To The Editor:
Banker & Tradesman’s Aug. 10 front page center article on the New England Mortgage Bankers Conference (Empty Booths Cold Calculations) and its accompanying editorial (Desperate Measures) is inaccurate throughout most it’s reporting; irresponsible and conflicted in its opinion; and moreover, it is an irrelevant story as compared to the many banker and lender stories of the day affecting the industry and its customers.
This past March, 38 mortgage professional from throughout New England convened in a strategic planning session. All of the New England state mortgage banking associations admitted to difficulty in identifying the appropriate organized agenda to move forward, as well as how best to secure the necessary financial support through dues and non-dues revenue, to program a sustainable agenda.
The intent and the overall results of the discussions have been nothing but positive and productive. The Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association provided a proposal to every New England state mortgage banker association to assure the continued productive dialogue, which may or may not have resulted in a change to a regional Association.
The MMBA has never required regionalization discussions or a commitment to regionalize for continued participation in the NEMBC. The MMBA did ask for a commitment to continue the dialogue throughout 2009 and into 2010 with a goal of concluding the regionalization issue. The Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association elected to withdraw from any further regionalization discussions, explaining (to its credit) that it would be disingenuous for the CMBA to suggest that it would consider regionalization in the interest of any participation in NEMBC. Hence, the disassociation of the CMBA with the NEMBC.
"Desperate Measures" is an attempt to belittle those efforts. The use of inflammatory language is solely based upon The Warren Group’s undisclosed conflict of interest as a (now) employee of the Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association — tasked to run its winter mortgage showcase at Mohegan Sun. The MMBA had always thought it was the acceptable journalistic protocol to disclose such blatant acts of conflict.
Finally, Banker & Tradesman and its parent company, The Warren Group, should be ashamed of itself. In a struggling industry which they supposedly (independently) report the pertinent banking, lending and transactional issues of the day, while soliciting advertisements and advertorials off the backs of the same institutions, it is apparent, these days, the publication consistently maligns the aforementioned audience, with tabloid-style sensationalism, adding very little information to your readership.
It was our assumption that editors of newspapers exercise journalistic integrity before publishing.
Kevin Cuff, Executive Director
Charles N. Nilsen, Chairman of the Board
Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association
