Recent Posts Categories

Category: CFPB

Buying a Home, CFPB, Selling a Home

Darn that DODD-FRANK!

Cropped image of businesswoman writing on checklist

Just imagine, after years of struggling to complete college, your son, little Johnny has finally has his head on straight. He graduated, he’s worked for the family business for two years and is doing well. He met a nice girl and they have married.

He wants to buy a home. Unfortunately, Johnny has not always made the best decisions. His credit is not where it needs to be. Based on the fact that he is now making better decisions, you decide to loan Johnny the money to buy the home. The title company you’re working with will prepare a note and mortgage to secure your loan, what could be easier, right?

That Darn Dodd-Frank! Your loan is probably in violation of this Act. Based on this violation, your note and mortgage may not be enforceable.

Dodd-Frank is federal legislation that came about as a result of the real estate crisis of the last decade. The Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and other laws that regulate all consumer loan transactions.

One of the other laws is the Loan Originator Rule. In general terms, if the borrower will use the home for residential purposes (whether a primary residence, a second home or a vacation home) then the person arranging the loan is defined as a “loan originator.” A loan originator must have a mortgage originator’s or broker’s license. Pursuant to the Act, any person who offers and negotiates terms of a residential mortgage is deed to be a mortgage loan originator. Unfortunately, for mom and dad above, there are no exceptions for a person, who is not a Seller, to secure a mortgage with a residential property.

The Act does provide for certain exceptions. Namely, Seller financing, these exceptions are as follows:

One property exception: A Seller may extend credit, secured by a mortgage encumbering residential property and is not considered a loan originator if:

(a) they are a natural person, estate or trust;

(b) they provide financing for only one property in a 12 month period;

(c) they own the property securing the mortgage;

(d) they did not construct or act as the contractor for the construction of a residence on the property;

(e) repayment of the loan must not result in negative amortization;

(f) balloon payments are allowed, however the term of the balloon is not clear. Most practitioners believe that no shorter time period than 5 years should be used.

(g) while the Act does not prohibit adjustable rates, a fixed rate is suggested. The Act has restrictions, limitations and caps on rate charges.

(h) the seller is not required to investigate the buyer’s ability to repay the loan.

Three Property Exception: A Seller may extend credit, secured by a mortgage encumbering up to three residential properties and is not considered a loan originator if:

(a) they are a natural person, estate, trust or an entity;

(b) they provide financing for three properties or less in any twelve month period;

(c) they own the property securing the mortgage;

(d) they did not construct or act as the contractor for the construction of a residence on the property;

(e) the loan must be fully amortizing and there are no balloon payments or structures allowed;

(f) while the Act does not prohibit adjustable rates, a fixed rate is suggested. In this context, limits and caps are required’

(g) the Seller is required to make a reasonable investigation regarding the Buyer’s ability to repay the loan. Although formal documentation is not required, the investigation should be done in good faith and the results should be maintained.

While other exceptions exist, they are very complicated and are not practical for ordinary Seller financers.

Good news is Dodd-Frank does not apply to every loan. First, it only applies to residential loans. So, if you’re dealing with vacant land, commercial properties, rental properties or properties used solely for investment purposes, Dodd-Frank simply does not apply. Moreover, Dodd-Frank does not apply to non-residential buyers. So, if the buyer is a corporation, limited liability company or partnership etc., Dodd-Frank will not apply and the loan can be made without consideration to its restrictions.

So, now that we know that mom and dad have a problem trying to help little Johnny buy his home, what are we to do?

One solution would be for the mom and dad (the lender) to purchase the property from the underlying Seller first. Then mom and dad as the Seller could sell little Johnny the home and take back the note and mortgage under the one property exception. Yes, the transaction costs would increase, but the creative closers at the Florida Agency Network will work with you to keep these costs down.

