Winter - CMBA-ACHC – Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association

Transcription

IMBA 2009
Winter 2009
A YEAR IN REVIEW
Making sense of MICs
Meet the IMBA Board!
Honorary Doctor of Law
for Gary Katz
PM40787580
Vol 2 Issue 4
Biz
The Voice of the Mortgage Brokers and Agents of Ontario
®
National Mortgage Brokerage
of the Year.
*
Join the Elite.
Branded Mortgage Products
Branded Insurance Products
CRM Program
Agent Training Program
Coaching Program
Advanced Intranet
Leasing Program
Training Webinars
Consumer Newsletters
Lender Partnership Programs
Elite Business Building Systems
Winner
National Mortgage
Brokerage of the year
for your confidential information package
[email protected] | 1.866.983.7426 x227
Vol 2 Issue 4
BrokerBiz
Departments
6 President’s Message
9 Test Your Skill!
9 Your Morning Chuckle
10 Calendar of Events
Winter 2009
IN THIS ISSUE
12 Calendar of Courses
14 N ew IMBA Members
38 Advertisers Index
Features
16 IMBA 2009: A year in review
19 M eet the IMBA Board: Learn more about this important group
of professionals
By Liz Katynski
24 Committee update! What IMBA’s committees have been up to
in the last quarter
By Liz Katynski
29 M aking sense of MICs: What brokers need to know about
securities law issues for mortgage investment corporations
By Martin Aquilina
32 It’s a celebration: BrokerBiz looks at what some IMBA
members will be doing over the holidays
By Nestor Gula
34 Legal action: An E&O policy will save the day if you’re served
with a statement of claim
By Derrick Leue
36 A prestigious honour: Gary Katz is conferred the title of
Honorary Doctor of Law for his volunteer work
By Roma Ihnatowycz
Publisher
Robert Thompson
Independent Mortgage Brokers
Association of Ontario
120 Eglinton Avenue East,
Suite 500
Toronto, Ontario M4P 1E2
Tel: 416.252.4622
Fax: 416.252.4623
Province-wide Tel:
1.877.564.4622
Province-wide Fax:
1.866.232.8385
Editor
Jeanne Fronda
Associate Editor
Roma Ihnatowycz
Executive Editor
Leslie Fallaise
Sales Manager
Sharon Komoski
Sales
Executives
Steve Beauchamp,
Pat Johnston,
Mic Paterson,
David Tetlock
Production
Team Leader
Adrienne N. Wilson
Senior
Graphic Design
Specialist
James T. Mitchell
Published by:
www.mediaedgepublishing.com
5255 Yonge Street, Suite 1000
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Toll Free: 1.866.216.0860
ext. 229
[email protected]
1 Wesley Avenue, Suite 301
Winnipeg, MB Canada
R3C 4C6
President
Kevin Brown
Published
December 2009.
Senior Vice-President
Publication Mail
Robert Thompson
Agreement #40787580
Branch Manager
Please return
Nancie Privé
undeliverable copies to:
All rights reserved.
Independent Mortgage
The contents of this
Brokers Association
publication may not
of Ontario
be reproduced by any
120 Eglinton Avenue East,
means, in whole or in
Suite 500
part, without the prior
Toronto, Ontario
written consent of
the association.
M4P 1E2
Articles and information in this
magazine represent the opinions of
the writers and do not necessarily
reflect the opinions of the
Association of Ontario (IMBA), its
board of directors or its staff. The
information used within the magazine
was, to the best of our knowledge,
accurate at the time of writing. Certain
names, scenarios or identifying
information may have been changed
to protect confidentiality. Users of any
information contained in BrokerBiz
are encouraged to validate that
information by independent means.
President’s Message
Jeff Atlin, CPMB
President, IMBA
A
nother year has run its course.
While 2009 started with fear,
concern, uncertainty and doom and
gloom, it has fortunately turned
into a successful year for most of us.
In much of the province, what was predicted
to be a yearlong strong buyers’ market
turned into a steady spring and summer
sellers’ market. Prices not only held their
own in many regions, but actually increased.
However, there are still areas that have yet to
show recovery. This is not the time to
be complacent.
A number of new regulations have now been
in place for a full year, including the entire
MBLAA, 2006. Many mortgage brokerages,
brokers and agents were slow to adopt the
changes, as reflected in the compliance audits
conducted by FSCO over the past 18 months.
Over 300 brokerages and administrators
failed to have the errors and omissions
insurance in place three months after it was
made mandatory. As a result, almost 100
licensees were issued notice of proposals
to have their licences revoked, and were
assessed a $1,000 fine. Approximately 150
brokerages and administrators didn’t file their
annual information return on time. These
non-compliance rates are extremely high
and should be considered unacceptable to
everyone in the industry.
Licence renewals for brokerages, brokers,
agents and administrators will be due by
March 31. Because of the expense of increased
compliance activity, the industry can expect
higher fees, which may already be in place by
6 • brokerbiz
the time you read this. We can make sure that
these increases do not continue if we remain
vigilant in all areas of compliance. Also due
by March 31 is the annual information
return that must be filed electronically by all
brokerages and administrators. Ensure that
yours is on time.
The MBLAA, 2006 is not the only new
legislation impacting the brokerage and
lending community. The movement to a
national securities regulator is also underway,
and leading up to this was National
Instrument 31-103, which came into effect
in September.
In Ontario we’ve managed to keep the
syndication of mortgages under the MBLAA;
however, other provinces, such as Alberta and
British Columbia, have lost this exemption
that existed under their respective Securities
Acts. Also, the way vehicles such as mortgage
investment corporations (MICs) raise money
and are managed could be radically affected
(See the article on MICs in this issue of
BrokerBiz). As an organization, it is extremely
important that we take a leadership role
in ensuring these vital mortgage vehicles
remain reasonably accessible to all mortgage
borrowers and investors.
IMBA had another successful mini-trade
show and symposium in Ottawa in
September, and in Belleville in November.
Watch for these events to become a
regular part of the IMBA calendar in the
coming years.
There are also several premier events coming
up. The 8th Annual WinterFest Conference
NG
I
RIC
TP
A
E
in exotic Runaway Bay, Jamaica,
is being held from January 30 to
February 6. Every year it offers
our members a great opportunity
to network, learn and relax with
colleagues. Also remember to set
aside February 15 for another great
Family Ski Day in the Collingwood
area. Family members are encouraged
to join us on the slopes.
GR
Ruby Mortgage
Sparkles Brighter
Our AGM and Lunch with the
Legends will be held on March 24.
Leading up to this will be our call
for nominations for election to the
board of directors. IMBA relies on
the participation of its membership.
Get involved and run for one of
the available board seats! Watch for
nomination information and forms
in your email and on our website in
early January.
Reserve April 21 to 22 for the IMBA
Gala, Conference and Trade Show,
which will once more take place
at the Toronto Congress Centre.
Plan on attending the Mardi Gras
Gala Awards Night and dinner on
Wednesday to honour your fellow
brokers and agents. As always, there
will be a great lineup of speakers and
seminars to inform and entertain
you, and more than 70 exhibitors on
the trade floor.
1-2 YEARS UP TO 35 YEAR AMORTIZATION
3 & 5 YEARS UP TO 40 YEAR AMORTIZATION
NO LENDER FEE ON 2, 3 & 5 YEAR TERMS
0.5% NET LENDER FEE ON 1 YEAR TERM
I look forward to seeing you at all
these great events. On behalf of
all your IMBA board members,
I wish you all a happy and safe
holiday season, and a healthy and
prosperous 2010!
Offering up to 80% LTV on purchases
Up to 75% LTV on refinances
RUBY MORTGAGE
Minimum 600 Beacon Score • GDS/TDS 35/42
CONTACT YOUR RBM FOR MORE DETAILS
Jeff Atlin, CPMB
President
Association Of Ontario
“Working for You”
Self declared income acceptable. No gifted down payment. Available for owner occupied and
owner occupied rental properties. Second mortgages allowed up to 90% LTV.
All other Equitable policies and guidelines apply. No private transactions.
Rates subject to change without notice.
Vol 2 Issue 4 • 7
IMBA_Winter2009.indd 1
9/8/09 3:49:52 PM
9
‘0
P
M
AA !
C NTO
AT O
S R
U TO
T
SI IN
VI
From BDM to underwriter and everyone in between, the
Bridgewater Bank team is extremely responsive. I love that I
can send a file in at 3 p.m. Eastern time and usually have a
commitment back by early evening. The underwriting team
is that good. And being that Bridgewater Bank is located in
Calgary, Alberta and my office located in Ontario, the time
difference works in my favour. Clients love it when you can
give them good news at 6 p.m. on a Friday night.
Amanda Farris, MBA, AMP
CENTUM City Mortgages, Ottawa, Ontario
It’s no secret…that our brokers are extremely happy with our fast turnaround times,
generous broker compensation, and competitive residential mortgage financing
specializing in prime (A) and near prime (A-).
It’s because of you we were awarded bronze in the 2009 CMP Brokers on Lenders Survey
in the BDM Support and Satisfaction Index on Overall Credit Policy categories.
Call your local BDM today.
1-888-837-2326
Personal. Efficient. Committed.
■
bridgewaterbank.ca
IndustryNews
New office for Owenmanco
The Ontario Wealth Management Corporation
(Owenmanco) has moved its offices to a historic
building located at 2950 Keele Street in Toronto.
The new premises are in the George Jackson
House, which was first constructed in 1896 and
recently fully renovated to bring it to modern office
standards. Located on the second floor, the new
3,200-square-foot Owenmanco office is a much
larger space than the one the company had at its
previous location at Yorkdale Road.
Owenmanco’s new offices in Toronto’s historic George Jackson House on Keele Street
Your Morning
Chuckle
After years of scrimping and
saving, a husband tells his wife the
good news: “Honey, we’ve finally
got enough money to buy what
we started saving for in 1979!”
“You mean a brand-new BMW?”
she asks eagerly. “No,” says the
husband, “a 1979 BMW.”
“The new office space provides the sales team,
