For today’s Colorado Springs Mortgage Tip, I want to introduce you to Colorado DORA.  DORA is the Department of Regulatory Agencies.  It is located in Denver, Colorado.   All professions requiring a license are governed by DORA.  This includes real estate agents, mortgage brokers, insurance agents, and even your hair stylist.  DORA establishes and enforces licensing standards. 

Within DORA, there is the Division of Real Estate.  Besides establishing and enforcing standards for all those professions related to the real estate industry, it does a great job of protecting you from money-hungry, dishonest, and unethical real estate agents, mortgage brokers, etc.

A recent example of this is when DORA inactivated 4,560 Colorado Mortgage Broker licenses for failure to comply with education and testing requirements.  This was just done in August.  This counted for about 52% of ALL Colorado Mortgage Brokers!   I believe that the majority of the greedy, fraudulent Colorado Springs Mortgage Brokers have left Colorado for easier prey.   

Only two years ago, it was Wild West for the Colorado Mortgage industry.   Colorado was one of three states that did not require a mortgage license.  No one needed a license to do a Colorado home loan!   ANYONE could originate a Colorado Springs mortgage that benefited him/her, not you.   You wouldn’t have known that he/she was untrained, inexperienced, dishonest, unethical, or even a felon.   This is really scary when you consider that your Colorado Springs mortgage is most likely the largest debt that you will ever have.  

The State of Colorado now has one of the toughest licensing standards for mortgage brokers in the country!    DORA is to be applauded.  Aren’t you glad that DORA is watching out for you?   So the next time when you need a Colorado Springs mortgage or a Colorado home loan, think of DORA first even before the local Better Business Bureau (BBB). 

Here is your Colorado Springs Mortgage Tip:  Prior to applying for your Colorado home loan or giving a person any information, go to the Colorado DORA website.  Check to see if he/she has an active Colorado Mortgage Broker license.  The link is http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/index.htm.   

If you want to see how it works, type in my name, Randell Flood, or my Colorado Mortgage Broker License #MB100017910.  If the person isn’t licensed, do not do business with him/her and report it immediately to DORA at 303-894-2166.   Please help us to get rid of these con artists who are pretending to be Colorado Mortgage Brokers.  They are illegally doing Colorado home loans and are causing defaults on Colorado Springs mortgages due to their fraudulent lending.   Many times they are taking advantage of military families while their spouse is away serving overseas.  That’s low!

My next Colorado Springs Mortgage Tip will further explain why the local Colorado BBB should not be solely relied upon when getting advice for your mortgage or Colorado home loan.