Another solution would be for mom and dad to work through a mortgage broker. The mortgage broker will be required to comply with all of the various lending laws and regulations. While the broker will likely charge a fee for this service, it is another option that will allow the transaction to go forward.

CFPB, Resources, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

Can the TRID 3-day rule possibly delay your closing?

One of the regulations associated with the new TRID forms is a 3-day rule. The 3-Day rule mandates borrowers MUST receive the Closing Disclosure 3-days before the closing date. This new rule gives consumers the opportunity to review the closing disclosure and ensure all information is correct and correlates with the Loan Estimate.

However, what happens if any changes need to be made?

The infograph below explains three situations that would require a new closing disclosure and thus, delay your closing.

3 Day Rules

CFPB, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

One More Reason to Attend!

Florida Agency Network is giving you one more reason to attend  the 2015 Florida Realtors® Convention and Trade Expo! There are 36 reasons to attend.

Get SOCIAL with FAN at booth 625. Enter to win an Apple Watch
Get SOCIAL with FAN at booth 625. Enter to win an Apple Watch

The number one reason  is to get up to date on everything TRID before the new disclosures go into effect October 3. Stop by booth 625 – Get social with all of the agencies in the FAN network and enter to win an Apple Watch!

2015ConventionTracksFlyer

 

CFPB, Real Estate Headline News, Title Insurance, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

Timeline > Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Quote

Source: Timeline > Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Timeline

Here’s a full timeline of how we created the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms, part of our Know Before You Owe: Mortgages project. It’s a look back at our effort to make mortgage disclosures simpler and more effective, with the input of the people who will actually use them.

You can also return to the main page to view an interactive timeline.

July 21, 2010

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is signed into law.

The new law required the CFPB to combine the Truth in Lending and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosures.

December 6, 2010

The Treasury Department hosts a mortgage disclosure symposium.

The event brought together consumer advocates, industry, marketers, and more to discuss CFPB implementation of the combined disclosures.

February 21, 2011

Design begins.

Starting with the legal requirements and the consumer in mind, we began sketching prototype forms for testing.

During this process, the team discussed preliminary issues and ideas about mortgage disclosures. This session set the context for the disclosures and was a starting point for their development. The team continued to develop these issues and ideas over more than a year during the development process.

May 18, 2011

Know Before You Owe opens online.

We posted the first two prototype loan estimates. We asked consumers and industry to examine them and tell us what worked and what didn’t. We repeated this process for several future rounds. Over the course of the next ten months, people submitted more than 27,000 comments.

May 19, 2011 – May 24, 2011

Qualitative testing begins in Baltimore.

We sat down with consumers, lenders, and brokers to examine the first set of loan estimate prototypes to test two different graphic design approaches.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

June 27, 2011 – July 1, 2011

Los Angeles, CA

Consumers and industry participants worked with prototypes with lump sum closing costs and prototypes with itemized closing costs.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

August 1, 2011 – August 3, 2011

Chicago, IL

Again, we asked testing participants to work with prototypes with lump sum closing costs and itemized closing costs.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

September 12, 2011 – September 14, 2011

Springfield, MA

Another round of closing cost tests, as we presented participants with one disclosure that had the two-column design from previous rounds and another that used new graphic presentations of the costs.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

October 17, 2011 – October 19, 2011

Albuquerque, NM

In this round, we presented closing costs in the itemized format and worked on a table that shows how payments change over time.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

November 8, 2011 – November 10, 2011

Des Moines, IA

We began testing closing disclosures. Both designs included HUD-1-style numbering for closing details, but two different ways of presenting other costs and Truth in Lending information.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

December 13, 2011 – December 15, 2011

Birmingham, AL

One form continued to use the HUD-1 style numbered closing cost details; the other was formatted more like the Loan Estimate, carrying over the Cash to Close table and no line numbers.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

January 24, 2012 – January 26, 2012

Philadelphia, PA

In this round, we settled on prototypes formatted like the Loan Estimate, but one included line numbers and the other didn’t. We also began testing the Loan Estimate with the Closing Disclosure.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B
Prototype C

February 20, 2012 – February 23, 2012

Austin, TX

Participants reviewed one Loan Estimate and one Closing Disclosure (with line numbers) to see how well they worked together.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B

February 21, 2012

We convene a small business review panel.

