Patrick Morgan, our company's owner, started in the mortgage business is 1989. He started Hannah Capital Mortgage in 2005 and named the company after his daughter. When asked why he said; "As both Hannah's grow, it is my goal to have each one symbolize the other through fairness, honesty, transparency and effectively the implementation of the Golden Rule: "Treat other as you would like to be treated."

Many of the top banks in the country seem to operate under a different Golden Rule: "He who has the gold rules." Collectively the top 4 banks in the country control over 70% of the mortgage business being done today. While this is no secret what may surprise you is how this happened and what the consequences are.

In 2008, all of the Big Four (BF) except the stagecoach stopped lending in the wholesale channel so guys like me and larger mortgage brokers got shut of from funding sources. This forced many either out of the business, to mid size mortgage bankers or to the BF's retail operations (in branch mortgage person). The reason? More profit due to higher costs to you, the consumer.

See, the BF provide lines of credit (Warehouse Lines) to mid level mortgage banks so they can fund loans and sell them to the banks (Correspondent Channel). So, they control this channel of business as well and one can easily see how a mortgage bank may be strongly encouraged to send their loans to their warehouse line supplier lest they fear losing the line.

Walk through the front door (Retail Channel) of one of the BF branches looking for a loan and you'll likely be met by someone with little experience and or motivation. The experienced loan officers have left to join mortgage banks because their pay was hacked on the premise that the "business is just walking in the door". Well, they're right, because they've eliminated most of the competition and you, the borrower, are, as my daughter used to say "gonna get what you get and don't throw a fit." The banks know you won't go anywhere else because 1) there's little elsewhere to go and 2) the more accounts and services you have with a bank the less likely you are to leave. It's been an industry-wide fact that over 90% of the bank customers with 3 or more "services" at a bank will NEVER leave. Checking, savings, direct deposit, bill pay, atm etc. Have 3 at one place and they KNOW you won't leave.

So, picture management of the BF sitting around a table every week deciding what rates will be at each shop.  If you don't think it's happening, take a look at the 3-4 gas stations on every busy street corner and let me know the price difference for a gallon of gas.  Either that or take a look at the quarterly profit numbers your bank has issued recently.

That leaves you with guys like me. Renegades, old schoolers, Independents whatever you want to call us (Dinosaur comes to mind). We've still got sources and they're at better rates than the banks. We're still out here fighting for your deals AND our lives. And while the banks are trying to force us completely out of the business it's going to take clients like you, clients with a backbone, clients that WILL have a fit, clients that "are mad as hell and won't take it anymore" to stand up to their banks and elected officials and let them know you want an open marketplace where competition exists and price fixing doesn't.