Archive

A LITTLE TEASER FROM THE CFPB

Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published the first part of a series of articles leading up to the publication of the combined Truth in Lending/RESPA disclosures. The first article looks at the origins of the Know Before You Owe project for simplifying mortgage disclosures. Tomorrow, the CFPB looks back at how the project unfolded. And then very soon, the CFPB will explain the long-awaited new proposed rule to make mortgage disclosures more effective […]

SERVICING RULES – PREVIEW

Recently the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau outlined major new rules that impact mortgage loan servicing. The rules, which revise the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, are required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Under the rules servicers must: Provide periodic statements for all residential mortgage loans; Provide a new notice 6 months prior to interest rate reset on ARM loans; Provide notices and establish other requirements for force-placed insurance; Credit payments […]

TIL/RESPA POSSIBILITIES

While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been developing and testing the combined TIL/RESPA forms a number of issues have come to their attention. Following are a few items in their crosshairs: Many lenders and mortgage brokers provide consumers with preliminary estimates of loan terms and settlement costs that are not mandated by TILA or RESPA. The CFPB is considering whether to require that these preliminary estimates carry a disclaimer that tells the consumer […]

STATUS OF CFPB’s COMBINED MORTGAGE DISCLOSURES

Several months ago, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published in its blog two sample closing disclosures that combine final Truth in Lending (TIL) disclosures with HUD-1 disclosures. They requested that consumers and industry members compare two prototypes for the disclosures and vote on the preferred option. Now the CFPB is asking consumers and industry members to look specifically at how the new closing disclosure prototypes work with the application disclosure prototype, which was pretty […]

THE CFPB INHERITS REGULATION X

Congress enacted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) based on findings that significant reforms in the real estate settlement process were needed to ensure that consumers are provided with greater and more timely information on the nature and costs of the residential real estate settlement process and are protected from unnecessarily high settlement charges caused by certain abusive practices that Congress found to have developed. In 1990, Congress amended RESPA by adding […]