A panel of representatives from the CFPB, the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) considered the potential impact of the proposals under consideration on small businesses that will provide the mortgage disclosures.

March 6, 2012

We meet with small businesses.

The panel met with small businesses and asked for their feedback on the impacts of various proposals the CFPB is considering. This feedback is summarized in the panel’s report.
(Note: Link to large PDF file.)

March 26, 2012

Back to Baltimore!

We conducted one final round of testing to confirm that some modifications from the last round work for consumers.

Disclosures tested:

Prototype A
Prototype B
Prototype C

July 9, 2012

Proposal of the new rule.

The CFPB released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. The notice proposed a new rule to implement the combined mortgage disclosures and requested your comments on the proposal.

November 6, 2012

Comment period on most of the proposed rule closes.

Between the public comment period and other information for the record, the CFPB reviewed nearly 3,000 comments. These comments helped us improve the disclosures and the final rule.

October 11, 2012 – December 13, 2012

We test Spanish language versions of the disclosures across the country.

We conducted qualitative consumer testing on Spanish language versions of the proposed disclosures. We tested in three cities: Arlington, Va. (October 11-12); Phoenix, Az. (November 14-15); and Miami, Fla. (December 12-13).

April 23, 2013 – June 13, 2013

Validating our testing

With the help of Kleimann Communication Group, the contractor who helped us throughout the testing process, we conducted a quantitative study of the new forms with 858 consumers in 20 locations across the country. By nearly every measure, the study showed that the new forms offer a statistically significant improvement over the existing forms.

June 18, 2013 – July 26, 2013

Additional testing with modified disclosures

In response to comments, we developed and tested different versions of the disclosures for refinance loans, which we tested for three rounds. (In our last round, we tested a modification for both purchases and refinances.) We also did one more round of Spanish language testing for the refinance versions. The modified disclosures tested well and are the ones included in the final rule.

November 20, 2013

A final rule

The CFPB issues a Final Rule. The final rule creates new integrated mortgage disclosures and details the requirements for using them. The rule is effective for mortgage applications received starting August 1, 2015.

June 24, 2015

New Effective Date Proposed

The CFPB proposes a new effective date of October 3, 2015 for the Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule.

July 21, 2015

New Effective Date Announced

The CFPB issues a final rule moving the effective date to October 3, 2015.

CFPB, Mortgages, Real Estate Headline News, Title Insurance

Can I Get a HUD?

After October 3, 2015 you will no longer be receiving a HUD-1 settlement statement before consummation of a closed-end credit transaction secured by real property.

Say what?!?!

That’s right, I just said consummation of a closed-end credit transaction and no more HUD. There is new jargon to go along with the new, easy-to-read, consumer friendly, disclosures.

Bon Voyage HUD!

After October 3, the ‘HUD’  will be called a ‘Closing Disclosure’ (CD). ‘Closing’ will be referred to as consummation and the ‘Good-Faith-Estimate’ (GFE) will be called a ‘Loan Estimate’.

Take a peek at the new disclosures!

www.closing-disclosure.com

Closing-Disclosure_Page_1 Closing-Disclosure_Page_2 Closing-Disclosure_Page_3 Closing-Disclosure_Page_4 Closing-Disclosure_Page_5

CFPB, Resources, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

What is TRID?

Blog Header

The TILA-RESPA rule (TRID)– is meant to make the disclosure documents used during a transaction more consumer friendly and to move the industry towards a paperless transaction. The rule combines the current four disclosures. Check out the CFPB’s break down below:

2.1

Don’t recognize the new Jargon? Here is a handy chart to help with the transition: 

 New Jargon

To find more specifics visit:

www.closing-disclosure.com

www.cfpb.gov

CFPB, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

Stick Around For Our Countdown!

