Ellie Mae has announced that it has published a free, comprehensive 16-chapter guide designed to help mortgage lenders understand and comply with new federal mortgage disclosure requirements scheduled to take effect later this year. Created by Ellie Mae’s award-winning compliance team and available on the company’s Compliance Central, Ellie Mae believes that the Ellie Mae RESPA-TILA FAQ is the most comprehensive guide to the CFPB’s Integrated Disclosure Rule available in the mortgage industry.
The new federal rule mandates the use of two new disclosure forms to help borrowers better understand the impact of getting a mortgage: A Loan Estimate, which replaces the current Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and the initial Truth-in-Lending (TIL) Disclosure; and a Closing Disclosure, which replaces the HUD-1 Settlement Statement and final Truth-in-Lending Disclosure currently used by lenders today.
Industry concern over the new disclosures, also known as RESPA-TILA, has pervaded since they were first proposed two years ago and has gained momentum as this year’s effective date approached.
“The new disclosures, proposed to go into effect on Oct. 3, are the most significant changes the industry has seen. Ellie Mae has been working diligently over the last year to ensure that our software and our clients are ready and it is important to share what we have learned thus far,” said Ellie Mae President and CEO Jonathan Corr. “The new Integrated Disclosure Rule will impact almost everything lenders do. We hope that the FAQ we are publishing will shed light on the grayer areas of the new rule, so that everyone can better prepare.”
The FAQ will be a continuously evolving document and is being written by Ellie Mae’s compliance team. The chapters are based upon commonly asked questions from Ellie Mae training and webinars. Citing specific language in the 1,888-page Integrated Disclosure Rule, the FAQ includes critical information about when the new disclosures apply, which loans are excluded, and which loans are partially exempted, as well as important definitions and requirements involving the timing of disclosures. The first four chapters, which include information on Rule Applicability, Definition of Application, and Loan Estimate can be found at www.elliemae.com/RT-FAQ and additional chapters will be added regularly. Users can visit the page and submit their e-mail address for updates as chapters become available.
The FAQ is part of Ellie Mae’s ongoing RESPA-TILA Readiness Initiative, developed to help the company’s clients and industry participants prepare for the new disclosures. The initiative includes online and hands-on training with Ellie Mae’s Encompass all-in-one mortgage management solution, free RESPA-TILA educational webinars, a new AllRegs by Ellie Mae's RESPA-TILA Policy Manual & Readiness Kit, and Compliance Central, Ellie Mae's free online resource.
