Article | "That is the way we have ALWAYS done it!"
Dec 06, 2023
by Julie Westhoff | Training Coordinator & Compliance Officer | Costello Companies
Raise your hand if you have ever said "That is the way we have always done it!" I don’t believe there is anyone who has been doing compliance for any length of time that hasn’t ever said it! The only problem is, having the mindset of "this is the way we’ve always done it" is a great way to put your files and company at risk!
Change is hard. We like things the way they are. We’ve worked hard on our policies and procedures, and we like them just the way they are. If it’s not broken, don’t fix it, right?
We know how to calculate the income and assets this way, we know exactly what document we need and exactly how many pages it should be. We could go through an application or questionnaire in our sleep. But HOTMA is going to change a lot of what we do and being ok with changing things that have been done the exact same way for years is going to have to happen!
Even before HOTMA, keeping the mentality of we’ve always done it this way so there is no reason to change it puts your company and files at risk. HOTMA will force us out of this mentality and that is not a bad thing.
HOTMA will require a full review of forms and document changes. Take this time to try to simplify your forms. What is truly needed and what is there because its always been there? Are you asking the same question 3 times on 3 different forms because you always have or because it is necessary?
Just because that’s the way you’ve always done it, doesn’t mean that is the best way to do it. We should always be open to new ideas of how to best streamline our policies and procedures
Take this as an opportunity to freshen up and make some, likely necessary, changes from the way it has always been done!
We have created some checklists to help make sure you are ready to implement HOTMA!
Click here for our Agency HOTMA prep checklist.
Click here for our Owner/Agent HOTMA prep checklist.
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