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On April 15 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) approved an interpretative rule on Homeownership Counseling.  The rule addresses: How to provide mortgage applicants with a list of local homeownership counseling organizations; Restates guidance the CFPB issued in 2013, and provides further guidance for lenders who are building their own lists of housing counselors; and The qualifications for providing high-cost mortgage counseling and for lender participation in such counseling. Key points of clarification include: In

Effective August 1, 2015 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has changed its position regarding providing Truth in Lending disclosures in transactions that involve trusts. The revisions clarify that the benefits of the regulation extend to any consumer involved in a transaction that in substance extends consumer credit, regardless of whether that consumer is the direct mortgage obligor or a beneficiary of a trust to which such credit has been extended. Regulation Z does not

On March 31 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a new toolkit, titled Your Home Loan Toolkit – A Step-by-Step Guide, that guides consumers through the process of shopping for a mortgage and buying a house. The toolkit is designed to help consumers take advantage of the new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms that lenders are required to begin providing in August. The toolkit provides a step-by-step guide to help consumers understand the

I got a call from one of my Compliance Master Group (CMG) members yesterday. I hear from her occasionally. She was confirming that she had reached the correct conclusion on an issue that she had researched. It hasn’t always worked that way. Years ago she called very frequently with basic questions; she didn’t have a clue where to find the answers. After we discussed her issue yesterday she shared with me that they had just

The Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 (PTFA) was enacted on May 20, 2009. The major provision of the PTFA was to ensure protection from eviction for tenants living in foreclosed property. The PTFA was set to expire on December 31, 2012; however, the Dodd-Frank Act extended the protections through December 31, 2014. Congress did not act to extend the protections beyond 2014 and, as a result, the PTFA expired on December 31, 2014.