Yesterday, I took a walk in the woods on a road abandoned long ago. It reminded me of the journey we take in life. Sometimes the road is clear, and other times we must look a little harder for the right road. Its outline may be there, but we might have to climb over a few obstacles or cross a brook to find our way.
My professional journey started in 1989. I took my first mortgage application as a loans clerk with Canada Trust. That would have been thirty-six years ago for those of you who need help with the math. (Yes, I’m feeling OLD and crotchety!)
Since 1994, I have been an independent mortgage broker, apart from a year where I helped launch a mortgage brokerage for a private equity firm.
I’ve always enjoyed helping solve clients’ financial problems, but the commoditization of mortgages has dampened that feeling. (If you’ve ever spent weeks working with a client only to have them choose to deal directly with their bank at the last minute, you will know what I’m talking about.)
Six or seven years ago, I was chatting with a colleague, Mal Eccles, with whom I worked while I was a director of the Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario. Mal, 10 to 20 years my senior, was a seasoned mortgage broker. He told me that he was acting as an expert witness in litigation involving Ontario mortgage brokers and agents. The conversation intrigued me, and, after some time, tried to reached out to Mal again. Unfortunately, he had suffered a stroke and passed away.
Even before the Pandemic, I had been questioning the irrational exuberance in Canada’s real estate market. None of it made sense. Homes were no longer affordable, and leverage was as common as a drunken sailor on leave in Vegas (reckless). At the time, I had been dealing predominantly in private mortgages, but the risk I was seeing made me hesitant to suggest anything but the most conservative private mortgage investments to my lenders. It was time to alter course.
Back to Mal…our conversation stuck with me, and I started to seriously research what it took to be an expert witness. I reached out to several lawyers and cold-called expert witnesses in other fields to pick their brains. I met with several folks over lunch, and I’m grateful that they took the time to answer all my questions (there were lots)!
It’s been about a year now since I started working as an expert witness in Ontario litigation involving mortgages, mortgage brokers, and mortgage agents. It is truly satisfying work, and I’m glad I finally pursued it. The work uses a different part of my brain—analyzing documents, stories, and perspectives to form opinions that will hopefully be helpful to the courts.
The road I followed since I last spoke to Mal has been a winding one, but I think I have found my way. I can see how working as a litigator could be addictive!
Andy MacDonald is a licensed mortgage broker, financial advisor, expert witness and songwriter with 35 years’ experience in the mortgage industry.
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