management and administrative staff with a
bright and modern work environment that
is complemented by two boardrooms and an
expansive private parking lot,” said Jonah Bonn,
mortgage agent at Owenmanco. “Although we
have a new address, we have retained our casual
atmosphere. We invite the brokerage community
to drop by the new space.”
Test your Skill!
A search of title shows a number of items registered against the property.
Which item has priority?
A) A
mortgage in the amount of $20,000.00 registered
January 5, 2002, at 11:15 a.m.
B) A mortgage in the amount of $100,000.00 registered
January 5, 2002, at 11:20 a.m.
C) A
condominium lien in the amount of $479.00 registered
July 12, 2004, at 9:30 a.m.
D) A property tax lien in the amount of $7,000.00 registered
September 15, 2005, at 3:15 p.m.
For the answer, please turn to page 31.
THE BEST APPRAISERS IN CANADA
LOOK FOR THE
PROFESSIONAL
DESIGNATIONS
DAR & DAC
ARE CERTIFIED AND REGULATED BY
THE CANADIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of
REAL ESTATE APPRAISERS
CALL 888-399-3366 or
FIND AN APPRAISER at WWW.CNAREA.CA
Vol 2 Issue 4 • 9
2010 IMBA Calendar of Events
JANUARY 2010
Mortgage Agent Course
Visit www.IMBA.ca
WinterFest
January 30 to February 3
Breezes Runaway Bay Resort and Golf Club
FEBRUARY 2010
Visit www.IMBA.ca
IMBA Mortgage Seminar (GTA East)
February 10
Ontario Science Centre
IMBA Family Ski Day
February 15
Osler Bluffs
MARCH 2010
Annual General Meeting
March 24
Mississauga Convention Centre
Lunch with the Legends
March 24
Mississauga Convention Centre
APRIL 2010
Annual Conference, Trade Show
and Awards Gala
Broker licence # 11127
10 • brokerbiz
April 21 and 22
Toronto Congress Centre
Kim Currie of Mortgage Intelligence believes
that success is a journey, not a destination.
And his journey has taken him to the top
of the mortgage broker business. We are
committed to keeping him there, with
dedicated relationship managers who have
full decision-making authority, our suite
of innovative mortgage products and
consistent adjudication.
scotiamortgageauthority.com
®
Registered trademark of The Bank of Nova Scotia.
Fall 2009 and Winter 2010 Course Calendar
Correspondence
Start time:
January 08, 2010, 00:00
Duration: 10 weeks beginning
January 8, 2010
Accelerated Correspondence
Start time:
January 08, 2010, 00:00
January 8, 2010
Please note that this is a TWOWEEK intensive training course
Mississauga
Start time:
January 16, 2010 09:00
January 16, 2010
Saturdays (no class February 13)
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: Monte Carlo Inn
5 Derry Road East,
Mississauga
Toronto East
Start time:
January 16, 2010 09:00
January 16, 2010
Saturdays (no classes February 13)
9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Location: University of Toronto
– Scarborough Campus
1265 Military Trail, Scarborough
Accelerated Correspondence
Start time: February 19,
2010, 00:00
February 19, 2010
For more details please contact Meghan Delany, education coordinator, at 416-252-4622, Ext. 2 or [email protected].
Online Training Courses
Module I – Taking a Mortgage Application: How to confidently
gather all the information you need on a mortgage application
Online portion:
40 minutes
Practical applications:
90 minutes
Module II – Reading Credit Reports: Uncover what credit reports are Online portion:
40 minutes
really telling you
30 minutes
Module III – Supporting Documentation: Learn all about the
documentation required to get your deals done
Online portion:
40 minutes
50 minutes
Module IV – Basic Mortgage Types: The mortgage basics you MUST
know before talking to your first customer
Online portion:
40 minutes
30 minutes
Module V – Specific Mortgage Types: Knowledge you need to call
yourself a mortgage expert
Online portion:
40 minutes
40 minutes
Module VI – Categorizing Lenders: Different types of mortgage
lending in the Canadian market today
Online portion:
40 minutes
60 minutes
Module VII – Processing Files: How to determine if your client
qualifies for a mortgage loan, summarize the deal and assemble an
application package
Online portion:
40 minutes
60 minutes
Module VIII – Agreements and Appraisals: Essential details in appraisals Online portion:
40 minutes
and contracts so you can read them the way lenders do
60 minutes
Module IX – The Closing Process: Understanding the closing process Online portion:
40 minutes
and costs involved to avoid surprises
30 minutes
Module X – Alternative Lending: Tap into the most profitable
lending opportunity there is
Online portion:
40 minutes
30 minutes
Module XI – Rental and Recreation Properties: Rev up your revenue
by financing rental and recreation propertie
Online portion:
40 minutes
30 minutes
Module XII – Self-Employed Borrowers: How to tap into the
20 per cent of Canadians who are self-employed
Online portion:
40 minutes
30 minutes
For more details please visit the IMBA website at www.IMBA.ca
12 • brokerbiz
New IMBA Members
Mohamed Abdulkader
Verico Capital Mortgages Inc.
Dylan Furlong
Champion Mortgage Inc.
Yogarajan Ramakrishnan
Centum Metrocap Mortgage Corporation
Vincent Abel
Mortgage Edge
Miki Furman
Northwood Mortgage Ltd.
Crystal Ross
Alexander Alexander
John Gabriel
Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada
Wayne Rowsell
Lorna Anderson
Rajinder Ghotra
Centum Instant Mortgage Loans Inc.
Jonathon Araujo
Mortgage Brokers of Canada Inc.
James Green
Verico Annteam Mortgage Services Inc.
Tejinder Singh Saini
Charles Attard
Marco Gregoris
Mortgage Edge
Charles Aziegbemhin
Lepton Financial Corp.
Steve Harman
Affiliated Appraisers of Ottawa
Dominic Azzopardi
Centum One Financial Group Inc.
Medine Baran
Zenar Financial Corporation
“The Mortgage Firm”
Gina Barber
Charles Barrett
Epireon Mortgage Capital Corporation
Tracey Brock
Raymond Byrne
Nathalie Clarke
Sandra Cooke
Robert D’Abate
Macquarie Financial Ltd.
Iraj Dastmalchi
David Honey
Kelvin Honeyghan
Verico The Mortgage Store
Kaukab Javed
DLC Perfect Mortgages
Jivan Sanghera
TMG The Mortgage Group (Ontario) Inc.
Lorn Scanlon
Renowned Realty Inc.
John Scholz
Homeguard Funding Ltd.
Quinn Scott
Sentry Mortgage Corporate
Adrienne Seah
Lee & Lee Financial Services
Ryan Jimenez
Visnukumar Sellathurai
Greater Toronto Mortgages
& Financial Services
Peggy Kelly
Capital Mortgages Inc.
Julieta Sevilla
Mortgage Edge
Cheryl Kirkus
Hanzla Sheika
Greater Toronto Mortgages
& Financial Services
Stefan Kolody
Edward Lafetiare
Kaydon Cre
Doug Lee
Macquarie Financial Ltd.
Morgan Livingstone
Daniel Mandel
Sure Mortgage
Don Smith
Darryl Stibler
Paul Teahen
Surinder Toor
First Metropolitan Realty Corp.
Ella Udroiu
Anthony Diji
MR Finance Inc.
Diane Marcaccio
Mortgage Network London Inc.
Kevin Dowdall
Homeguard Funding Ltd.
Roger Marin Affonso
Jonathan Doyle
Verico Annteam Mortgage Services Inc.
Mehdi Nouraei
Yongqin Wang
Brenda Ethier
Sean O’Donnell
Clifton Wright
David Foston
Champion Mortgage Inc.
Gurvinder Pannu
Verico Total Mortgage Solutions Inc.
Ann Wright
ResMor Trust Company
Roy Frederick
Eva Ragona
Andrea Zingaro
DLC Perfect Mortgages
14 • brokerbiz
Victor Vukicevic
Mortgage Edge
More choices. No hurdles.
Our dedicated underwriters have the experience to find the solution to even your most complex deals. Every deal is
reviewed as a unique story, and we’ll work from every angle to make it fit. With the launch of our new Accelerator
Program of insured ‘A’ products, we now have even more options. If the deal doesn’t fit with the guidelines from
either AIG or CMHC, we will always try to make it work with one of our alternative products without you needing to
re-submit the application. Take the path of least resistance.
Find out how to close more deals at www.hometrust.ca or call 1.877.903.2133
Your ONE-STOP
mortgage lender
Cover Story
IMBA 2009:
A YEAR IN REVIEW
JANUARY
MARCH
The year started off with a bang for the
52 agents and brokers who spent the last
week of January on the Mayan Riviera
for WinterFest. Born from the idea that
mortgage professionals should have an
opportunity to meet and strengthen
relationships in a relaxing environment,
WinterFest is now in its sixth year and
going strong. This was the sixth year we
celebrated together while sharing a few
days of sun, sand and surf at the fabulous
Paradisus Mayan Riviera resort.
March was an eventful month for IMBA
members. For the second consecutive
year, IMBA was consulted by the
International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMBA directors David Mandel, Jeff
Atlin, Ed Kathaus and Leslie Fallaise met
with John Kiff, senior financial sector
expert at the IMF. As a result of this
meeting, Kiff published an article on
Canadian safe lending practices.
FEBRUARY
We will always remember and hold
sacred February 10, 2009, as the day
that our valuable contributor, longtime
IMBA director, and dear friend, Shayam
Kaushal, lost his courageous battle with
cancer. Many IMBA members attended
his funeral on February 13, 2009, to
mourn his passing.
Sheldon Esbin headlined the popular
“Lunch with the Legends” program.
Esbin founded the Romspen Investment
Corporation. He continues to oversee
and manage all operations of the fund, as
well as maintaining his interest in Toronto
archival material and supporting the preservation of Toronto’s historical past.
IMBA’s annual general meeting took
place on March 4 with 125 members
participating in the event. We welcomed
Keynote speaker at the annual Conference,
Trade Show and Awards Gala was
award-winning journalist and news
anchor Kevin Newman
newly elected directors John Bargis,
Elizabeth Doyle, Lou Perotta and Martin
Marshall, and said a reluctant farewell
to retiring directors Bob Andrew, Shane
Suepaul and Ed Karthaus. The new
Executive Committee members for
2009-2010 are Jeff Atlin, president;
Margo Wynhofen, vice-president; Robert
A. Gascon, treasurer; Malcolm Eccles,
secretary; and David Mandel, past
president. We owe a debt of thanks to
all directors for their dedicated service to
the organization.
APRIL
IMBA’s annual Conference, Trade Show
and Awards Gala was held April 2 to 3 in
Toronto. This event combined instruction on a wide range of topics with
an amazing Gala and Awards evening
to offer something for everyone. Four
timely, hands-on seminars and panel
discussions were held on topics such as
the mortgage industry and technology,
