Posted by John_NorCal on 1/15/07 6:16pm
Msg #170911

For want of confidentiality

With all the talk of the GLB act, back ground checks, etc. etc., it will all come down to the individual doing what is right, moral and legal.

Talked to someone today who had just completed and closed a loan with someone who is affiliated with the business she works at. She happened to be in an adjoining office when she overheard the loan officer discussing her loan in detail with someone who was not a party to any of the process. There was laughing and carrying on by the LO and the person at the other end of the phone. Naturally this borrower is pretty upset and is considering lodging an breach of ethics complaint with the DRE.

So it really doesn't matter in the grand sense of the word if a person has a back ground check or not, it all comes down to morals of the person involved and whether or not they will do the right thing.

Reply by MikeC/NY on 1/15/07 6:33pm
Msg #170912

Ain't that the truth...

Unfortunately, the BGC can only determine whether an individual has been caught doing something wrong - it can't check on morals and ethics. And in many cases the phrase "ethical loan officer" is an oxymoron...

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/15/07 8:38pm
Msg #170944

Just shows to go ya, right's right, wrong ain't. Raise a

glass! Excellent post. You can't legislate morality.

Reply by TitleGalCA on 1/15/07 9:32pm
Msg #170958

John that's simply terrible.

I DO hope that individual makes the complaint, not only with DRE but with the company the LO represented.

That'll fix Mr. LO's attitude, right quick.

Reply by Sharon Taylor on 1/15/07 9:33pm
Msg #170959

What I hear, I don't hear, what I see, I don't see...

What I know, I don't know. That motto was taught to me many years ago by the wonderful old-school attorneys I worked for and with. The importance of confidentiality cannot be stressed enough. I might relate an experience in the form of an anticdote, using the most general of wording, so long as there is nothing in the story that would allow anyone to identify the parties involved or even the location any closer than MAYBE the state.
Here's an example: I did a closing a while back for a group of elderly siblings who were selling the family farm. Some of them were the executors of the estate, so I met with them and the buyers, and of course I had to ID all of them. Well, the sister showed me her ID, and the first name didn't match the documents - wasn't even close. As I started to explain the problem, I noticed one of the brothers looked like he had been poleaxed. Finally, he stared at his sister and blurted "Your name is WHAT?????" Turns out the sister had been given a nickname when she was just a baby, and that's all the family ever called her. Even her siblings at the closing weren't aware that wasn't the name on her birth certificate, and even the parents' Wills had listed her by her nickname. It sure caused a problem in properly identifying her.
Now that is a funny true story, and it illustrates the difficulties that can arise when someone uses a nickname as if it is his or her legal name. But there is also nothing in the story that would allow anyone to identify the parties involved.
It is certainly improper to discuss someone's loan details with an outside party, particularly to be laughing and "carrying on" about those details. However, if it happened to me, my anger at the Loan Officer would depend on whether the details relayed to the other party were sufficient to allow the other party to identify the borrower in some way. If only the general terms of the loan were disclosed and nothing that would identify it as my loan, I wouldn't care. If enough were said to allow the other party to know it was my loan, I'd be reporting the L.O. to his or her supervisor.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/15/07 10:03pm
Msg #170982

Hear!, Hear! What I know, I don't know. n/m

Reply by John_NorCal on 1/16/07 12:56am
Msg #171022

Re: What I hear, I don't hear, what I see, I don't see...

Sad thing is, all 3 parties know each other. Confidentiality as we all agree is something that can not be compromised. If I tell a story relating to loans, or my tax practice, I speak in the most general terms possible. I don't even tell my wife the details of my clients business. Well, the story is not over, chapter 2 will soon begin.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 1/16/07 1:44am
Msg #171030

And so it goes. n/m