In remarks at the recent Mortgage Bankers Association Convention Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray conceded that the implementation process for CFPB’s new “Know Before You Owe” mortgage disclosure rule (aka as TRID) has not been as smooth as the agency would have hoped. But Cordray faulted vendors, not regulators. “Quite frankly, I have been disturbed by reports I have been hearing about the vendors on whom so many of you rely,” he said. “Some vendors performed poorly in getting their work done in a timely manner, and they unfairly put many of you on the spot with changes at the last minute or even past the due date. It may well be that all of the financial regulators, including the Consumer Bureau, need to devote greater attention to the unsatisfactory performance of these vendors and how they are affecting the financial marketplace.”
If there is one thing that everyone in the banking world can agree on it is that none of us wants “all of the financial regulators, including the Consumer Bureau” to focus their attention on activities of our company.
Is any action likely to be taken by the CFPB or other regulators? Unlikely. Will the accountants running the Loan Origination Software vendors wake up and staff up to meet the extraordinary demands of today’s mortgage industry, instead of the pre-mortgage crisis levels? Doubtful. But maybe just the treat of action will get the vendors to become more reliable.
