Broker doubts AMP changes are sufficient

Disaffected brokers are now mulling over a seismic change to the AMP designation, although some doubt the plan is enough to bring them back into the fold – even with the promise of an exclusive certification.

Disaffected brokers are now mulling over a seismic change to the AMP designation, although some doubt the plan is enough to bring them back into the fold – even with the promise of an exclusive certification.

“Probably not,” Dave Lytton, former AMP member and broker with Dominion Lending Centres White house, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “I was an AMP for two or three years and it didn’t get me anything extra so I said ‘screw it.’”

In an official statement from Jim Murphy, president and CEO of CAAMP, the organization outlined in broad strokes changes to the designation set to come into effect later this year.

“Now in its tenth year, the Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP) designation is undergoing a transformation to ensure it continues to provide value and advance professional practice in the industry,” Murphy says in the statement.

The changes include changing AMP designation into a broker-only designation; establishing a new designation for other industry professionals, such as lenders and insurers; and requiring AMP hopefuls to pass a “national proficiency exam,” which will be administered by the University of British Columbia.

However, brokers still have questions about the changes, including what exactly the new designation for non-brokers will confer and if there will be a cost difference between it and the AMP.

“I guess I have to see what the new designation is and what the thought process is around that. If lenders and those types of people are going to be happy with it, OK,” Lytton said. “But if it (the AMP) is not going to really do anything different then I don’t see it acting as a catalyst to get more people to come out and I don’t think it’s going to get me any more business, anyways.”

When contacted for more details about the changes, Jim Murphy claimed they require no further clarification.

“I think the notice we sent out yesterday speaks for itself,” Murphy told MortgageBrokerNews.ca.