Colleagues, Fellow Professionals and Friends, 

If you watch The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, you know that every week Jimmy takes time to write "Thank you Notes." He has inspired me to write a few myself in this Season of Thanksgiving.  So, here are a few "Thank You Notes" now that October 3 has come and gone...



  • Thank you, TRID, that your name spelled backwards is DIRT -- so we have a little something in the compliance world to laugh about.

  • Thank you, CFPB, for writing the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule. After 1,000s of hours, spent by 1,000s of experts, we are close to understanding how to complete two forms.

  • Thank you, Captain Kirk, for boldly going where no compliance officer has gone before.
  • Thank you, William Shakespeare, for writing the TRID tragedy - but thou "doth protest too much, me thinks." 

  • Thank you, Winston Churchill, for your inspirational speech on TRID compliance. We shall never, never, never, give up!

In all seriousness, here's a little something from Sir Winston for our friends in France,  "Good night then: Sleep to gather strength for the morning. For the morning will come. Brightly it will shine on the brave and true, kindly upon all who suffer for the cause, glorious upon the tombs of heroes. Thus will shine the dawn. VIVE LA FRANCE! Long live also the forward march of the common people in all lands towards their just and true inheritance, and towards the broader and fuller age."

Despite TRID and all the various and sundry obstacles and challenges we each face in our daily lives,  we have so very much for which to be thankful. ABS wishes you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope this edition of BankLine has many items of interest for you. 

Sincerely,





James W. Bruce, III
CEO and General Counsel, American Bank SystemsAcknowledge
Steve Johnson serves as Vice President of Installation and Data Integration for ABS, a company he's been proud to serve over the last 19 years. In his role, he manages a team of talented ABS associates who provide all data integration and software installations needed when customers purchase ABS software. 
 
Aside from working with a great team, Steve also enjoys working with great customers, a combination he attributes to his love of working for ABS along with the daily challenges that make each day unique and exciting.
 
A native of Del City, Oklahoma, Steve is an alumnus of Rose State College and Southern Nazarene University where he received his bachelor's degree in organizational leadership with a minor in computer programing.
 
Steve's interests don't stray far from a day at the office. In his free time, he enjoys reading and working on PC hardware and software. He also loves muscle cars and spent extensive time racing during his youth.
 
A husband of 22 years, Steve and his wife have two children, a 19-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter. NOVSPOTLIGHT
BankManager® AP: A Paperless Way to Simplify Your Accounts Payable
 
Want to simplify your accounts payable? We're here for you. With BankManager AP, the entire process is streamlined, from  vendor management to workflow to imaging.
 
In terms of vendor management, BankManager AP offers the ability to notify vendors via email or letter when documents/information have not been received. BankManager AP also provides time saving workflow by sending approval requests of invoices electronically to "Approval Groups" within the bank. In addition, the imaging feature enables immediate access to all invoices and vendor documents from the comfort of your own desk.
 
BankManager AP provides invoice payment by check, ACH, quick check or non-check.  The system also allows for accruals, 1099 reporting, multiple checking accounts and multiple general ledger coding per invoice.
 
A paperless system from start to finish, BankManager AP provides all your Accounts Payable needs with easy integration to your core processor.
 

Check out these recent posts to our Compliance Blog by our very own team of compliance specialists.
 
New Home Mortgage Disclosure Rules: Determining Institutional Coverage
By: Gina Ellis
Posted November 23, 2015

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued the final rule amending Regulation C, or the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The amendments change institutional coverage in two phases. Under current rules, the asset size threshold may change annually based on changes in the average Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, measured as of the preceding December 31st. A main or branch office must also be located in a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) to meet the location test. If the institution is federally insured or regulated or the mortgage loan is insured, guaranteed or supplemented by a Federal agency or was intended for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, it meets the federally related test. If the institution originates at least one home purchase loan or the refinancing of a home purchase loan secured by a first lien on a one-to four-family dwelling in the preceding calendar year, it meets the loan activity test.  [Read More]

Winter is Coming, so is CompliancePro® 3.0
By: David Walls
Posted November 13, 2015

Development on CompliancePro 3.0 has hit its share of delays along the way, but we can finally begin to see the end of the tunnel.

For many, the changes will seem very insignificant, but to the common man, it's a complete reprogramming (imagine jumping from Windows 95 all the way to Windows X, skipping Vista and Millennium Editions along the way.) Every page has been re-engineered.  To get it to market, most of the system will simply look like a cleaned up version of what was there before, but take a closer look and you will surely see the vast differences. [Read More]

Insights into the CFPB's Supervisory Highlights
By:  Mikel Dunnagan
Posted November 9, 2015
 

A Deep Dive into TRID
By, Mikel Dunnagan, SVP/Chief Operating Officer

Ready...Fire...Aim...This is a good picture of the regulatory landscape at the advent of the Dodd-Frank Act (DFA) and the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  While a canon may solve a pesky squirrel problem, it's probably a little too much firepower for the job at hand - much the same with the DFA.   
 