competing to be unique, packaging
small commercial deals and construction financing. The keynote address
featured award-winning journalist Kevin
Newman who spoke on effective leadership, and the trade show featured more
than 70 lenders and service providers.
IMBA members Bob Andrew, Ted
Batcher and Ed Karthaus were inducted
into the IMBA Hall of Fame.
IMBA members tee off at the annual
SummerFest golf tournament
16 • brokerbiz
Cover Story
The President’s Award was given posthumously to Shayam Kaushal and
will hereafter be known as the Shayam
Kaushal Memorial Award. Other awards
given during the Gala went to Wayne
Sudsbury for Professionalism, Glenn
May-Anderson for Entrepreneurship, Raj
Babber for Marketing and Shane Suepaul
for Community Service. Yan Gurevich
was given the David P. Nichols Award
for Technology. IMBA congratulates all
those honoured and encourages all IMBA
members to attend the 2010 event.
MAY
For the third year in a row, IMBA had a
booth at RealtorQuest, held May 6 and 7.
As a result of the new Mortgage Brokers,
Lenders and Associates Act coming into
effect in January 2009, IMBA was able to
realize a significant increase in members
from the real estate community. RealtorQuest was a very successful outreach for
those IMBA members whose alternate
focus is real estate. We thank Jeff Atlin,
Satindar Gill and Lorne Collis for staffing
the two-day event.
AUGUST
Hawk Ridge Golf & Country Club,
nestled in the picturesque countryside
near Orillia, was the site of IMBA’s
SummerFest. Some members chose to
spend the day at this premiere 45-hole
public golf course, while others took a
walk in Scout Valley, a 93-hectare nature
park and former Scout camp. Both groups
met up at the end of the day for an excellent dinner and networking event.
SEPTEMBER
The Ottawa Mortgage Symposium was
held at the Canadian Aviation Museum
on September 15. More than 80 participants were on hand to experience the
seminars and the mini-trade show.
Seminar topics included an excellent
panel discussion on packaging commercial deals effectively.
OCTOBER
More than 50 participants took the
IMBA Challenge at Dave and Buster’s
in Concord on October 7. The staff
of Dave and Buster’s provided a very
IMBA members enjoy the sun and sand on the Mayan Riviera at the annual WinterFest
Toronto
Toronto
Phone:Toronto
416-924-4680
Phone: 416-924-4680
416-924-4680
Fax: Phone:
416-924-4685
Fax:
416-924-4685
Fax: 416-924-4685
Toronto
Hamilton
Hamilton
Hamilton
Phone:
416-924-4680
Phone:
905-528-8956
Phone:
905-528-8956
Phone:
905-528-8956
Fax: 905-528-8182
416-924-4685
Fax:
Fax: Fax:
905-528-8182
905-528-8182
www.efforttrust.com
Hamilton
www.efforttrust.com
www.efforttrust.com
Phone: 905-528-8956
Fax: 905-528-8182
When you need dependable
results...
www.efforttrust.com
When you need dependable
results...
When you need dependable results...
Effort Trust
Trust is
is your
your choice
choice
Effort
When you
need
dependable
results...
forTrust
Alternative
Lending:
Effort
is your
choice
for
Alternative
Lending:
for Alternative
Effort TrustLending:
is yourin choice
• Specializing
• Specializing
in
Residential First
for Alternative
Lending:
Residential
First
Mortgages including
Mortgages
• Specializing
in including
Construction
Construction
Residential
First
Financing
• Specializing in
Financing
Mortgages
including
Residential
• Broker
focusedFirst
Construction
Mortgages
• Broker
focusedincluding
Financing
Construction
• Customized to
• Customized
Financing
your
clients’ to
needs
your
clients’ needs
• Broker
focused
• Brokercustomer
focused
• Excellent
• Excellent
customer
service with
fast
• Customized
to fast
service
with time
• Customized
to
turnaround
your clients’
needs
turnaround
timeneeds
your clients’
• Excellent
customer
• Excellent
customer
service with
fast
service with fast
turnaround
turnaround
time time
Vol 2 Issue 4 • 17
Cover Story
February 10 was a sad day for IMBA as its longtime director
Shayam Kaushal loses his courageous battle with cancer
circa. 1910
circa. 1910
Times have changed.
So has mortgage insurance.
Times have changed
So has mortgage insura
We’ve entered a new age of mortgage
insurance, in which innovative and flexible
options are available to lenders and borrowers.
We’ve
entered
a new age of mortg
Shayam Kaushal’s wife, sister and brother
accept
the President’s
Award on his behalf. The award has
now
been
renamed
the
insurance, in which innovative and fl
Shayam Kaushal Memorial Award
With common sense underwriting,
customer service excellence and a team
of dedicated professionals, we’re helping
mortgage professionals close more deals.
common exercise
sense underwritin
exciting new twist on the challenge —With
a team-building
customer
and a t
with members competing on different
activitiesservice
throughexcellence
the
of dedicated
professionals,
D&B facility. Carol McKenzie provided
another interesting
and we’re he
informative component of the day
with her “Energy
through close more d
mortgage
professionals
Synergy” workshop.
options are available to lenders and bo
NOVEMBER
IMBA’s Annual Partners’ Appreciation event was held at the
St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre on November 5. This
is our way of thanking IMBA’s many business partners, volunteers, education instructors and other friends of IMBA. Although
it is a private, invitation-only event, more than 175 people attend
annually, with many others looking for invitations.
AIG is the brand name for American International Group, Inc. and its
subsidiaries. All mortgage insurance products in Canada are underwritten
by AIG United Guaranty Mortgage Insurance Company Canada.
18 • brokerbiz
No Crops – Circa ad #5
The Belleville Mortgage Symposium was so well received last year
that IMBA decided to return to the city for another mortgage
symposium and mini-trade show. Held in the historic Empire
AIG is the brand name for American International Group,
Theatre, the symposium featured
an economic update, sessions on
subsidiaries. All mortgage insurance products in Canada are
marketing for mortgage professionals,
avoiding
fraud, and
tips on
by AIG
United Guaranty
Mortgage
Insurance Company
packaging successful commercial deals. BB
Crops and Bleed
IMBA Board
Meet the
IMBA Board!
By Liz Katynski
The IMBA Board of Directors includes 12 elected directors,
all independent mortgage brokers, and five appointed
directors who are industry experts appointed by the board.
Read on to learn more about this group of professionals
First row, seated: Robert A. Gascon,
Treasurer; David Mandel, Past
President; Jeff Atlin, President;
Margo Wynhofen, Vice President;
Malcolm Eccles, Secretary;
Second row: Satindar Gill,
John Bargis, David Walker,
Leslie Fallaise, Martin Marshall,
Donna Parissi, Stewart Eadie,
Jim Hill, Lou Perrotta,
Albert Collu, Dr. Gary Katz
(Inset): Jonah Bonn, Appointed
Director, IMBA
Elected directors
PRESIDENT - Jeff Atlin - Abacus
Mortgages Ltd., Toronto
on the Mortgage Brokerages Lenders and
Administrators Act (MBLAA) 2006.
After a decade as a banker/lender, Jeff
became a mortgage broker. Over 22 years
later, Jeff has his CPMB and SCMF
designations and is also a certified IMBA
instructor. He now focuses on placement of private funds into mortgage
investments and providing co-brokering
services to firms throughout Canada.
From 1988 to 2004, Jeff was a member
of OMBA. He served on their board,
was involved in various committees and
taught the Mortgage Brokers Course
from 1987 to 1994.
Jeff joined IMBA in 2002 and has
chaired the Government Relations
Committee since 2004. In that role, he
represented members in consultations
Favourite saying: “Never attribute to
malice that which can be adequately
explained by stupidity”
— Hanlon’s Razor Jeff is happily re-married. He has
three children, two step children and
a grandson.
IMBA Board
VICE PRESIDENT - Margo
Wynhofen - Verico One Mortgage
Corp., Grimsby
Margo obtained her mortgage broker’s
registration and formed her own company
in 2003. Three years later, she formed
Verico One Mortgage Corp, a member of
the Verico Mortgage Brokers Network.
Margo commits a percentage of sales to
charity including the Terry Fox Foundation.
She holds an Honours Degree in
Economics from the University of
Toronto, an Honours Post-Diploma in
Financial Services Underwriting from
Seneca College and her CPMB.
She’s an IMBA instructor, Finance
Committee chair, and has been an
IMBA director since 2006.
Margo rowed with the Royal Canadian
Henley Regatta in 1998, participates in
international long-distance sculling tours
and enjoys hiking with her dog, Hairy.
Favourite saying: “Be the change you
want to see in the world”
— Mahatma Gandhi
industry standards. With IMBA, he
currently serves in the roles of chair of
the Education Committee and Family
Ski Day Committee.
Over the years, Mal has taught OMBA,
AMBA and IMBA courses. He holds
his CPMB.
SECRETARY - Mal Eccles - CIR
Mortgage Corp., London
Mal has been a mortgage broker since
1973. He is now the owner and broker
for CIR Mortgage Corp. in London
with branches in Brantford, Chatham
and Sarnia. CIR Mortgage Corp. was
founded in the mid-1980s.
A co-founder of IMBA in 2000, Mal
remains dedicated to the development
of mandatory continuing education
for mortgage brokers and agents. He
continues to work on behalf of IMBA
members in order to improve their
Favourite saying: “Criticism is easy;
achievement is difficult.
— Winston Churchill
TREASURER - Robert (Bob) Gascon
- Redwood Mortgage Corporation,
Mississauga
A mortgage broker since 1987, Bob
Gascon is the broker and owner of
Redwood Mortgage Corp. based
in Mississauga.
Throughout his career, Bob has
continued to volunteer in various
We’re at home with
Canadian housing
Our commitment to our clients is to provide high quality
service on the following:
Commercial / Industrial / Residential Mortgages
First & Second Mortgage
Quick Closing
As we have extensive access to private funds, we are able to
help with hard to place mortgages with competitive rates and
fees to satisfy every mortgage need.
Types of properties we specialize in:
At CMHC, we’ve been a leader in the Canadian
housing industry for more than half a century.
For industry tools and videos you’ve never seen
before and helpful information you can share with
your clients, visit EverythingYouNeed.ca.





