The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has announced the release of its "Compliance Guide to Small Entities" regarding Regulation Z: Loan Originator Compensation and Steering. The Compliance Guide summarizes and explains rules adopted by the Board, but is not a substitute for the final rule itself, which will be enforced come April 1, 2011. Regulation Z; Docket No. R-1366, Truth-in-Lending was originally published in the Federal Register on Sept. 24, 2010, and as mandated by the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) Section 212(a) (3), an agency is required to publish a compliance guide on the same date as the date of publication of the final rule (in this case, Sept. 24, 2010), or as soon as possible after that date and no later than the date on which the requirements of the rule become effective (April 1, 2011).
The rule prohibits a loan originator from steering a consumer to enter into a loan that provides the loan originator with greater compensation, as compared to other transactions the loan originator offered or could have offered to the consumer, unless the loan is in the consumer's interest.
The "Compliance Guide" states that "the regulation applies to all persons who originate loans, including mortgage brokers and their employees, as well as (as defined by the Federal Reserve) mortgage loan officers employed by depository institutions and other lenders. The rule does not apply to payments received by a creditor when selling the loan to a secondary market investor. When a mortgage brokerage firm originates a loan, it is not exempt under the final rule unless it is also a creditor that funds the loan from its own resources, such as its own line of credit."
According to the Compliance Guide: "To be within the safe harbor, the loan originator must obtain loan options from a significant number of the creditors with which the originator regularly does business. The loan originator can present fewer than three loans and satisfy the safe harbor, if the loan(s) presented to the consumer otherwise meet the criteria in the rule."
"The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) believes that this does not satisfy the requirement as written," said NAMB Government Affairs Committee Chair Michael Anderson, CRMS. "NAMB is reviewing the Compliance Guide and will taking appropriate action."
Click here to view "Compliance Guide to Small Entities" regarding Regulation Z: Loan Originator Compensation and Steering.
