMs.
Currently, it seems many of the loans chosen have little to do with the preferred product features – it is often due to the valuation we are able to get on the house, especially if it is a construction or refinance and if the mortgage insurer likes the area. I gather the criteria for the valuation is often controlled by the regulations that are put upon the valuers, whether it be by the lenders or professional indemnity (PI) and LMI insurers. LMI insurers and lenders have been also fairly concerned about the regulatory changes with age suitability and the exit strategy for those reaching their 50s.
Finding suitably-priced land in areas where people would like to build seems to be often restricted by council regulations. If the land was able to be released cheaply, it would help bring prices down or at least slow the growth, but for all the talk about the poor first home buyers, nobody really wants prices to drop.
The reasons for all of these changes have supposedly been for the benefit of the customer – the borrower. Has it been working out that way? Most commonly, I see regulations that often make it more difficult for them to borrow for their home to get them get out of their rental situation.
Yes, there must be regulatory control in our industry, but I often have the feeling that many regulations in many areas, have been developed by some bureaucrat who has no real practical experience, just trying to validate their existence and inflated pay packet.
