Some of the top mortgage lenders in the United States plan to move up their consumer disclosure- related processes even more than the CFPB is requiring under its integrated disclosure rule, which takes effect Aug. 1, 2015. It looks like they are just trying to be conservative and provide a bit of a cushion, at least in the initial transition period to a revamped disclosure regime. Bob Kelly, head of Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act implementation at Bank of America, told Inside the CFPB, “One thing that I think the CFPB sought to really have is that customers know before they owe. From a customer perspective, they often felt that the process to close was hurried and ...

It’s Time to Scale Back Dodd-Frank, Industry Says. With a new Republican majority now in power and calling the shots on Capitol Hill, the industry consultants at The Collingwood Group recently asked mortgage industry officials what they thought the new Congress could do to bolster the housing market. Their answer? Rein in Dodd-Frank. “Although just fewer than 50 percent of respondents selected ‘repeal Dodd-Frank’ or ‘abolish the CFPB,’ the comments submitted clearly indicate that these industry insiders prefer a tempered approach with reasonable modifications to these two reactionary reform measures stemming from the crisis,” Collingwood said. “Many respondents stated that the Dodd-Frank Act should be revised to remove barriers to innovation and to reduce the cost of manufacturing a mortgage.” ...

The integrated disclosure rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to shake up the mortgage industry months before it even takes effect. Particularly unsettled are settlement agents, who hope they continue to stay relevant in the new world of mortgage originations, but fear their role will be diminished if not rendered obsolete. “The lender is ceding less authority to the closing agent but they are still letting them close the transactions with greater supervision,” said one industry insider. “Could that change? There is a fear it might, but that is not how it is now.” Joseph Ventrone, vice president for regulatory and industry relations at the National Association of Realtors, put...

The mortgage industry isn’t achieving any more success than lawmakers on Capitol Hill in convincing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take it easy on lenders when it’s time to start enforcing its integrated disclosure rule. Speaking at the American Bankers Association’s government relations event in Washington, DC, earlier this week, Virginia O’Neill, head of regulatory compliance for the trade group, recounted for attendees the experience of one community bank ...

It looks like some of the biggest mortgage lenders in the nation will be closing their loans themselves largely without closing agents, once the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule kicks in Aug. 1, 2015, one top vendor representative revealed recently. And that might put the big banks at a competitive advantage vis-à-vis their nonbank rivals. “Because this is a paradigm shift, and because the liability is staying on the lender side – both in terms of the accuracy of the disclosure and in the timing – we’ve heard some of the bigger lenders are going to close the loans themselves instead of using settlement agents,” John Vong, CEO of ComplianceEase, told Inside the CFPB recently. “For some of the banks, they have already ...

CFPB Updates TRID Documentation. Last week, the CFPB put out some updates to the implementation materials for its integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The updated material lines up with the rule that was published Feb. 19, 2015, that modifies the 2013 TILA/RESPA integrated disclosure rule (TRID). This rule extends the timing requirement for revised disclosures when consumers lock a rate or extend a rate lock after the Loan Estimate is provided and permits certain language related to construction loans for transactions involving new construction on the LE. Additionally, the bureau is making non-substantive corrections, including citation and cross-reference updates and wording changes for clarification purposes, to various provisions of ...

More than a dozen industry organizations asked the CFPB last week to implement a “restrained enforcement and liability” or “grace period” through the end of 2015 for those seeking to comply in good faith with its integrated disclosure rule after its August 1, 2015, effective date. “There are ... situations – such as what will occur if a closing cannot go forward on schedule because of occurrences outside the control of the parties – that are not addressed by the regulation which still require additional guidance,” the collection of 16 trade groups said in a joint letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “We would like to use this grace period to identify pain points with stakeholders and then meet with bureau staff ...

The changes the CFPB wants to make to its 2013 mortgage servicing rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act got a mixed reception from the mortgage industry. The proposed rule was issued in mid-December, and the public comment period closed last week. The proposed amendments cover nine primary topics: successors in interest, definition of delinquency, requests for information, force-placed insurance, early intervention, loss mitigation, prompt payment crediting, periodic statements, and small servicer issues. The Independent Community Bankers of America was pleased with the bureau’s proposed amendment to the small servicer definition that will permit a small servicer to service, for a fee, mortgage loans that are seller-financed transactions subject to certain limitations. ...

Loan Modification Trial Payment Plans for Forward Mortgages. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced requirements for trial plan duration, required signatures, and reporting for trial payment-plan agreements, and the conditions under which FHA deems a TPP to have failed.Lenders must implement the requirements in Mortgagee Letter 2015-07 for all TPPs offered to borrowers on or after June 1, 2015. FHA Publishes Additional Sections of HUD Single-Family Policy Handbook. The FHA has published additional sections for the SF Handbook, including the following: Doing Business with FHA – Lenders and Mortgagees Doing Business with FHA – Other participants in FHA Transactions – Appraisers; Quality Control, Oversight and Compliance – Lenders and Mortgagees; Quality Control Oversight, and Compliance – Other Participants in FHA Transactions – Appraisers ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s proposal to significantly expand the regulatory requirements related to successors in interest poses legal risks, threatens personal privacy and could foster instances of fraud, mortgage industry officials said. The provisions related to successors in interest are part of a package of proposed amendments to the bureau’s 2013 mortgage rules under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act ...