Well, it has been a while since TRID started in October of 2015, and the world did not come to an end as the pundits predicted. I was just looking over some past articles back before it started and none of the worries everyone had has come to fruition.
The fact of the matter is that we human are pretty adaptive mammals. If tomorrow a new regulation required mortgage broker loan officers to wear a banana peel on their head while taking a loan application (banks are excluded, of course), somehow, someway, we would make it work. It is what we do.
As a loan officer pounding the mean street, it has not affected me much in the least. Sure, the three day Closing Disclosure (CD) review period is a hassle, but all in all, I think it is great that the borrowers get to review the numbers three days before closing. I was so sick and tired of giving the borrowers the amount to bring about an hour before settlement because the bank was running behind.
And now the Loan Estimate (LE) has to be pretty tight. I was always pretty good with the old Good Faith Estimate (GFE), but today, other loan officers are required to be just as meticulous and anal retentive … I love it.
I must admit, in the beginning, the wholesalers did a pretty poor job getting their systems in place for the initial roll out. Everyone had a different system, conflicting rules and a strange diverse way of interpreting the same law. But, now it is all straightened out. I just do this, instead of that. Who cares? I can’t even remember how I used to do it before 2015.
No, don’t take this that I am not complaining. I am an old man … it is in my nature to complain about everything. With every loan I do now, I have to send out this ridiculous e-mail to the borrower:
“Tomorrow or the next day, or whenever the stupid bank gets around to it, you will get an e-mail from ‘ConformX’ referencing this loan. Do not delete it. You must click on the link to create an account and then later click on another secure e-mail to acknowledge the forms. No need to print out, sign or send anything back. Just ‘acknowledging’ it is enough. If you are not sure, call or e-mail me. I don’t want you clicking on random SPAM and getting a virus either. If you don’t do this, it will delay the loan.”
Anyone over the age of 12 using e-mail since birth would understand these instructions, but for anyone over 55, it is like asking them to perform major brain surgery. It turns out, the hardest thing about TRID was the wholesalers going to a secure e-mail system for the public. Let me tell you, the public is DUMB! I can’t tell you how many borrowers cannot figure out how to acknowledge the LE when it is sent to them. It is either “too hard,” “too confusing” or “I never got it.” Lord give me strength. It is like Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say on Saturday Night Live, “If it ain’t one thing, it’s another.”
And now for something completely different. If you ever wondered what I look like, I have a major disappointment for you. You can now see my mug on several recent episodes of Hash it Out (sponsored by REMN Wholesale) where I'm a guest interviewed by Mortgage News Network’s Andrew Berman. You can find these episodes on MortgageNewsNetwork.com. Feel free to share it or comment. Throw popcorn at your monitor, boo, hiss, that’s fine. As long as you watch it.
Eric Weinstein worked in banking, on the commercial real estate side until 1991, when he fell in love with residential lending. In 1995, he started a small mortgage company in his basement called Carteret Mortgage Corporation, which in 2003, grew to one of the largest mortgage broker companies in the United States. Eric is semi-retired, doing mortgages by referral only. He may be reached by phone at (703) 505-8692 or e-mail [email protected].
This article originally appeared in the September 2016 print edition of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
