Frequently Asked Questions

GENERAL QUESTIONS ABOUT MEMBERSHIP

How long will it take to process my application for membership?

If you send in a correctly completed application form with all the required attachments it will take approximately two weeks to notify if your application has been successful or not.

Do I have to send in all the application attachments at the same time?

Yes. All attachments must be sent in at the same time as the application form is sent in.

Who do I send my completed application to?

To the MFAA Secretariat in your State.

Why has my application been returned?

Your application was either incomplete, didn’t have the requested attachments or was incorrectly filled in.

What is COSL?

It is the Credit Ombudsman Service Limited, an external dispute resolution scheme for people in the mortgage and finance industry. It is a requirement of membership to be a member of COSL or to be covered under a company's membership of COSL. Learn more…

Where is the application form for AMC accreditation?

There is no application for accreditation. After you have completed the required education to obtain AMC accreditation, you complete the full member application. You will receive an accreditation certificate and a full member certificate when your full member application has been approved.

Do I need to have documents certified?

Yes, your national criminal history record check should be an original or original certified copy. So should your Identification document.

Who can certify my documents?

Justice of the Peace, legal practitioner (barrister or solicitor), notary public, a registered medical practitioner (doctor), member of the police force, dentist, pharmacist, an accountant who is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the Australian Society of Accountants, or the National Institute of Accountants. Ensure the copied document has the original certifier’s signature on it – please do not provide a photocopy of a certified (signed) document.

All members are full members

In cases where the full member is a company or business, the member is represented at MFAA (eg voting, attendance at meetings, standing for election etc) by a nominated representative in each state in which the member has an operation.

There is no need for the ‘nominated representative’, as an individual, to become a member as he/she is deemed to be a member for all practical purposes. However, some ‘nominated representatives’ have advised MFAA that they also wish to be full members, in their own right. While this is NOT an MFAA requirement such persons can become full members in their own right subject to satisfying the membership criteria applicable to them (ie if they are loan writers, they must be firstly attain AMC status).

Full members which are individual mortgage loan writers are required to be at least accredited as AMCs in order to satisfy the full member criteria

As we have widened our constitution to cover ‘finance intermediaries’ and have established the Equipment & General Business Finance Committee, loan writing applicants only operating in this field (ie non mortgage broking) do not have to satisfy an accreditation process (eg AMC) as at this stage.

Individuals (who are not loan writers) are eligible to join subject to satisfying the other membership criteria, without achieving accreditation status (eg AMC).

Many individual loan writer members choose to use their natural name for membership purposes – and their accreditation certificate is made out in their natural name.

Others have historically chosen to use a company or business name for MFAA membership purposes. This is acceptable and individual members simply need to advise MFAA the name to be used for MFAA membership purposes (NB this would be shown on our website member list).

However where they choose to use a business or trading name, their accreditation needs to be in their natural name, so they would receive a membership certificate, for example in the name of ‘ABC Loans’, but the AMC certificate will be in the name of, eg Bill Smith. This will be linked with the business member name on our records.

All broking businesses and mortgage management businesses dealing directly with the public must, as a condition of their full membership, ensure that all their loan writers are accredited full members.

A large proportion of our broking business members have for some time applied this requirement to their loan writers, however for those that haven’t done so in the past they are being given until the business’s MFAA membership renewal date first occurring after 31 December 2006 before this provision will be enforced.

Some issues have arisen

If I decide not to renew the company’s membership, can my loan writers still be members?

Yes, the focus is on individual membership.

What would be the position if this business advertised to the public “All our loan writers are MFAA Full Members”?

MFAA’s believes as that statement is calculated to suggest to customers that they will be dealing with an MFAA member, it would most likely be regarded as ‘misleading advertising’

What would be position of a business member who has an employee who refuses to join MFAA?

We have received legal advice on this matter, which indicates that when MFAA goes out with an advertising campaign urging the public to deal with an MFAA member, we could be vulnerable under Trade Practices law if all loan writers of members are not themselves full Members of MFAA. Accordingly the Board has decided on the following policy:

  “That, because MFAA may be vulnerable from a Trade Practice point of view in any advertising campaign urging members of the public to deal with an MFAA member, any member being a broking business or mortgage management business dealing directly with the public whose loan writers were not MFAA members would not be permitted to display the association logo on any of their public material.”

What would happen to loan writers of a business member which was expelled?

Unless they were proven to have been involved in the misconduct causing the expulsion their membership is unaffected. If they were proven to be involved they would be liable to be expelled also.

As an AMC/CMC, I didn’t have the requirement to hold membership of or be covered by COSL or an alternate EDR scheme, approved by COSL. Now my renewal states this is a requirement of my MFAA full membership. Why?

In the previous structure, where an AMC/CMC was sponsored by a full member business, the full member sponsor took the responsibility for COSL or EDR membership on behalf of the AMC/CMC. In the new structure, where an MFAA business member continues to hold appropriate COSL or EDR membership, any individual employed by that business will continue to be covered by that business’ COSL or EDR membership.

Where an individual is contracted to an MFAA business member who holds COSL membership, a Schedule of Nominated Contractors/Agents can be obtained from COSL which lists the individuals, companies and trading names included under a particular COSL membership.

Where the MFAA business member holds membership of an alternate EDR scheme, an approval letter from COSL must be provided. Contractors of MFAA business members who hold membership of an alternate EDR scheme must provide a letter from the EDR member stating they are covered under that particular EDR membership.

I am a nominated representative for a member business, a director and a loan writer for XX number of years. I now require AMC accreditation – do I have to complete the required education?

Where you are the nominated representative for a member business, hold the position of director or partner, and provided you have at least 4 years loan writing experience, you can be granted AMC status. Please contact our membership department on 1300 554 817 to discuss this. CPD requirements will apply at each renewal of the full membership.

I run a mortgage management business which primarily does not deal directly with the public (in loan writing). If, on an isolated basis, someone in the business writes a loan does that mean I am breaching the MFAA membership requirements.

 No, MFAA would not regard your business as one which ‘is dealing directly with the public’.

My mortgage management business does not deal directly with the public but:

  • An existing client contacts and employee/contractor to discuss further finance with respect to the same property and an additional loan is organized, or
  • An existing client contacts and employee/contractor to discuss finance on another property.

Does this mean I am breaching MFAA membership requirements if the employee/contractor is not a member?

No, MFAA would not regard your business as one which ‘is dealing directly with the public’.

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