A broker who breached the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia's (MFAA) code of practice five times has been expelled for misconduct.
Xue Mei Mary Zhao of New South Wales becomes the 13th member of the MFAA to be expelled since the code was implemented in November 2003.
The five breaches included Zhao signing a 100 point check declaration stating that documents had been signed in the presence of the borrower, when in fact Zhao had never met the borrowers.
"We are determined to rid our industry of unscrupulous operators and we encourage anyone who believes an MFAA member to have done the wrong thing to report it to us so that we can investigate," MFAA chief executive Phil Naylor said.
All 13,000 MFAA members accept adherence to the code as a condition of their membership.
In the current environment of climbing interest rates, the MFAA is determined to police the conduct of its members, Naylor said.
"We're committed to stamping out inappropriate practices in our industry. That way consumers can borrow with confidence and know they are not being taken advantage of," he said.
The MFAA and would also work with the government, with the aim of creating an industry wide approach to the regulation of brokers.
"In November last year the exposure draft of National Finance Broking Legislation was released, and although we have issues with some of the detail in this draft Bill, it is a step in the right direction in ensuring borrowers are protected," Naylor said.
