Are there certain banks with amazing incentives for mortgages?

[Torontotony]

Nfitz, my "gratuitous self-promotion" is not intended to be advertisement of my services, rather, I feel it is important to maintain transparency and openly disclose I do work and have worked in the mortgage business for more than 20 years. I can see how one can interpret this as advertising, however, my reply at the beginning of this thread was written in the context of assisting another forum member locate "amazing incentives for mortgages" and nothing more.

Regarding the breaking of rules, my industry is Provincially regulated under the auspices of the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, with each practicing mortgage professional being required to be licensed by the Province. If we, as mortgage professionals, do not act with absolute transparency, we are, in fact, in direct contravention of the law, which states, in effect, no one shall act or practice in providing or arranging mortgage loans or dispensing advice regarding mortgage lending, unless duly licensed by FSCO.

The following is quoted directly from UT's rules of conduct:

"Real Estate Thread:
- It is not intended to be place for developers or agents to advertise, nor is it a listing service. However, agents, brokers or developers etc. are welcome to answer questions or contribute to the discussions."

Regretably, I cannot think of a method of contributing to the discussions or answer questions and maintain transparency at the same time (but I am open to your suggestions), so faced with the option of "breaking other rules" or acting in accordance to rules set out by my regulators, I think I'll side with the regulators. Again, should a forum member or anyone else wish to transact a business activity with another forum member, it should be up to them to decide.

 

[Kevin86]

In my opinion, if someone recommends a certain product or a vendor on this forum from their personal experience, that would ALSO fall under "promoting" certain item. [you never know if they are getting paid a commission for promoting somthing!!] If someone says, that they have used certain vendor and are impressed by their service, I would call it a "promotion" and if someone says they bought a certain brand of any item that would be the same thing.
Someone may argue that there is difference in promoting someone else and self-promotion, but I would respond by saying that I don't think there is any way to confirm and verify that person has actually used that product or is just promoting it for some undisclosed reasons.

Conclusion: If someone recommends some product with adequate reasons and logic, (and transperency) I don't think there is any problem with that. Ofcourse no one is obligated (or forced) to use that product or service. and yes if someone has any other logic or reasoning to condradict what one person has said they should come out with those details instead. Afterall these forums are for discussions and everyone should be allowed to share their thoughts as long as they are substantiated with adequate reasons, logic and common sense.

 

[nfitz]

Nfitz, my "gratuitous self-promotion" is not intended to be advertisement of my services, rather, I feel it is important to maintain transparency and openly disclose I do work and have worked in the mortgage business for more than 20 years. I can see how one can interpret this as advertising, however, my reply at the beginning of this thread was written in the context of assisting another forum member locate "amazing incentives for mortgages" and nothing more.

I think it's sufficient to simply note your occupation in your profile (as you have done), and note that you are in the business once every couple of years or so. I think that meets any requirement about conflict of interest declarations, without sounding like you are willing to sell something to someone. You could simply note you are in the business, without noting that your the persona that one could contact.

Anything more than that, and one might start to wonder if your here for the conversation, or if you might be looking for personal gain.