Lenders Using Facebook and Twitter for Borrower Information

Lenders are using Facebook and Twitter, plus other social media sites, to find borrower information to decide on whether they will provide them with funding.

It doesn’t appear to be happening widely in the home mortgage world yet, and lenders must be very careful not to violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

As the Huffington Post reports,

RapLeaf said its analyses were not used for credit decisions. Lending Club said it does use information from social networks–but “only to confirm people’s identities and minimize fraud.”

This may be true, but if you lose your job and put it on Facebook, they can find that. Keep in mind, though, that if your circumstances change from the time you apply to the time you close, (i.e. you lose your job), you must notify your bank immediately, because you will not want to be committing mortgage fraud — unintentionally or not.

What this shows is that any information you put out on social media networking sites can be seen anywhere. Even if your privacy settings are high, some of your information can still be viewed. Always be careful what you put on Facebook and other sites. Be careful!

Towson Real Estate Agent — My Second Interview with Castle Title TV

David Kramer, President and General Counsel of Castle Title, LLC asked me back for another interview about Social Media and my successes with it for business. (You can visit the first interview here.) This time the topic began as “How Much Time Should You Spend on Social Media”, and we discussed this as well as appropriate behaviors and topics on these sites.

 

I thank David for this second opportunity, and look forward to hearing from you who view about social media networking and in the long run, how the time I spend on this medium has helped me to continue to grow my Towson real estate business.

Real Estate Agent Social Media Networking Presentation for Women’s Council of Realtors in Baltimore

Thursday was a wonderful day — great weather, great people, and I had a blast presenting at the Greater Baltimore Board of Realtors (GBBR) to the Women’s Council of Realtors (WCR) on social media networking for real estate agents.

I was asked to present based on my experience and success using social media to enhance my Towson real estate business.

The four networks I discussed were Facebook, ActiveRain, Linkedin, and Twitter.

Although I also actively participate on Trulia and Zillow, I only had 20 minutes to present! On May 21, 2009, I have been asked to present a follow up because there was so much interest from the Baltimore realtors.

I met some fantastic people, and enjoyed speaking with many of the attendees afterwards. I am looking forward to the next presentation, and will also be teaching another 1.5 CE credit course on the same topic for GBBR on May 28, 2009.