The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has launched a series of online courses to help lenders ensure staff understand current industry issues, including regulatory obligations and the impact of the mortgage market review (MMR).

Since 2004, the CML has worked in conjunction with Unicorn Training to offer a suite of e-learning courses focusing on key areas of regulation, compliance and other industry topics.

Designed to equip those working in the industry with knowledge tailored to help them carry out their role, the CML says the Mortgage Essentials suite is updated frequently to reflect the latest legislation and other developments.

Each course incorporates an interactive tutorial.

As well as covering topics like compliance, arrears and possessions and financial crime, the full Mortgage Essentials suite of e-learning includes:

• Exploring the mortgage environment, covering how properties are valued, different types of mortgages and how they are funded.
• Regulation of mortgage and home finance transactions, with content including the history of regulation through to the present day and an explanation of which products are covered by different legislation and regulators.
• Advising and lending responsibly, updated to cover the difference between advised and execution-only sales, how the new advice rules differ from the current ones, and what the new responsible lending rules cover – including the new affordability requirements.
• Handling mortgage and home finance complaints, which explains how the regulator defines a complaint and examines the strict guidelines a lender must follow to ensure that complaints are handled correctly.
• Mortgages: treating customers fairly (TCF), with content that sets out to explain what TCF means and how to implement it.
• Preventing mortgage fraud, focusing on how and why unscrupulous individuals commit mortgage fraud and how to prevent it.
• What equity release is and how it works, explaining how it is possible to capitalise on the equity locked into a property.