Mixed Use
Single Purpose
Strip Plaza
Place of Worship
Gas Station





Industrial/Office Condo
Vacant Land
Construction Loan
Multi-Unit Residential
And many more…
CMHC. Everything you need to open new doors.
With Royal Commercial Mortgage, you can expect a high
level of expertise to assist you in funding your deals.
Phone: (416) 928-5119/ 628-1520 Fax: (416) 907-4151
Web: www.royalcommercialmortgage.com
Email: [email protected]
20 • brokerbiz
IMBA Board
capacities within his industry. With
his wealth of experience, he is focused
on helping to promote independent
mortgage brokers and mortgage agents
in order to help them increase their
visibility and increase their share of the
market in Ontario.
Bob is the chair of the Partner Relations
Committee.
In 2003, John and his wife Tina
started their own company, Mortgage
Edge. At that time, they felt the need
to support IMBA, an organization they
saw as the true voice of their industry,
so they joined.
Albert Collu - Argentum Mortgage
and Finance Corp, Toronto
Favourite saying: “Dedication, persistence
and hard work leads to being in the right
place at the right time”
Albert loves hockey. For the last 15
years, he has coached minor hockey at
the AA, AAA and Junior A level. He
As president of Argentum Mortgage and
Finance Corporation, Albert is a diversified
senior manager with a wealth of business
development and operations experience.
Favourite saying: “Treading trodden trails
for a long, long time”
PAST PRESIDENT - David Mandel
- First Equity Financial Corporation,
Toronto
David earned a BA from York University, and Bachelor of Commerce degree
from the University of Windsor. He
built a successful national direct sales
company in the 1980s, and started as a
mortgage agent with CYR Mortgages
in 1989.
Construction Financing made
In 1993, David became a mortgage
broker, principal and shareholder in
CYR. In 1998, he started First Equity
Financial Corporation, now a successful
firm with 14 agents.
A member of IMBA since 2003, David
is chair of the Planning Committee. He
has his CPMB and also served on the
board of OMBA in its final year.
Favourite saying: “Live the life you love
and love the life you live”
— Colin James
Other elected directors
John Bargis - Mortgage Edge,
Richmond Hill
After more than eight years as a lender
with three major financial institutions, in 1989 John became a mortgage broker. He enjoyed working
as an independent and grew very
passionate about his industry. His career
progressed, and he was very successful.
From 1999 to 2000, John served as the
chairman of the board of CIMBL (now
CAAMP), and he was one of the principal founders of Invis Financial.
A leading mortgage lender since 1987,
specializing in construction financing, development loans
and commercial / industrial term loans.
Paul Rayment at 416-488-5300, ext. 288
[email protected]
Ivan Stone at 416-488-5300, ext. 222
[email protected]
Visit our website at www.foremost-financial.com
for complete details and lending matrix.
IMBA Board
continues to help local hockey organizations and clubs raise money to help with
the cost of tournaments, travel and extra
ice time for their players.
Becoming a Successful Mortgage Agent
course at George Brown College. He
enjoys working with IMBA to educate
new agents starting out in the industry.
He also got members of the Toronto
Maple Leafs Alumni, the Ottawa
Senators and the Brampton Battalion
involved in a high-profile bankers and
lenders event he organized in Toronto.
He also enjoys running outdoors,
science fiction movies, and playing on
the Wii game system.
Favourite saying: “If you think you can,
you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re
still right”
Elizabeth (Liz) Doyle - Centum
Mortgage Options Inc, Whitby
Liz is the broker and owner of
CENTUM Mortgage Options Inc.
Before becoming a mortgage professional, she worked for two major financial institutions and raised two daughters.
Liz joined the industry in 2003 after
completing the Financial Services
Underwriting Program with Honours
at Seneca College. She earned her AMP
designation in 2004, joined CAAMP
in 2004 and IMBA in 2005. More
recently, she also earned her CPMB
designation. Over the past few years, Liz
has enjoyed teaching the IMBA Mortgage Agent Course.
Favourite saying: “It takes 20 years to
build a reputation and five minutes to
ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do
things differently
— Warren Buffet
Satindar Gill - Mortgage Brokers of
Canada Inc, Mississauga
Favourite saying: “Making up for the past
may jeopardize the future”
Gary Katz - Unimor Capital Corporation, Windsor
Gary joined the mortgage industry in
1972. Throughout his career as a mortgage broker, he has dedicated himself to
both his profession and his community.
He has served as a director of IMBA
since May 2001 and has his CPMB.
Gary served as president for the
Windsor Jewish National Fund, and as
past-president of the Windsor Jewish
Federation. Windsor’s city council
appointed him to the City Centre
Revitalization Task Force for two
consecutive three-year terms.
As a director of the Canadian Mental
Health Association, Gary has chaired
a committee that oversees United Way
programs providing services in Windsor.
An active volunteer, he has also served
with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
for over 20 years and is a member of the
Rotary Club of Windsor.
Favourite saying: “It is not our responsibility
to complete the work of G-D but to pass the
world to future generations leaving it a better
world than the one into which we came”
vice president for Ontario. That year,
he wrote IMBA’s 10 Steps program and
was licensed as an agent.
Today Martin is responsible for
marketing, business development and
recruiting new agents in his job as
Ontario sales manager for Homeguard
Funding. He is married, enjoys golfing,
travelling and watching his daughter
play competitive fastball.
Favourite saying: “Winners never cheat
and cheaters never win”
Lou Perrotta - Domus Financial
Corporation, Oakville
In 1977, Lou started his career with a
consumer credit company. Through the
1970s and 1980s, he worked for a mortgage company and a real estate developer.
From 1981 to 1988, Lou ran his own
general contracting and real estate
development business. In 1988, he
made the transition to the mortgage
financing business.
Lou started Domus Financial
Corporation in 1992. He earned
his CPMB designation in 2007,
and joined the IMBA Board
in 2001. He has served as president,
treasurer and on several committees.
Favourite saying: “I’ll either find a way,
or make one”
— Hannibal Barca,
Carthaginian general
Appointed directors:
Martin Marshall - Homeguard
Funding, Toronto
Jonah Bonn - Ontario Wealth
Management Corporation, Ottawa
With IMBA, he has been involved with
the Education Committee and the
Gala Committee.
Martin started his career in 1980 with
Household International. In 1998, he
joined SunLife Trust to manage their
mortgage broker operations for Ontario,
Quebec and Atlantic Canada. In 2000, he
joined the Laurentian Bank group with
their acquisition of SunLife Trust. He
joined IMBA’s board of directors in 2004.
Earlier in his career, Jonah was an
auditor at KPMG Chartered Accountants LLP in Toronto. Next, he spent
three years working for a land development company based in Ottawa. There,
he managed finances and planning
functions for a portfolio of urban
development parcels.
Satindar is a certified IMBA instructor
and currently teaches the 10 Steps to
In 2007, Martin joined
Mortgage Intelligence as regional
Now, as a mortgage agent for Ontario
Wealth Management Corporation,
Satindar has held a real estate agent’s
licence for over 20 years and has been a
mortgage broker for over 14 years. He is
currently the broker-owner of Mortgage
Brokers of Canada, a growing company
with more than 45 agents. Satindar
specializes in residential mortgages.
22 • brokerbiz
IMBA Board
Jonah is responsible for sourcing and
underwriting mortgage transactions
including commercial, residential and
construction financing.
Jonah has both a Bachelor of Science and
a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa and a Masters degree in
Management and Professional Accounting
from the Rotman School of Management
at the University of Toronto.
Stewart got his start in the financial
services industry as a teller with a major
trust company. He worked his way up
to branch management, and he enjoyed
increased responsibility in jobs that
took him to various locations including
Kapuskasing, North Bay, Sudbury,
Toronto and Ottawa.
— John Maynard Keynes
Jim Hill - Home Trust Company,
Toronto
Jim started out in the industry with
Associates in 1976. He went on to
work for the Bank of Nova Scotia
for five years and then joined The
Permanent (now Canada Trust) as
a regional credit manager for
Southwestern Ontario.
Jim joined Home Trust Company in
1988. At that time, it was a $100million company with only eight staff
in Toronto. Home Trust has grown into
a $5-billion company with 250 staff.
Leaders in
Real Estate Lending
Stewart was appointed as an IMBA
director in September, 2007 and chairs
the Association Relations Committee.
Favourite saying: “Being Irish, I have an
abiding sense of tragedy which sustains me
through brief episodes of joy”
— with apologies to W.B. Yeats
C
M
Y
CM
She enjoys volunteer work,
most recently taking part in a
Director emeritus
Favourite saying: “I would rather be
vaguely correct than precisely wrong”
Today, David is vice-president, originations & non-conforming operations,
for CIBC FirstLine Mortgages Inc. In
Jim is married and has two daughters;
this position, he is responsible for 250
he enjoys golf, travelling, and is a big
carevest_tombstone2009ad.pdf 2/5/2009 5:04:31 PM
employees in five branches. Hamilton Tiger Cats fan. BB
Since 1995, Stewart has been marketing
technology to the mortgage broker and
lending communities as vice president,
business development, with inContact Inc.
Donna was appointed to the IMBA
board in 2008 and is chair of the
Annual Conference Committee.
Favourite quote: “The best things in life
are not things”
David started his career in 1974 as a
manager trainee with BMO. He moved
up to senior credit management positions
with Canada Trust, Cabot Trust, The
Associates, CitiFinancial, N-Brook
Mortgage Corp. and Merix Financial.
His education includes a Bachelor of
Science degree and an MBA.
Stewart Eadie - inContact Inc.,
Stoney Creek
Donna worked in the real estate sales
and mortgage brokerage sectors before
she became the first account executive
to join AIG United Guaranty in 2006.
Her knowledge and experience help
her to understand and appreciate the
unique needs of mortgage brokers and
mortgage agents.
David is a longtime member
of IMBA.
David Walker - FirstLine Mortgages,
Toronto
Favourite saying: “Always tell the truth;
it’s easier to remember”
Donna Parissi - AIG United Guaranty, Toronto
three-week build project with Habitat
for Humanity in Vanuatu in the South
Pacific in 2003. She was the only
Canadian on the hands-on team, which
got to know the locals and learn about
their language, traditions and culture.
Land Acquisition Loan
Ottawa, ON
$9,000,000
First mortgage
in land
development site
Port Glasgow, ON
$1,155,000
First mortgage
in land
development site
Construction Loan
Thornbury, ON
$6,678,000
First mortgage
in residential
subdivision
MY
CY
CMY
K
Construction Loan
Grande Prairie, AB
$6,485,000
First mortgage in
63,360 sq ft
industrial building
Construction Loan
Surrey, BC
$14,017,000
First mortgage
in residential
subdivision
Victoria, BC
$16,000,000
First mortgage
in land
development site
Tom Reece
Broker
905-884-9245
[email protected]
Mortgage Broker License #M08000131
www.carevest.com
CareVest Mortgage Broker License #10293
Committee Update
Progress
Report
24 • brokerbiz
By Liz Katynski
A look at what IMBA’s committees have
been up to in the last quarter
Professional Standards
Committee
Association Relations
Committee
After a number of years of hard work and
consultations, the Professional Standards
Committee has succeeded in setting
an academic requirement for mortgage
broker accreditation. Members will hear
more about this shortly.
The Association Relations Committee
is the committee that meets with
the two other provincial mortgage
broker associations: Mortgage Brokers
Association of British Columbia
(MBABC) and the Alberta Mortgage