Blog Header

The industry’s much anticipated delay to implement the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) was announced last week. The new regulation had the initial launch date set to be August 1, 2015 but has now been pushed back later this year to October 1.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Director, Richard Cordray stated, “We made this decision to correct an administrative error that we just discovered in meeting the requirements under federal law, which would have delayed the effective date of the rule by two weeks.” Whatever the reason the industry as a whole seems to have let out a huge sigh of relief.

These new documents are meant to be more consumer friendly by consolidating the TILA-RESPA forms and making them easier to understand. The new regulations give the consumer more time to review the total costs of their mortgage and to ask any questions they may have in regards to their loan terms. The Loan Estimate is due to consumers three days after they apply for a loan, and the Closing Disclosure is due three days before closing. These two requirements along with software compliance and security issues have thrown the industry into a frenzy as they try to comply by the deadline.

The best thing you can do to prepare yourself is to join the conversation. In an ever changing industry it is important to partner up with a title agency that has aligned and complied with the new regulations. Agencies powered by the Florida Agency Network (FAN) are prepped and ready to lead the way during this immense industry change. Tuesday, June 23, 2015 will mark the 100 day countdown until the CFPB’s implementation of the TRID.

 It’s going down  —  10.01.15  —  Stick around for our countdown!  

Please Note: Since posting the CFPB has submitted an amendment to their proposal further delaying the effective date to October 3.

CFPB, Real Estate Headline News, TRID TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure

Breaking News from Bank of America

Excerpted from Bank of America memo to Settlement Industry

 

CFPB Integrated Mortgage Disclosures – The Closing Disclosure & Closing Insight™

To: Settlement Agents

Bank of America continues to prepare for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Integrated Mortgage Disclosures rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) that go into effect August 1, 2015. With less than a year before the implementation date, we have started to share information with the settlement agent community about the rule and will now begin to share how the rule will change the way you work with us.

Bank of America will use Closing Insight™, an industry tool developed by RealEC® Technologies, to support the implementation of the CFPB’s Integrated Mortgage Disclosures rule.

What is changing with how you work with Bank of America?

  • All documents, data, and information will be exchanged through Closing Insight™. This will discontinue the use of email, fax, and other document delivery methods to ensure that non-public personal information (NPPI) is always protected.
  • After working with the settlement agent to finalize and confirm all fees, Bank of America will generate the buyer/borrower Closing Disclosure. For purchase transactions, settlement agents will continue to generate the seller’s Closing Disclosure.
  • To ensure receipt three business days prior to loan closing, Bank of America will take responsibility for delivering the buyer/borrower Closing Disclosure. In addition, a copy of the final Closing Disclosure will be included with the loan documents to be presented to the buyer/borrower at closing.  For purchase transactions, settlement agents will continue to deliver the seller’s Closing Disclosure.
  • The requirement for the buyer/borrower to receive the Closing Disclosure three business days prior to loan closing will intensify the need for Bank of America to work very closely with the settlement agent to schedule the details of the signing/closing.

Bank of America will continue to work through all that is needed to meet both the requirements of the regulation and continue to deliver an exquisite experience for our mutual customers. We will share more information in the coming months as it becomes available. In the meantime, please submit any questions or feedback you may have regarding how Bank of America will expect you to handle transactions after August 1, 2015 to  Integrated.Disclosures.Feedback@bankofamerica.com.

For more information about RealEC® Technologies or Closing Insight™, please visit their website at www.bkfs.com/realec. In addition, many Title & Escrow production systems are working with RealEC® Technologies to enhance current integrations in support of Closing Insight™. For more information about how or if they plan to support Closing Insight™, reach out to your provider directly.

Thank you for your partnership.