The overview of the changes to consumer mortgage lending that were brought about because of the DFA takes some, as Ricky would say to Lucy, "splaining."   
 
With the advent of the CFPB, courtesy of the Dodd-Frank Act, the regulatory philosophy has changed dramatically. While there is still a safety and soundness consideration, the Bureau's insanely intense focus is, as their name would indicate, on consumers. 
 
The CFPB's mission is to make markets for consumer financial products work for Americans, and it is one they take very seriously. The Bureau promotes compliance via regulatory examinations of covered institutions, "ride along" capability with any examining agency, bank data review upon request of the Bureau, regulatory enforcement actions and DOJ referrals.
 
The latter, DOJ referrals, is what gets the money flowing from bankers.  The scenario goes something like this:
The Bureau's jurisdiction extends to more than just providing compliant disclosures to consumers. It has expanded its influence to that of protecting the consumer from their own vices and devices, from dealing with traditional banking services to credit reporting, car sales, student loans and real and perceived financial abuses to servicemembers, the elderly, students and those who purchase automobiles from a dealer or use payday lenders. So, the "why" of all the changes lies in the idea that consumers need to be protected and more information is the best protection. 
 
The new integrated disclosures are but one piece of the protection, but a tediously written, technically-precise, and functionally ambiguous piece of protection at that. While the intent of the integrated disclosures changes was to promote a better understanding of the mortgage transaction by consumers, the results, the general lack of attention paid to them by consumers to the even bigger pile of documents, don't seem to mesh with the intent.
 
So how does TRID fit into all of this? Based on my experience as a diaper changer, I learned quickly that there was usually something smelly that goes along with any change, regardless of how badly it was needed. In much the same way, the new integrated disclosure rules make us hold our noses as we perform the necessary, but unwelcome, task of making a change.
 
The documents most significantly affected by the changes are the GFE, HUD-1 Settlement Statement and Truth in Lending Statement (TIL). For nearly every consumer mortgage transaction, the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure have replaced these documents. On its face, replacing three government documents with two sounds like a good thing.  Hold that thought. These two documents take up hundreds of pages of regulation, commentary and other interpretation that attempt to explain how to fill out a three-page and a five-page form.  Examples of how precise some of the requirements are include some numbers and verbiage must be bolded and or italicized while others cannot be either bolded or italicized, an amount must be rounded in one section of a form while the same number from the same source must be either a whole number or dollars and cents and some transactions require a data table or two data tables to appear while other types of transactions cannot have either data table appear. There is an enormity of technical preciseness with dearth of practicality.      
 
The two documents contain nearly the same type of information and just a bit more. While much of the information disclosed is the same, some is new. Most of the timing rules are the same, but there are also some new timing requirements. A change that will impact not only bankers, but realtors, appraisers, title companies and title attorneys is the three-day review requirement for the Closing Disclosure. It has always been a rush to get final numbers to the closing agent prior to closing.  Now, the numbers have to be present three business days earlier than before to enable the consumer to review this document prior to closing.
 
Another major change is the types of transactions that will be covered by the new integrated disclosure rules. The new rules will cover most closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by real estate. What this means is that bankers lost the following RESPA exemptions: dwelling on 25-acres or more, construction loans, temporary financing, vacant land and certain trust loans.
 
Honey's Chocolate Sheet Cake
Provided By: Jeff Johnson, Project Manager
STEPS:
  1. Set oven to 400-degrees.
  2. Grease jelly roll pan with butter or anti-stick spray and set aside.
  3. Measure the following into a large bowl, stir to blend, then set aside: 2-Cups Flour and 2 cups sugar
  4. In a large pot [size you would use for stew or roast], melt 1-Cube of butter/margarine, 4-Tablespoons Cocoa, ½-Cup Buttermilk, ½-Cup Oil, and 1-Cup Water.
  5. Bring to a rapid boil [one that cannot be stirred down].
  6. Add the Flour and Sugar using electric mixer [do not add at one time, add a bit then mix, add more then mix...]
  7. Add 2 Eggs, ½-teaspoon Cinnamon, 1-teaspoon Vanilla, 1-teaspoon Baking Soda, 1-teaspoon Baking Powder.
  8. Mix well with electric mixer.
  9. Pour into jelly roll pan [do not wash pot out, you will use it for the icing]. 
  10. Smooth batter out to cover the jelly roll pan.
  11. Bake for 20-minutes at 400-degrees (Center Rack / Center of Oven)
  12. Near end of baking time, use same large pot to make the Icing.
  13. In the large pot, melt 1-Cube of Butter/Margarine, 6-Tablespoons of Carnation Condensed Milk [canned condensed milk], and 4-Tablespoons of Cocoa.
  14. Bring to a boil.
  15. Take off heat and add 1-Box of Powdered Sugar using electric mixer [do not add at one time, add a bit then mix, add more then mix...]
  16. Spread the icing on the cake while it is hot.
  17. Loosely cover to store. Refrigeration is not required.
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