NAMP TO RAISE THE INTEGRITY BAR FOR MORTGAGE PERSONNEL
Irvine, CA, April 2, 2007 - Whether shopping for a first condo, upgrading to a larger home, or re-financing their mortgage for “whatever reason,” mortgage transactions are the most important financial transactions most people make in their lifetime. Faced with so many zeroes above the dotted line, it’s no wonder that even financially savvy consumers’ eyes glaze-over as they wade through the mortgage process. That is precisely why The National Association of Mortgage Professionals, Inc. (NAMP™) exists: to lend professionalism and integrity to mortgage professionals and to provide consumers with assurance that they’re in trustworthy hands.
NAMP™ was created in late 2005 to provide a solution to the widely perceived lack of professionalism and competence in the mortgage industry. The brainchild of Michael Lefevre, NAMP™, an Irvine, CA-based organization, couldn’t have come at a better time. Following the recent heady mortgage boom with its attendant return to reality, not a day passes without major media attention to the widespread subprime lending debacle and all-too-common predatory lending practices.
“There has been a serious lack of attention given to the qualifications and education of individuals in the trenches of the mortgage industry,” Lefevre says of the issue that has concerned him long before current events. In fact, the need for NAMP™ came out of Lefevre’s professional frustrations, including with 72-year old “Betty,” a client in Oregon who nearly lost her home as a result of an unethical refinance.
NAMP’s mission, according to the former Naval officer, international businessman, and decade-plus licensed mortgage professional, is to change the mortgage industry’s reality. In order to become a member of NAMP™ mortgage professionals must be licensed, participate in education and certification programs, have had a background check conducted on them, and be in good standings which will earn them the association’s honor symbol, “the Mortgage M”™.
“When consumers see “the Mortgage M”™ they’ll know that this person is an educated, certified member of NAMP™, be they a mortgage banker or broker, retail loan officer, loan processor, wholesale account executive, or underwriter,” Lefevre says. For the consumer, “the Mortgage M”™ means they can trust in their mortgage professional to work on their behalf. And, for the mortgage professional, NAMP is the organization of integrity and professionalism that represents the highest industry standard.