Brokers feel slighted by CAAMP article

A sponsored feature in the Globe and Mail by CAAMP President and CEO Jim Murphy has divided the industry; with brokers who are not AMP-designated feeling snubbed.

A sponsored feature in the Globe and Mail by CAAMP President and CEO Jim Murphy has divided the industry; with brokers who are not AMP-designated feeling snubbed.

 “Mr. Murphy is once again backhanding the thousands representing the majority of our industry as professional brokers /agents, who don't care for the AMP,” John Bargis, former CAAMP chair and broker with Mortgage Edge wrote in the comments section of MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “Their stellar reputations don't need an AMP designation to prove their value with their clients who would attest to the sound financial advice they provide.”

In the article, published April 23, Murphy addressed homebuyers and explained the benefits of working with an AMP-designated mortgage broker.

“CAAMP created the Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP) designation so that homebuyers can easily identify mortgage advisers who are knowledgeable and up to date on the local market and are best suited to finding the right mortgage product,” Murphy wrote. “Using the services of an AMP when taking out a mortgage will help you navigate the home buying process and provide you with peace of mind.”

However, thousands of brokers across Canada pay yearly dues to CAAMP while opting out of taking the AMP designation. Murphy’s article has created a divide between AMPs and non-AMPS, argue several industry players.

“The goal of CAAMP should be to unite not divide the industry,” wrote one MortgageBrokerNews.ca commenter. “They have made claims that non-AMP brokers were less ethical, now less educated.”

After all, according to one broker, it isn’t the designations but the first-hand experience of working with clients and lenders that contribute to their knowledge and expertise.

“The whole AMP designation is broken. You become knowledgeable and up to date on the market by working full time daily in your business,” Brian Lambert of Real Mortgage Associates wrote in the comments section of MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “I've seen this same lame attitude in the insurance and investment industry; it is just a money grab by the associations. It gives no creditability to individual Brokers.”