Service Promises No-Bias Mortgage Pricing

A new consumer-based service, Mortgage Grader, says it provides "an anonymous, sure-fire approach" to access wholesale "Blue Book" pricing for mortgage rates and to avoid discrimination and predatory lending.The providers of the service say it is race-neutral, since applicants feed only their financial information into the system. The identity of the person seeking the loan is not available to the prospective lender, thus the lender does not get any "noncore factors like race, ethnicity, age, location, or any other characterization," the company said. Borrowers apply online, in person, or over the telephone. "Not everyone applying for a mortgage is treated fairly," said Jeff Lazerson, the founder of Mortgage Grader. "Mortgage Grader 'stops the drip' and brings an end to discrimination, redlining, identity theft, and predatory lending. With the Mortgage Grader system, never again will consumers have to worry about being overcharged, their applications judged by race or surname, last-minute fees or penalties, or unwanted intrusions into their credit history, which can actually lower credit scores and make loan approval more difficult." Mortgage Grader is a division of Portfolio Mortgage Corp., Laguna Niguel, Calif.