September will see some new rules and regulations at Equifax

How does it work ?

Canada’s premier credit reporting agency will be making a few changes to come into effect early fall. The rules will affect both mortgage brokers and private lenders and will be formalized by September 14th. Equifax has developed a new inquiry posting process that will make mandatory registration and compliance by all lenders including  private lenders. 

Brokers will no longer be able to submit paper credit reports and will only be able to proceed with Equifax client inquiries with lenders that have fully registered and have assigned a corresponding inquiry number moving forward. The process will be automated and carried out entirely electronically.

In an effort to strive for transparency and fairness. Equifax will instigate a new initiative that will see every lender, including private lenders be assigned a  new inquiry number and use it moving forward. It will be referred to as an Equifax Member number.

 

Why these changes too Equifax?

Equifax has made this change to their operating system in an overall effort to increase consumer transparency and provide better oversight of data collection. Enquiry posting will be made mandatory with every broker application to a lender. 

The new enquiry reporting system will not have an impact on consumer FICO scores and will help make the overall enquiry process more accountable and seamless. Also creating a uniform method of credit enquiry among mortgage professions, both brokers and lenders which include private lenders as well.

 

What to expect and how to proceed:

Most mortgage brokers and lenders will be contacted by the Equifax Sales and Operational Support team in order to obtain any information that is needed to successfully partake in the new system. If for some reason, you are not contacted, you can follow up with GBSCanada@equifax.com to determine if you are registered properly in the new system. It might also be worthwhile familiarizing yourself with the new measures in preparation of the changes to Equifax’s enquiry process in the early Fall.

If you are new lender, or a private lender wishing to obtain client credit reports you will need to sign a few documents through Equifax prior to or by September 14th including:

  1. The FICO Score Subscriber agreement
  2.  CASP
  3.  An Equifax contract

 

Desired result

It is the overall aim of Equifax that the new delivery system will provide for the highest industry standards and ensure the  highest level of integrity.  The upgraded system  also ensures that all brokers are properly licensed prior to the credit inquiry process and that all lenders have been issued numbers to ensure uniform credit inquiries throughout the credit enquiry process.

Equifax is very optimistic that the new rules and streamlined reporting method will produce more uniform results among mortgage professionals, provide for more accountability for the consumer and generally provide for a more seamless and transparent process.  Accountability and more advanced enquiry measures should be welcome news for the mortgage community. September will start to see the positive effects of Equifax’s new measures.

If you are looking for more information and would like to speak with one of our brokers, you can do so here.

If you want more information on what Equifax is doing to help ease your covid anxiety, you can read more here.