Benefits of Playing By The Rules; College Admissions Scandal

Years ago I worked for a company that required all applicants to pass an IQ test before they could be hired.

And I remember one applicant in particular who had just graduated from Harvard and who could not pass the test (even with two tries).

Everyone was very surprised until we found out that the applicant’s Dad had used connections to get him into Harvard.

I thought of that story when I read about the college admissions scandal that is all over the news right now.

I can think of numerous other examples too where kids got into top schools for reasons other than merit and then struggled later on.

And that is why I am so happy that I went to a really bad school 😊 (OK – kidding… sort of)

My point is that it is crazy for parents to try to elevate their kids artificially b/c it always catches up with them later on (I can think of numerous examples in both academics and sports).

One more quick story – right after the meltdown, there was a huge mortgage bank that set up Marketing Service Agreements (MSAs) that were nothing more than payments for referral arrangements (and total RESPA violations).

It was very frustrating for us b/c listing agents who were part of those agreements would force our pre-approved borrowers to get pre-approved by that mortgage bank before the listing agents would accept offers from our borrowers (and we would often then lose those borrowers).

The CFBP finally got wind of the arrangement and they shut down the MSAs and slapped a multimillion dollar fine on the mortgage bank.

What is interesting to me though is that the mortgage bank got fat and happy with their cheating and never quite recovered after their scheme was shut down (they were actually bought in a fire sale a few years ago).

In sharp contrast, those of us who did play by the rules were forced to constantly innovate in order to remain competitive, and now we are all 1,000 times more competitive and better off.

So yes, play by the rules to maintain integrity and to avoid fines and embarrassment, but also know that you will be much better for it later on.

More often than not, cheaters really don’t prosper – especially in the long run.

Jay Voorhees
Founder/Broker | JVM Lending
(855) 855-4491 | DRE# 01524255, NMLS# 335646

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