brokers Association (AMBA), as well as
the Canadian Association of Accredited
Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP).
In the past, mortgage brokers could obtain
their CPMA and CPMB designations
with minimal credentials, earning points
and taking an IMBA exam. People with
the absolute minimal requirement, a
three-hour mortgage broker course, and
little professional experience, were being
designated mortgage professionals. Many
seasoned professionals found this situation
unacceptable and wanted to incorporate
an academic requirement to raise professional designation standards and better
reflect a professional image in the industry.
The committee meets with the presidents of
the other associations at each of their annual
conferences. At each meeting, each association updates the others on matters affecting
their membership. Over the past two years,
the major focus was on the new Ontario
mortgage broker legislation and rules
affecting mortgage syndication in Alberta.
From now on, earning the CPMA
and CPMB accreditations will entail
completing 10 required courses offered by
IMBA through Seneca College. Courses
can be completed either online or in class.
There is an exam following each course.
At the MBABC meeting in Vancouver
in April, IMBA reminded members how
they all depend on the financial support
of the same sponsors, including lenders,
insurers, industry vendors and suppliers.
For that reason, it is important that they
do not book their events at the same
time or too closely together.
The new requirements will apply to those
seeking their designations for the first time.
All those with CPMA and CPMB designation will not have to take the courses to
qualify again for accreditation. But the
continuing education requirements to keep
CPMA and CPMB designations current
will continue to apply to all.
To this end, everyone agreed to respect
the traditional dates for each association’s events, and to create a two-year
industry calendar in which associations will note their booked dates well
in advance and check for potential
conflicts with other events. This new
initiative has been well received.
Committee chair: Albert Collu,
[email protected]
Committee chair: Stewart Eadie,
[email protected]
Committee Update
Events Committee
On August 21, IMBA hosted another
very successful SummerFest golf tournament at the beautiful Hawk Ridge Golf
Course in Orillia. Over 250 mortgage
professionals and industry partners
enjoyed a beautiful day on the links
followed by a delicious dinner. As always,
a portion of net proceeds were donated
to charity. This year, the money went to
Parkinson Society Canada.
The third annual Family Ski Day is set for
February 15 at Osler Bluffs in Collingwood, just 90 minutes north of Toronto.
Details will be released shortly.
It’s almost time again for ‘Networking
While Notworking.’ That’s the
theme for the annual WinterFest
International Conference. This year, the
8th annual conference will be held at the
exotic Breezes Runaway Bay Resort in
Jamaica from January 30 to February 6.
It is the place to be for mortgage brokers
who want to get together with their
colleagues for business sessions and
networking opportunities, and to escape
another harsh Canadian winter. Allinclusive, four-day and seven-day packages are available.
Committee chair: Martin Marshall,
[email protected]
Communications
Committee
The Communications Committee
continues to work for members to
produce four informative issues of the
IMBA quarterly magazine BrokerBiz
every year and IMBA’s monthly electronic newsletter The Voice.
In the past, the electronic newsletter
was distributed every two weeks, but
members requested a less frequent
distribution. So now The Voice will
provide a monthly update to members.
Ideas for future editions of BrokerBiz
and The Voice, and for future association events, are welcome. Please
contact BrokerBiz executive editor
Leslie Fallaise at 416-231-2422 or
[email protected].
Committee chair: Martin Marshall,
[email protected]
IMBA_Half-PageAd_0909.pdf 1 09/04/2009 9:42:28 AM
Service never goes out of style.
It just appreciates.
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
Thank you for voting First National, Best Lender In Canada, it’s truly an honour
to be recognized again by the broker community. We’re committed to maintaining
the best-in-class service standards that you have come to expect from us, and the
entire First National team thanks you. Contact an Account Manager today and we’ll
show you what Service First can mean for you.
Fast Turnaround
We respond to 90% of broker mortgage submissions in under 4 hours.
Access
Merlin and Merlin mobile - Canada’s leading mortgage approval & tracking system ensures
you stay connected to the status of your deals 24/7.
Solutions
Rate plans and flexible mortgage features to suit almost any lifestyle.
Earn
Higher commissions through the Wizard Rewards Program.
Toronto Office: 800.465.0039
firstnational.ca
Delivering Service. Creating Solutions. Building Success.
Committee Update
Government Relations
Committee
The Government Relations Committee
has been busy in discussions with provincial and federal government, especially
the Financial Services Commission of
Ontario (FSCO) and Federal Finance.
They have been consulting with FSCO
on updates to the private mortgage
investor disclosure form to match the
requirements of the Mortgage Brokerages
Lenders and Administrators (MBIAA)
Act 2006. As the new Act has now been
completely implemented, they are also
looking at concerns including fee renewals
and communication.
They sit on the Provincial Advisory
Group on Marijuana Grow Ops and
Illicit Drug Labs. The group is trying to
develop a way to make borrowers and
lenders aware of the condition of such
properties without stigmatizing them
permanently. If it was a former grow op
or drug lab, was it fixed up properly? How
could people know? The idea is to make it
harder to use homes as grow ops and drug
labs. The discussion continues.
The new National Securities Legislation
(NI 31-103) will have an impact on
mortgage brokerages and administrators
but exactly how remains to be determined.
For example, it may affect how
corporations raise money and administer
themselves. Also, it removes the Mortgage
Syndication Exemption although the
committee fought for this exemption
to be put back in the Ontario Mortgage
Brokers Act about five years ago.
The committee expresses concern about
the loss of the mortgage syndication
exemption in some provinces. They
don’t want it to set a precedent for
Ontario to remove the provincial
exemption they fought so hard for a
few years ago, and it can be confusing
in multijurisdictional situations.
It looks like a harmonized tax is
coming in Ontario, so the committee
is looking at how the HST might affect
the mortgage industry. Where GST is
applied, they assume PST will also be
added. So that means an additional
eight per cent tax on real estate
agent commissions, new homes over
$400,000, and more.
There seems to be some potential conflict
in terms of when the Mortgages Act or
Tarion’s Legislation might apply, so the
committee is looking at how mortgagees
can ensure they are protected. For
example, the Tarion new home warranty is
not required by individuals but is by third
parties. If an individual starts building a
home, defaults on the mortgage and a
third party takes it over, it can be costly
to qualify for Tarion. It can also be
confusing to determine which act should
take precedence in any given situation.
Committee chair: Jeff Atlin,
[email protected]
Governance Committee
The Governance Committee is working on
some significant changes to IMBA’s bylaws.
Their proposed changes, the first in a few
years, will be presented to members for
their consideration in the next few months.
Members will vote on them.
Speaking of voting, IMBA’s bylaws allow
for electronic voting but none has been
done to date. That may soon change.
The Governance Committee is working
out the details, and if all goes well, electronic voting may be an alternative to
the mail-in vote option in the next board
election that will be held before this year’s
AGM. The opportunity to vote electronically will allow for greater participation
of members in future IMBA elections and
on other occasions.
Committee chair: Jeff Atlin,
[email protected]
COMMERCIAL LENDING DONE RIGHT...
...FOR OVER 30 YEARS
- Specializing in Commercial Mortgage Lending: $500,000 to $5,000,000+
- Construction - Bridge Financing - Equity Take Down
- Quick Turn-around
Financing for projects in southern Ontario
- Competitive Rates
Contact Mickey Baratz 416-483-8018 ext 233
- Brokers Protected
Brokerage # 10160
Vector Financial Services Limited
26 • brokerbiz
Committee Update
Treasury
Report
The Independent Mortgage Brokers
Association of Ontario has worked hard
in 2009 to be fiscally sound and continue
to offer services and value to its members.
After reporting a modest deficit for 2008,
the IMBA Board implemented a number
of spending reforms, a purchase order
system, a contract signing policy and a
plan to build a reserve fund for that rainy
day in the future.
Partner Relations
Committee
It’s an Olympic year and in that spirit,
IMBA has developed compelling new
sponsorship packaging for 2010.
In the past, IMBA sold a number of
jewelled sponsorship packages with names
including diamond and ruby. In 2010,
IMBA will sell Platinum, Gold, Silver and
Bronze packages as well as some à la carte
items to sponsors with smaller budgets.
Sponsorship has also gone green in 2010.
For the first time this year, packages were
sent out electronically instead of in print.
ship campaign is expected to be highly
successful, raising even more money
than last year. Sponsorship money that
is raised helps support IMBA’s SummerFest, gala, annual conference, and other
events. It also supports symposiums and
professional development sessions that
bring relevant speakers on industry topics
to mortgage brokers across the province.
To thank all business partners,
instructors and volunteers, IMBA will
host its second annual Partners’ Appreciation Event on November 5 at the St.
Andrew’s Club in Toronto. Last year’s
event was a great success and the appreciation reception will now become an
annual tradition.
By vigorously tightening its belt, IMBA
The sponsorship campaign began on
will be reporting a modest surplus for
Committee co-chairs: Jim Hill,
October 5 and, within a week, well
2009. While in some cases revenues are
[email protected], and Robert
over $60,000 in sponsorship commitlower than originally projected, expenses
Gascon, [email protected]
ments were made. The 2010 sponsorProject7 6/5/08 1:07 PM Page 1
have been held to an all-time minimum,
thus enabling the delivery of a surplus in Project7 6/5/08 1:07 PM Page 1
an otherwise financially fraught economy.
A conservative, fiscally conscientious
budget has been developed and approved
for 2010. IMBA had its firstProject7
increase in 6/5/08
annual membership dues in 2009 since
its inception in 2001. This was a modest
$15.00 annual hike to meet the rising
tide of inflation. IMBA has no short- or
medium-term plans to increase its annual
membership fee in the future.
1:07 PM
Page 1
IMBA has been busy renovating and
upgrading its website, www.IMBA.ca.
A new database and customer service
software have been purchased and will
be implemented in the new year. The
website will feature a clean new look and
feel. It will be very user friendly and easy
to navigate, enabling IMBA members
and the public to access timely information about IMBA programs, education,
up-to-date legislative information and
much, much more.
With a firm financial footing in place
for the future, IMBA will continue to
deliver premium programs and educational products to the mortgage industry
in Ontario.
Treasurer: Robert A. Gascon, rgascon@
redwoodmortgage.ca
Committee Update
Planning Committee
Education Committee
The Planning Committee was revitalized
with a roundtable discussion at SummerFest in Orillia this summer. Their
mandate is to review IMBA’s mission
statement and to suggest a five-year
strategic plan to increase the organization’s membership numbers, promote the
organization, and take it strongly into
the future.
The Education Committee wants to
improve the quality of the mortgage broker
industry through further education.
The committee will look at IMBA’s
