Written By: Karen Deis

We published an editorial, "Buying Mortgage Leads - Think Twice
(Maybe 3 Times) Before Spending Your Money!" in 2003, about
lead-generation companies and why I believe that loan officers
are getting ripped off.

E-mail soliciations for mortgages are rampant on the Internet (regardless of the CAN-SPAM Act) and periodically, I will click thru to one or two of them just to see what happens. (As a mortgage loan officer or company owner, I encourage that you become a student of the industry. Periodically apply for a mortgage online and fill out a form that has been emailed to you on the Internet. It's amazing what some of your competitors are doing.)

This editorial is about purchasing leads and my personal experience within the last 10 days. This is the email I received and I decided to click thru and see where the link took me.

It took me to a link for a "Kelly Mortgage Group" which showed something I had never seen before; my information already entered onto a form. Here's what it looked like!

I decided to enter an interest rate of 3.95% on a 5-year balloon and that I refinanced a year ago. I provided my telephone number to see who was going to call me because I thought 3.95% was a pretty good rate.

The completed form was emailed back to them at 8 AM.

At 1 PM, I received my first phone call from a loan originator from Dana Capital, who informed me that I had applied for a mortgage with them and all they needed from me was my social security number, my income and for me to sign some papers that they would send to me. I informed him that I filled out a form with Kelly Mortgage (not Dana Capital), and that I did not apply for a mortgage. The reason I completed the form was that I wanted more information on the 4.41% interest rate they advertised. He did not know what I was talking about and told me that he got my name from the recorder's office in my county.

So, I gave him the loan information that I had filled out on the form, told him my credit score and that I could afford the monthly payment. I just wanted to know the rate, the closing costs and the type of loan - period. He would not answer me, and insisted that he needed my income and social security number in order to help me further. Again, I told him that I had refinanced many times and just wanted the info on the loan programs. Each time I gave him an objection, he did not have the answer and asked to call me right back. This guy called me back 3 times. I never did get the loan information I was asking for.

You guessed it, about 2 hours later, I received a call from AmeriQuest Mortgage. Again, I asked them how they got my name because I filled out a form with the Kelly Mortgage Group. This person told me that they did not know who Kelly Mortgage was, and the form I completed was their form, and they were calling from Wisconsin. (Note: the address in the email is listed as Colorado). Again, he did not have the loan information that I completed on the form and after a few questions, which he could not answer, he pretty much hung up on me.

Next day - I received a call from The Mortgage Exchange. I told the loan officer that I filled out a form for Kelly Mortgage Group and he told me he did not know who they were, but admitted to purchasing my lead from E-Loans. This guy was an experienced loan originator and even faxed me some loan comparisons. But you know what...I have not heard from him since!

That evening, I received a call from a different loan officer from The Mortgage Exchange. The lead had been sold to two different loan originators within the same company!

My point with the first two examples stated, is that someone (my guess is the company) paid for the lead and gave it to an inexperienced loan officer who did not know the answers to most of the questions.

Secondly, it's a waste of money to purchase a lead and not have an effective system to follow up with prospects. Unless you have a systematic, step-by-step plan on how you are going to call, market to and follow up, you are throwing money down a black hole.

More importantly, when you purchase leads from the lead-generation company, ask to see a contract. Make sure they pass on the information generated from the lead; make sure they guarantee not to sell the lead to 2 people within the same company; find out how many times it will be sold; and will they buy back if they have not adhered to the terms of the contract.

TEST THEM! Ask one of your friends to request loan information and keep track of what happens.

I filled out the information requested on the form and yet, the lead generation company did not pass it on to the loan officers. I don't believe that loan officers would have even purchased the lead if they would have known the interest rate I gave them was 3.95% on a 5-year with only 1 year into the refinance. On my worst day, I would not have
purchased that lead.

Remember the guy who told me he got my name and mortgage
information from the recorder's office?

I don't have a mortgage in my name AT ALL!

Karen Deis
Investigative Reporter

Copyright, 2004, LoanOfficerMagazine.com

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