NAMB/WEST was a great success. Sure, we all learned about the challenges that we are facing when it comes to the new GFE, HUD-1 and TIL; potential obstacles created from the SAFE Act and more; however, there was lots of positive talk about new and exciting ways to network and find new business. Among the regulatory and legislative seminars and sessions, NAMB/WEST featured the session, “Social Media: How to Use Facebook, Twitter & Blogging to Build Your Business.”Read more

Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary, defines the word “simplify” as “to make less complex or complicated; make plainer or easier.” We as a society know that in today’s times, when government interjects itself in the affairs of the people in order to make things “simple,” that simplicity doesn’t always come to fruition, and in fact, often results in unintended negative consequences.Read more

The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) has recommended that the Federal Reserve Board strengthen a proposal to ban routine kickbacks for steering borrowers into unnecessarily risky or expensive home loans. In recent years, these kickbacks (often called "yield-spread premiums") have cost consumers billions of dollars. If finalized as proposed, the kickback ban would apply to mortgage brokers, loan officers, and any party that originates mortgages for lenders who fund the loans.Read more

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has filed two comment letters with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, both relating to the proposed amendments to Regulation Z, the implementing regulation for the Truth-in-Lending Act (TILA). The first letter specifically addresses the proposed rules to revise consumer disclosures and compensation practices for closed-end credit transactions--a credit agreement in which the amount advanced, plus any finance charges, is expected to be repaid in full by a specified date, such as your traditional 30-year fixed mortgage.Read more

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) has announced the launch of its Legislative & Regulatory Action Fund to collect donations that will be used for protecting the interests of the mortgage broker industry. The mortgage broker profession has underwent extensive scrutiny and is being portrayed unfavorably in the mainstream media, as the housing industry undergoes sweeping legislative and regulatory initiatives to stimulate the economy and implement safeguards aimed at preventing another housing bubble.Read more

StreetLinks National Appraisal Services has announced TILA-Trigger, a technology solution that ensures lenders are in compliance with the new TILA disclosure regulation. The solution allows brokers and correspondents to place appraisal requests without concern for violating TILA disclosure timeframes. Earlier this year, the Federal Reserve Board issued a final rule implementing changes to the Truth In Lending Act (Reg Z) prohibiting the collection of fees from borrowers prior to their receipt of disclosures, as specified by the Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act (MDIA).Read more

A quick review: July 2009 marked the largest gain in new home sales in eight years; the stock market rebounded above 9,000; unemployment appears to have finally flattened out; and GM is making cars again. But who’s smiling? Despite these rays of light, the economic facts suggest that everything necessary for a growing mortgage market is still very much in flux. Credit, income and valuation, just as they are critical to any individual loan, are today, national uncertainties.Read more

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) is on the way and its gestation stage will not be as long as many expect.¹ Although its nascence will endure the inevitable crucible of politics churned out by the Congress, federal and state regulatory bodies, bank and non-bank industry lobbyists, and eminent legal scholars,² the actors in this drama seem to argue, at one extreme, for a CFPA with robust oversight and regulatory enforcement authorities, and, at the other extreme, some kind of oversight agency that reviRead more

The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) has approved an interim final rule to implement a recent statutory amendment requiring that notice be given to consumers when their mortgage loan has been sold or transferred. The new disclosure requirement became effective immediately upon enactment of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act in May, 2009. Under that Act, a purchaser or assignee that acquires a mortgage loan must provide the required disclosures in writing within 30 days.Read more

In today’s mortgage market, efficient and compliant marketing is vital to developing a client base of reliable referrals. Right now, people are looking for a professional to help them take advantage of our current buyer’s market. How are you letting them know you’re here to meet their needs?Read more