existing planning documents and
the current mission statement. They
will consider how the organization is
different from the Canadian Association
of Accredited Mortgage Professionals
(CAAMP) and how it can offer specific
value to its members who tend to be
individual mortgage brokers who need
a voice.
They will analyze the organization’s
strengths and weaknesses and develop a
plan to move forward, including recommended initiatives with very specific
tangible actions to help them get there. It
is all about refining what IMBA is doing,
and doing it even better.
Committee co-chairs:
Margo Wynhofen,
[email protected],
and Jonah Bonn, [email protected]
Committee chair Mal Eccles believes
that continuing education should be
mandatory in Ontario. Few professional
associations do not have a requirement
for professional development. Lawyers,
financial advisors, real estate appraisers,
real estate brokers and sales all do.
Continuing education is an important
part of any profession, but many ask if
it should be mandatory. For example,
in Alberta, since 2006, there have been
mandatory continuing education requirements for mortgage brokers and agents.
Those who do not complete them cannot
renew their licences, or may be fined.
both in the classrooms in Toronto and by
correspondence. Correspondence students
also have the support of an instructor
through scheduled conference calls.
Committee chair: Mal Eccles,
[email protected]
Membership
Committee
The Membership Committee’s mandate
is to build membership. Their role is to
bring in new members and increase the
total number of IMBA members from
year to year. The committee’s role is to
determine how to accomplish this goal
and help make it happen.
Eccles knows that continuing education
would increase credibility in the Ontario
industry too, and although some may
frown upon it initially, they will come to
realize it will work to their advantage. He
continues to carry the torch for mandatory continuing education for mortgage
brokers, mortgage agents and mortgage
practitioners in Ontario.
Overall, as a professional association,
IMBA is always working to increase
membership. With more members, the
organization will have an even stronger
voice in relevant discussions with regulatory authorities and others. IMBA is the
voice and the association for independent
mortgage brokers in Ontario. Since 2000,
they have encouraged professionals to join
them to network and work together to
better their industry. BB
The Education Committee is now
developing further education. As well, they
continue to run the mortgage agent courses
Committee co-chairs: John Bargis,
[email protected], and Satindar
Gill, [email protected]
A Non-Bank Lender Providing Construction, Bridge
and Short Term Real Estate Finance
Recent Transactions:
$3,200,000
Mortgage Investment Trust
For Lending Inquiries Please Contact:
Michael Carragher
Tel: (416) 635-0221 Fax: (416) 635-1713
1244 Caledonia Road
Toronto, ON M6A 2X5
[email protected]
Ontario License #: 10164
www.FirmCapital.com
28 • brokerbiz
SECOND MORTGAGE
$9,600,000
FIRST MORTGAGE
$2,150,000
FIRST MORTGAGE
$2,500,000
FIRST MORTGAGE
Construction loan on
14 townhouse units &
28 semi-detached
units
Construction loan on
19 loft condominium
units
Construction loan for 8
townhouse units
Inventory loan on 7
townhouse units
MacVean Drive
Brampton, Ontario
Brunswick Avenue
Toronto, Ontario
Bathurst Street
Toronto, Ontario
Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario
Construction
Multi-Residential
Investment Properties
Industry Feature
Making
sense of
MICs
What brokers need to know about
securities law issues for mortgage
investment corporations
By Martin Aquilina
W
ith the coming into
force of National Instrument 31-103 – Registration
Requirements
and Exemptions (NI 31-103) on
September 28, 2009, operators of
mortgage investment corporations
(MICs) now have additional reasons
to worry about enforcement actions
by securities regulators.
Although we are not aware of any such
action being taken to date, this may be
due more to a lack of resources on the
regulators’ part than to the strength
of their legal position. Also, the rather
good returns enjoyed by MICs, and the
ensuing lack of complaints by investors,
as well as their relatively small size and
numbers, have probably helped to keep
them off the regulators’ radar.
Although this may come as a surprise
to many MIC promoters, mortgages
are, by law, securities. The relevance
of this characterization lies in the fact
that securities legislation imposes a
registration (licensing) requirement
upon individuals and entities that sell
securities as well as an obligation to
provide purchasers of securities with
a prospectus explaining the attributes
of the investment and the business
of the issuer. The prospectus must
be approved by local regulators and
provided to investors by the issuer’s
dealer no later than 48 hours after the
purchase of the investment.
As a general rule, mortgage brokers
need not worry about the impact of
securities laws on their daily activities
as adherence to mortgage brokerage
legislation is all that is required to stay
Industry Feature
on the right side of regulatory laws.
This fortunate result is due to the fact
that mortgages are “exempt” securities,
meaning, firstly, that those who trade
in mortgages do not require registration
under local securities laws and secondly,
that a prospectus is not necessary for a
person to present a deal to a lender or
borrower, as long as the mortgage is on
real property located in Canada and
the person is licensed (or exempt from
licensing) under the mortgage broker/
dealer legislation of the jurisdiction in
which the property is located.
Shares are the
most obvious
form of securities
and, while the
underlying
The MIC angle
mortgages are
exempt, the shares
themselves are
clearly not
Syndicated mortgages are an exception to
the rule as those transacting them in the
provinces of Alberta, British Columbia,
Manitoba, Quebec and Saskatchewan
must be registered as a securities dealer
unless another exemption is available.
Syndicated mortgages must also be
qualified by prospectus unless an
exemption is available.
Where do MICs fit into all this? MICs
of course are pools of mortgages held
under a corporate structure through
which lenders make their capital
available to borrowers in return
for shares in the corporation. The
corporation is set up by the mortgage
broker to hold the mortgages, and the
4 Nights (Jan 30 - Feb 3, 2010)
Double Occupancy $ 1625.00 pp
Single Occupancy $ 1839.00 pp
7 Nights (Jan 30 - Feb 6, 2010)
Double Occupancy $ 1975.00 pp
Single Occupancy $ 2379.00 pp
(Taxes included)
For any questions, changes, or upgrades
please contact Laurie Bertrand, Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
Laurie Bertrand
Toll Free: 1 (800) 561-4275
email: [email protected]
232 Brock St., Peterborough, ON K9H 2P4
30 • brokerbiz
shares held by the lenders represent
their proportionate interest in the
mortgage pool. Lenders mitigate their
risk by spreading their capital across
many mortgages, and borrowers are
able to access large ready-made pools
of money for loans they might not
otherwise be able to get.
Everyone’s happy, right? Well…
everyone except the regulators!
Shares are the most obvious form of
securities, and while the underlying
mortgages are exempt, the shares
themselves are clearly not. This
means that they must be sold under
prospectus by registered securities
dealers unless an exemption from both
of these requirements is available.
Exemptions that are available to MICs
vary from one province to another
and include the accredited investor
exemption, the $150,000 minimum
purchase amount exemption, the
offering memorandum exemption
and the family, friends and business
associates exemption.
Prior to the adoption of NI 31-103,
a “limited market dealer” (LMD)
registration was required in Ontario
and Newfoundland to sell an exempt
security notwithstanding the existence
of a registration exemption. Under NI
31-103, the LMD category has been
replaced with that of “exempt market
dealer” (EMD), which will be required
by the provinces east of Manitoba
in order to sell or market securities
that are not qualified by prospectus.
In the rest of Canada, with the
possible exception of Saskatchewan,
an EMD registration may not be
required in connection with the
sale of MIC shares under any of the
four exemptions above, subject to a
number of conditions.
Registration requirements for EMDs
are more stringent than those for
LMDs. Generally speaking, EMDs are
subject to the same rules as full-service
dealers. This means that they must
comply with proficiency, solvency,
insurance and reporting requirements,
as well as know-your-client, conflict of
interest and client disclosure rules.
Industry Feature
Investment fund manager
Moreover, NI 31-103 now requires
that administrators of investment
funds, meaning those that direct the
business, operations or affairs of an
investment fund, obtain registration as
an investment fund manager (IFM).
Since all MICs, whether they restrict
the right to redeem shares or process
redemptions on demand, fall within
the definition of “investment fund,”
and since none of the three possible
exemptions from the IFM requirement
will be available to the typical MIC,
it follows that an IFM registration is
now needed to operate a compliant
MIC. As is the case with those in the
EMD category, registrants in the IFM
category must meet certain insurance
and capital requirements and appoint a
chief compliance officer (CCO). One
significant problem for MIC operators
is that the proficiency requirements for
CCOs are not designed to be met by
those in the mortgage industry.
To make matters even more difficult,
additional registration as a portfolio
manager (PM) is needed to allow the
management of a securities portfolio
(which includes a pool of mortgages).
As is the case with an IFM registration,
exemptions from the PM requirement
will not be readily available to the
typical MIC promoter.
MICs were created by the feds in the
early ’70s to stimulate home ownership
in Canada. However, the rules that
govern them have been and continue
to be in large measure those enacted by
provincial legislatures and authorities
for the regulation of securities. This
is most unfortunate as it has been our
experience that MICs are packaged and
promoted by people in the mortgage
industry rather than by those with a
securities background. This has resulted
in a regulatory regime which is, if
not inadequate, then at least beyond
the reasonable grasp of most MIC
0
1
2B0ACK ON
K
C
A
R
T
operators. With the move afoot to
establish a single Canadian securities
regulator administering a federal
Securities Act the time may be ripe
for reform. BB
Martin Aquilina is a partner in the
Ottawa office of Gowling Lafleur
Henderson LLP, practicing in the
area of business law with a focus on
corporate and securities matters. He
is counsel to a number of mortgage
investment corporations.
Test Your Skill
Answer Key
The answer is ‘D’
April 22, 2010
Toronto Congress Centre
650 Dixon Rd., Toronto
“Ontario’s Premier
Mortgage Conference
& Trade Show”
Keynote Speaker:
Arlene Dickinson
from CBC’s
Dragon’s Den
Gala Awards Night
April 21st
Join us at Mardi Gras
Holiday Special
It’s a
By Nestor Gula
celebration!
Nowhere in the world are there so many different traditions celebrated over
the holiday season as there are in Canada. In this special feature, BrokerBiz
looks at what some IMBA members will be doing over the holidays
M
any, many years ago,
when most countries
were monotheistic, everybody participated in
religious celebrations at the same
time, in the same way.
Welcome to the 21st century! There
are very few nations made up of one
ethnic or cultural group, and Canada is
arguably the most diverse of the lot. So
just how are Canadians celebrating over
the holidays?
®
The most visible celebration is Christmas.
The marketing hype starts just after
Halloween and continues on till Boxing
Day. There have been many controversies
swirling around the “ownership” of
Christmas, where traditionalists have
attempted to claim it as a purely Christian
event, while secularists and other religious
groups have purported that Christmas
belongs to everybody.
The most visible non-Christian
celebration occurring around the same
time is the eight-day Jewish holiday
