Identity Theft Red Flags Rule: 56% of U.S. Mortgage Brokers Have Never Heard of It

Orange, CA, March 21, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Only forty three (43%) of U.S. Mortgage Brokers have ever heard of the law and most will have trouble meeting the May 1 deadline for compliance with the Identity Theft Red Flags Rule. This is the key finding of a survey aimed at gauging the success of mortgage broker’s efforts to meet the terms of the new regulatory mandate.

With roughly two months to go before the Identity Theft Red Flags compliance deadline (May 1, 2009), over 50% of the mortgage brokers who were aware of the rule, say they have no idea how they’ll comply and therefore will have trouble beating the May 1st date. Only 17% of the mortgage brokers say they are already completely compliant.

The challenge is even more profound for the majority of mortgage brokers who responded, with 56% saying they weren’t aware of the rule at all or that that it pertained to them.

But as important as the May 1st deadline is to mortgage brokers, it wasn't the sole focus of the survey, which also examined:

- What steps can mortgage professionals take to restore consumer confidence in the profession?
- Do these mortgage brokers have a written Code of Ethics or Code of Conduct for their company?
- Does their company provide any training to staff on ethics for mortgage professionals?

The survey, administered to 30,000+ mortgage brokers electronically in February 2009, drew responses from mortgage brokers of all sizes.

Mortgage Brokers and Mortgage Companies are invited by Comergence Compliance Monitoring to a Free Webinar on Thursday, March 26, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. PST that will present an easy online solution to bring mortgage companies into compliance by the deadline. Please register at
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/533968892

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