The Marketing Agreement and the Undisclosed Car Payment

He must decline it.

• Section 8(a) of RESPA prohibits giving or accepting anything of value in exchange for the referral of business involving a federally related mortgage loan. A per-closing payment to a real estate agent who is steering buyers is a referral fee with a marketing label.
• Section 8(c)(2) permits payment to a person for goods, facilities, or services actually performed, but only where the payment is not conditioned on referrals and is reasonably related to the value of what was delivered. A fee that only exists when a loan closes, and only from this agent's buyers, fails both tests.
• State law compounds the problem: an unlicensed person cannot be compensated for activities that require a mortgage license, and per-loan compensation tied to loan originations looks exactly like that.
• Legitimate alternatives: pay fair market value for genuine advertising with no referral condition and document the services; or, if the companies form a true affiliated business arrangement, use a separate entity, give the AfBA disclosure, charge only a return on ownership, and never require the borrower to use it.
• Marcus should document the refusal in writing. If his company has a compliance department, this conversation belongs in it.

The debt goes into the file unless it is properly documented out - and closing speed is irrelevant.

• A liability can be excluded when it is a contingent obligation from a divorce or separation decree and the borrower documents both the decree assigning the debt to the other party and a payment history showing the other party has made the payments (commonly the last 12 months, subject to the current FHA guideline). Marcus has neither document.
• The borrower's oral statement is not documentation. Marcus should request the decree and the payment record immediately and tell the borrower the file cannot proceed on that obligation until they arrive.
• If the documents are not produced, the $1,200 stays in the debt ratio, which can change qualification and may require a different loan structure.
• Marcus must also update the application and the file to reflect the debt. Leaving a known obligation off the 1003 is a misrepresentation issue for the borrower and an integrity issue for the MLO - it is not a customer-service accommodation, and 'the borrower told me it's not his' is not a defense.
• The honest answer to the borrower: 'If the decree and payment history arrive today, we can likely exclude it. If not, we qualify you with it.'

No - he should not send the credit report, and he should be careful with the approval letter.

• The credit report contains nonpublic personal information protected under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. Sharing it with a real estate agent who is not an employee or authorized service provider requires the borrower's authorization and a legitimate business need; keeping a deal on track is neither.
• A pre-approval or approval letter standing alone is less sensitive, but it still reveals the borrower's financial position and should go to the agent only with the borrower's consent or in a form the borrower has agreed to share.
• The right response: tell Alicia the borrower's credit information is confidential, offer to confirm only the status the borrower has authorized (for example, 'pre-approved through a specific date'), and ask the borrower directly whether he wants anything shared.
• Marcus should also notice the pressure pattern: a per-loan referral fee, a demand for confidential documents, and a hard deadline all arriving together is exactly when an MLO is being tested. Documenting each request protects him if the relationship sours.