Call
us
Multi-Family Rental Properties
Senior’s Housing Projects
Commercial Properties
Construction Projects
Phone:
Fax:
Email:
32 • brokerbiz
416-304-2078
416-368-3328
[email protected]
Roslyn Goldmintz, owner of RBG
Realty Mortgage Brokerage Group Inc.,
says that Hanukkah is not a heavily
religious time, like Passover. “It is family
time. Gathering with friends and family
and celebrating,” she explains. “We
exchange simple gifts, chocolate coins
and similar items.”
Goldmintz mentions that the
ubiquitous Hanukkah gift, the Dreidel,
a four-sided wooden spinning top, does
make an appearance.
CMHC & Conventional
Mortgages for:
Michael Lombard
Hanukkah, known as the festival of
lights. This holiday celebrates the
rededication of Jerusalem’s Holy Temple
in the second century BC. It falls on
December 12 in 2009.
Ontario Branch
1801-130 Adelaide St. West
Toronto ON M5H 3P5
www.peoplestrust.com
For many Christians, it comes as quite
a surprise that Jesus is quite prominent
in the Qur’an, the main religious text of
Islam. El Sala, a broker for Ottawa’s Bank
Street Mortgage Company, says, “We do
have Christmas – we celebrate Christmas
as well. Our religion recognizes Jesus as a
prophet and the same story that’s in the
Bible is in the Qur’an.”
“I grew up in northern Jordan where
it was two-thirds Muslim and onethird Christian,” continues Sala.
“We celebrate it just the same way as
everybody else does. We have dinner, we
have family gatherings.”
Since those who follow Muhammad do
not eat pork, the meal differs. “We don’t
Holiday Special
have ham. We have lamb or turkey,” says
Sala. Although his family does exchange
gifts, “there is no mythology behind the
gift giving. We don’t have a Santa Claus,
but we give gifts to the kids and each
other. It is a good time for the family. We
celebrate as most North Americans do.”
Christmas at a different time
Tino Brelak, an independent mortgage
consultant located in the west end of
Toronto, celebrates Christmas as a
Christian except he does this in January.
He is a Ukrainian Catholic and his wife
is Serbian Orthodox and both of these
churches, like many Orthodox ones,
tend to follow the old Julian calendar
where Christmas Eve falls on January 6
and Christmas day on the seventh. “My
wife and I both celebrate on the seventh
— that is Christmas day,” says Brelak.
“Serbians are the same. The Serbian
Orthodox Church is very similar to the
Ukrainian Catholic one.”
The traditional Christmas Eve meal
consists of 12 meatless courses that
symbolize the 12 disciples of Jesus. “We go
to my parents on the sixth, for Rizdvoh,
(the Ukrainian Christmas Eve) and visit
my wife’s parents on the seventh.”
to Christmas, “although Diwali is
close.” Celebrated in 2009 on October
17, it will be held on November 5 in
2010. For Diwali, Gill says that the
tradition is to go to the Temple, light
candles and visit friends and family.
Diwali originated as a Hindu festival
and is known as the Festival of Lights
(just like Hanukkah — although there
is no connection). During this holiday,
believers traditionally light small clay oil
lamps to symbolize the victory of good
over evil within the individual.
says. “You can call it our version of
Christmas … It is basically spending
lots of time with the family and sharing.
We get together with the family, the inlaws, have meals, exchange gifts.”
Gill, a broker with Mortgage Broker of
Canada Inc. in Mississauga, says that
although his Sikh heritage is important,
his family also celebrates Christmas. “I
celebrate Christmas with parties, with
friends and family,” he notes. “We have
a Christmas tree. We have Santa Claus
if we throw a party. I even dressed as
Santa Claus on one occasion.”
With two children seven and eight years
old, Anand wants to make sure they get
exposed to all cultures. “We have friends
who have married outside our culture
so we do get exposure from that end,”
he says. “I try to share the joy of the
season. Canada is such a multi-cultural
society. I have a lot of friends who aren’t
Indian; they share Diwali with me and
I share Christmas with them. We try
to immerse ourselves and not separate
ourselves. Canada is our home.” BB
Amit Anand, a broker with Toronto’s
The Money Source, also celebrates
Diwali. “We just had our Diwali,” he
“The gifts are usually money,” continues
Anand. “This is usually a token for
them to buy something new. Instead
of giving a gift you give them money.
This is the custom that we follow in our
family. Others may do it a different way
but the basics are the same.”
This is not to say that, like many
Canadians, Brelak doesn’t incorporate a
bit of Canada’s most prominent festivity
into his family’s life. “Before we had
our daughter, we had a great activity on
the December 24,” he says.” We would
go out to a big party. It is the biggest
Serbian party of the year in the GTA. It
is called ‘It is not my Christmas party!’
Everybody is there.”
Growing up in Bosnia-Herzegovina,
a province in the then-Yugoslavia,
Brelak’s family would also exchange
gifts on December 19, the Feast of St.
Nicholas. “We used to do St. Nicholas
day back home when we were kids,” he
says, “But now we exchange Christmas
gifts on December 25. Traditionally
there are no gifts given or exchanged on
January 6 or 7.”
Celebrating good over evil
As a Sikh, Satindar Gill notes that his
religion has no real comparable holiday
LegalCorner
By Derrick Leue
Legal action
An E&O policy will save the day if the
unimaginable happens and you’re served with a
statement of claim. Read on to see what happens
I
magine this… You return to
the office after a successful
client meeting and find a very
thick package addressed to
you from a law firm that you do not
recognize. You hope the contents
are closing documents. But unfortunately, that sinking feeling in your
stomach is justified. You have been
served with a statement of claim.
While reading through the statement
of claim, you discover that it relates to
a mortgage you arranged two years ago.
The allegations from the plaintiff make it
appear as though you had never arranged
a mortgage before. Initial feelings of shock
quickly turn to anger.
You are about to pick up the phone to call
your client, who is suing you for an outrageous amount of money. But then you
remember that all licensed brokers and
agents in Ontario have purchased a professional liability policy, often referred to as
an errors & omissions policy, or E&O.
34 • brokerbiz
What do you do now?
Legal defence
If you are an agent, contact your principal broker and let them know you have
been served with a statement of claim.
The principal broker should contact your
E&O insurance broker immediately and
let them know you have been served with
a statement of claim.
Do not retain your own legal counsel
before you speak with the claims representatives from the E&O insurer. A major
benefit of the E&O policy is the legal
defence provided. The E&O insurer will
handle the defence of the claim. You can
prejudice the position of the insurer by
hiring independent legal counsel, and
therefore jeopardize your coverage via
your E&O policy.
Your broker will ask you to send them
a copy of the statement of claim. It
is important to secure all documents
remotely related to the file. You should
take the time to make any additional
notes that you may recall in relation to
the file in question. Documentation
is critical when defending professional
negligence claims. Providing extensive
documentation can significantly reduce
defence costs and increase the probability
of a smaller claim.
A representative from the E&O insurer
will then contact you within two to four
business days to review the claim details
and obtain any additional information.
Your E&O insurer will retain a law firm
highly experienced in defending professional negligence claims against mortgage
brokers. Approximately 40 to 45 per cent
of professional liability claims (across
various professional disciplines) do not
result in damages/indemnity being paid
out on behalf of the professional being
sued. This means that a high percentage
of lawsuits are likely frivolous in nature.
Without an E&O policy you would be
required to retain your own legal counsel.
The average billable rate is more than $250
per hour and in many cities over $300 per
Legal Corner
hour. Another cost is the time you will
have to invest to select a lawyer experienced in defending professional negligence
claims (not to mention claims involving
mortgage brokers). You are not going to
want to base your selection process on the
lawyer charging the lowest hourly rate. You
are not going to want to miss the opportunity to work with new clients.
FSCO mandates E&O Insurance
An E&O policy is like having a lawyer on
retainer. Every other week we speak with
brokerages that have received their first
statement of claim. In many cases these
brokerages have been in business for over
10 years. Even if you operate an extremely
professional brokerage and manage your
risk exposures, you cannot control everything, especially the following:
Aggressive plaintiff lawyers. Remember,
it costs the plaintiff nothing to add your
name to a statement of claim stemming
from an incident that you may not be
responsible for.
Agents. There is a greater possibility of
experiencing a claim when you have agents
operating under your brokerage because
you cannot oversee every action of every
agent. For this reason, your E&O policy
should cover the services rendered by all
agents operating under your brokerage.
Difficult economic conditions. Claims
increase when property values are falling
because mortgagees often experience a
loss of capital and are looking to blame
someone. Mortgagors are more likely to
experience economic hardship through
job losses and are looking for ways to
recoup or at least minimize their losses.
Having access to legal defence through
your E&O insurer is important because
you are required to respond to the claim
by serving a Statement of Defence and
filing a copy with the court. You have
a limited number of days to respond,
typically less than 20 days. If that is not
done, the person suing will usually be
entitled to judgment without further
notice to the defendant, i.e., you.
Will claims affect my future
E&O premiums?
Were you found negligent? That is,
did the insurer pay damages on your
behalf? If so, then you will likely experience a surcharge upon the renewal of
your policy. If not, then your insurer is
unlikely to surcharge your renewal rate
due to the claim.
Are you buying your E&O policy
through an association program? If so,
then the program insurer will be much
more inclined to keep your rates stable
if you had a claim where only legal
defence was required or if the payout
of damages was quite small. When you
buy through a program you are part of
a much larger premium pool and the
risk for the insurance company is spread
across hundreds of brokerages. This will
typically lead to much more stable rates
over the long term.
Risk management
E&O insurance should become an
important part of your risk management
strategy. You can minimize your exposure
to a claim through better professional practices; however, you cannot eliminate the
risk. You have worked too hard to put your
company’s assets and personal assets at risk.
In future editions of BrokerBiz we will
provide examples of the types of claims
being brought against mortgage brokers
throughout Canada. Unfortunately, the
frequency of claims is rising as our society
becomes more litigious and the duty of care
expected of professionals increases. BB
IMBA insurance program: IMBA offers
members an industry-leading E&O
Liability insurance program. To learn more,
visit www.lms.ca/imba or contact Andrew
Spencer, IMBA program development
manager at LMS PROLINK Ltd. He can
be reached at 800-663-6828, ext. 7715 or
[email protected].
Derrick Leue is vice president, insurance
programs at LMS PROLINK Ltd.
Property Appraisals
Ellens & Associates provides a wide
variety of valuations for purposes
which include the following:
n Acquisition/Sale
n Assessment
Appeals
n Capital Gains
Our Agents Come First
For further
information contact:
Join our team or mortgage professionals
and let us help you achieve your goals.
Colin Mason
V.P. Sales & Marketing
3231 Langstaff Rd. Suite 204
Concord, ON L4K 4L2
1-877-732-2801 x205
[email protected]
Brokerage Lic.# 10687
n
Employment
Relocation
n Insurance
Valuations
n Litigation Support
n Mortgage
Financing
n Partial Takings
n Estate Planning
n Power of Sale
n Expropriations
n Rental Surveys
n GST Valuation
n Subdivision
of Land
25 Main Street West, Suite 2220,
Hamilton, Ontario L8P 1H1
Tel: (905) 577-0403
Fax: (905) 577-0481
E-mail: [email protected]
www.ellens.on.ca
Professional Profile
A prestigious honour
Gary Katz, right,
about to receive his
Honorary Doctorate of
Law from Windsor’s
Assumption University
One of IMBA’s own, Gary Katz, is conferred the title of Honorary
Doctor of Law for his remarkable and generous volunteer work
G
ary Katz is not a man to take life
sitting down.
The seasoned mortgage professional has led —
or sat on — more boards than one can easily
list, from the Windsor Jewish Federation to our very own
IMBA. He has long been involved in ‘Big Brothers’ to needy
children and has participated in various peace missions
to the Middle East. He’s built up a successful mortgage
business and is now working on a foundation. He’s trekked
the Himalayas twice, travelled the world and spent a quarter
century privately studying Hebrew philosophy under
various rabbis. Somewhere along the way, he also managed
to raise two wonderful children.
Is there anything Gary Katz hasn’t done? Perhaps, but give
him time. He’s a young 62 and shows no signs of slowing
down, especially when it comes to an area close to his heart:
giving back.
“I’ve always believed in giving back,” says Katz. “That’s what
it’s all about, doing things because you want to do them
from your heart and soul and spirit. I’m a huge supporter of
that, and that’s what motivates me in everything I do.”
36 • brokerbiz
There are many multi-taskers these days, but few have
dedicated as much of themselves to worthy causes as Katz has,
and his efforts have not gone unnoticed.
At a special ceremony in October, Katz was awarded an
Honorary Doctorate of Law at Windsor’s Assumption
University. The institution wanted to pay homage to three
notable representatives of the city’s Jewish community,
including one who excelled in the area of charitable and
humanitarian endeavours. Katz was an obvious choice.
“Gary is someone who is not defined by his financial
and business success, but by the fact that he espouses
volunteerism,” explains Lou Perrotta, a director on the IMBA
Board. “Gary’s service to local communities and organizations,
as well as international ones, not only make him a better
person, but those organizations benefit greatly from his
contributions of time, energy and experience.”
Katz has long been involved in numerous not-for-profit groups
both in Windsor and beyond. This includes sitting on the
board of directors of the Windsor Rotary Club 1918 and Essex
County’s Mental Health Association, and holding the position
of past president of the Jewish National Fund and Windsor’s
Jewish Community Federation. He is also one of the founding
Professional Profile
fathers of the Art Council of Windsor & Region as well as
IMBA, where he continues to sit on the board. These are just
some of the organizations Katz has been involved with.
Personal motivation
What has motivated this life of volunteering? In part, it
all began with a personal tragedy and the generous hand
of others. “My father died when I was nine, and I was
fortunate to have a big brother from the Jewish Big Brother
Association. That’s where it all started,” explains Katz. “I
learned right away what it means when people contribute. I
was lucky there were people there for me.”
Katz is still connected to his little brother and big brother
today, and he’s not scared to roll up his sleeves and get down
in the trenches when the need arises, handing out food at
soup kitchens for instance. He believes that what comes
around, goes around, and that helping others will often do
more good for the giver than the receiver. “Nature has a
funny way of repaying for positive energy,” he explains. “You
don’t always know where it’s going to come from — it may
come with good health, prosperity — but I believe that if
you put honest energy into things that there is a balance.”
This has certainly rung true for Katz in his professional
life. He was only in his late twenties when he started up his
brokerage, Unimor Capital Corporation, which grew into
one of Windsor’s most successful mortgage houses, with a
staff of 30 at one point. Now semi-retired, Katz remains
a minor shareholder in the company, and runs his own
investment firm, Unity Holding Corporation.
He is also the director of his own foundation, the Peace
Foundation, which will move funds to charitable causes that
he and his co-founders support. “Most of my day now is
spent on managing my own portfolios in both mortgages
and real estate, and volunteer work,” says Katz. “I do buy
mortgages now, but I’m not brokering them, so to speak.”
It’s been an illustrious career, especially considering it all
began on a whim. A cousin working as a mortgage broker
for Fidelity Financial Services fell ill and asked the young
Katz if he would help out by following up on his prospects
and appointments. “I took to it like a duck to water,” laughs
Katz today. “The next thing I knew I was making a whole
pile of money that I’d never dreamed of. And one thing led
to another.”
A couple of years later the aspiring broker got his licence and
opened his own brokerage, Unimor. He spent the first few
years working out of his apartment and driving around in a
$500 Valiant made up of used car parts from a junkyard. But
for the young Katz, the rickety old vehicle was the car of a
lifetime. “I was completely broke when I got into mortgaging
and was so nervous because I gave my friend at the junkyard
all my money in the world,” he reminisces. “But I made what
I thought was a fortune with that car. I felt so lucky with it
and I had it for two years.”
Advice for others
For young professionals just entering the profession today, Katz
advises a hard work ethic, a good plan and a similar readiness
to tough it out. Don’t expect immediate success, he warns.
“Develop a plan for yourself, set up goals on a yearly basis, set
up personal budgets, and be prepared to starve for the first part
of your career,” he says bluntly. “If you stick to it and work
hard, you’re going to succeed. It’s a bumpy road for a good part
of the beginning, but when you get past the bumps it can be a
very smooth ride after that.”
While he now calls himself ‘semi-retired,’ Katz still sits on the
IMBA Board — seven years running — and his mind continues
to work in overdrive when it comes to issues impacting the
mortgage industry, be it advocating for a grid for homeowners
showing their overhead costs, developing a better division of
responsibilities between provincial associations and the national
organization CAAMP, or solving the problem of ‘road warriors’
brokering mortgages outside of their lending institutions.
Katz is particularly passionate about mortgage brokers being
recognized for the professionals that they are, and is a firm
believer in education and learning. He is equally passionate about
many things he feels stand in the way, including finder’s fees.
“Finders fees push a broker to go to a lender that has the
highest finder’s fee instead of what is good for the client. They
are a conflict of interest,” says Katz. “We need to get away
from commissioned sales, because when you’re a commissioned
salesperson and you need to put food on your table, you do
what’s going to put food on your table.”
Katz would like to see the trade in a parallel position to that
of the legal and other professions, where, he says, “you get
remuneration for fair service, and you’re not running around
constantly working on commission. Mortgage brokering
is still a commission-driven business, and it has to become
much more professional. And what’s going to make it more
professional is proper education.”
Semi-retired or not, these and other issues are still on Katz’s
radar. Given his record, you can bet he’s going to work hard to
do what he can to see them through. BB
DLO-IMBA Ad Spring 09 Horiz r2.qxd
Residential
and Commercial
Purchase, Sale, Refinance
4/23/09
10:25 PM
Leasing
Mortgages
Private, Institutional
Land Development
Condominium, Subdivision,
Severance, Committee of
Adjustment
Mortgage Enforcement
Power of Sale, Foreclosure
Joint Venture & Other
Investor Agreements
De Francesca Law Office
P R O F E S S I O N A L C O R P O R AT I O N
Tel 416 778 4433 • Fax 416 778 4432 • www.defranlaw.com
Page 1
BrokerBiz
Winter 2009
ADVERTISERS INDEX
AGF Trust Company........................33
Dominion Lending Centres............13
www.agf.com
www.dominionlending.ca
www.hometrust.ca
AIG United Guaranty.......................18
Effort Trust.....................................17
KIT Services...................................38
www.aigug.ca
Bridgewater Bank............................8
www.bridgewaterbank.com
CareVest Capital Inc. . ...................23
www.carevest.com
CMHC.............................................20
www.cmhc.ca
Canadian National Association of
Real Estate Appraisers.....................9
www.cnarea.ca
CWT/Stewart Travel Services Ltd.
....................................................30
www.carlsonwagonlit.net
www.efforttrust.com
Equitable Trust.................................7
www.equitabletrust.com
Filogix..............................................5
Home Trust.....................................15
www.bramguard.com
Jacob Ellens & Associates Inc. .....35
www.ellens.on.ca
MCAP...............................................3
www.mcap.com
www.filogix.com
The Money Source Ltd...................10
Firm Capital...................................28
www.mymoneysource.ca
www.firmcapital.com
FirstLine Mortgages
.........................Outside Back Cover
www.firstline.com
First National Financial LP.............25
Morcan Financial
....................................................35
www.morcan.com
Mortgage Intelligence Inc.
............................. Inside Back Cover
www.mortgageintelligence.com
www.firstnational.ca
National Bank of Canada...............27
De Francesca Law Office...............37
Foremost Financial Corp................21
www.defranlaw.com
www.foremost-financial.com
www.nbc.ca
Peoples Trust.................................32
www.peoplestrust.com
Helping Mortgage Brokers
Keep in Touch since 1996
Marketing and Event
Management Specialists
Royal Commercial Mortgage.........20
Leave a Lasting Impression
on Your Clients and Prospects
www.scotiabank.com
Lorne Collis
905-846-5687
www.bramguard.com
Scotia Bank...................................11
Vector Financial Services Limited
....................................................26
www.vectorfinancialservices.com
Verico Canada.......Inside Front Cover
www.verico.ca
38 • brokerbiz
Get the right tools you need
to help you succeed.
Experienced mortgage professionals know that with the right tools and resources, they can work more
effectively and succeed more easily. Since 1989, Mortgage Intelligence has been offering more for our mortgage
professionals. We offer you access to unique products and services, a competitive compensation package with
a full benefits program, complete payroll and compliance services and comprehensive marketing materials.
Plus, you can count on our regional sales managers. They’re dedicated to helping you grow your business.
Your toolbox is ready. Join our team.
Contact:
B.C. / Prairies
Rob Anderson
866.777.0026
Ontario (South/Central)
Gerald Krahn
905.984.0931
Ontario (Toronto West)
Mary Gronkowski
647.299.6427
Ontario (East)
Line C. D’Amour
888.697.1735, ext.101
Québec
Robert Perrier
877.775.3324
Atlantic
Michael Lawless
877.813.7283
Central Office: 5770 Hurontario St, Suite 600, Mississauga, ON L5R 3G5. © Copyright 2009, Mortgage Intelligence Inc., all rights reserved. ® Registered trademark of Mortgage Intelligence Inc. FSCO Lic.10428

Winter - CMBA-ACHC – Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association

Transcription

Similar documents

FLY_HBT07E (LR) - TD Canada Trust

Rental property investment needs a mapped out plan

Mortgage Services

Summer 2015 Augusta VAH - Augusta VAH Federal Credit Union

Interactive vForms

My Mortgage - First National Financial LP

IBM Southeast Employees` Federal Credit Union`s

It`s For REAL - Central Louisiana REALTORS® Association

WHAT`S NEW!

Term Life Insurance - American Family Insurance