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Volume 112,
mid-April 2015
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What Lenders Need to Know About CFPB's Mortgage Shopping Toolkit
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a revised consumer publication related to mortgage loans. This publication, a replacement of the "Settlement Cost Booklet" or "Special Information Booklet," is a widely anticipated companion to the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, or TILA-RESPA, Integrated Disclosure (collectively referred to as TRID) requirements.
This article answers questions about the publication, such as: What is it? What has changed? When do you need to use the new toolkit? What is the timing for delivery? How do you use the new toolkit to your advantage? Where do you get it? (Read complete article.)
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News from PREP Chapters
In every edition of the PREP Newsletter, we highlight at least one PREP Chapter and post an abbreviated version of their most recent Chapter Meeting minutes. You can also see what any of the PREP Chapters are talking about by going to PRIA's PREP Chapters webpage.
METRO MINNESOTA:
The Metro Minnesota PREP Chapter met on February 12, 2015. Their agenda for that meeting included: 1) the status of eRecordings in Minnesota, 2) MLTA Updates including the title association's current state legislative agenda, 3) MCRA (Minnesota Clerks and Recorders Association) updates, 4) MNBAR (Minnesota Bar Association) updates, 5) use of watermarks on recorded documents, 6) recorded document rejections and volumes, 7) "Safe at Home" legislation, and, 8) discussion about MN Statute 507.251 - Constructive Notice. The next meeting will be in April. (Read this Chapter's minutes and agendas on PRIA's PREP webpage.) |
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ESRA: E-Sign Adoption Essential For Compliance, Customer Satisfaction
excerpted from MortgageOrb 3/31/15
Melanie Feliciano is chief compliance officer for document technology provider DocMagic and a board member of the Electronic Signature and Records Association (ESRA), while Tim Anderson is director of e-services and chief legal officer for DocMagic. MortgageOrb recently interviewed the two e-mortgage experts to learn more about how e-signature technology has evolved in recent years and how new regulations including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB's) new integrated disclosures rules are going to push lenders to embrace e-sign and e-document technology.
Q: Electronic signature technology has been around for many years, but the mortgage industry has been slow to adopt it. That is now starting to change. What would you say are the primary factors driving adoption?
Anderson: E-sign and electronic transactions are more prevalent in our daily lives. Consumers are now used to e-signing pads and using their electronic cards in order to make purchases. Now, with Apple's iPay and other electronic payment technologies, it has become ubiquitous. Mortgage is one of the few industries that has been slow to embrace this trend.
Feliciano: Another critical factor is the acceptance of electronic signature technology by key parties in the industry, including investors, the IRS, the housing agencies and others. A single document that requires a wet signature poses the risk to perpetuate the paper process. For example, the Social Security Administration still requires a wet signature on the SSA-89.
Q: How much will the implementation of the CFPB's new integrated disclosures drive lenders toward adoption?
Anderson: To be quite honest, if a lender is going to prove compliance of consent and delivery, I don't know how you are going to be compliant without it. Again, e-disclosures are becoming the norm for initial disclosures, so why would the borrower experience be any different for the closing disclosure?
Feliciano: When time frames (i.e., new receipt of delivery rule on closing disclosure) for delivery are required for certain documents in the origination process, the use of e-sign is going to be the key to compliance. Prior to the CFPB, mandatory time frames were around the initial disclosures, some re-disclosure events, and the receipt of the appraisal. The use of e-sign has proven an effective strategy in these cases. (Read complete article.)
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Norfolk MA Deeds Registry Offers Fraud Prevention Program
In an effort to combat fraud, the Norfolk Registry of Deeds has launched a free service that would let owners know when documents are submitted for their properties.
Registrar William O'Donnell said that while there have been no attempts of a false document scam locally, it has happened in other areas of the country, such as Cook County, Ill.
"In essence, what they were trying to do is steal people's homes," O'Donnell said. "What I'm trying to do is be ahead of the curve, and by being proactive, protect the biggest asset that people have."
The Consumer Notification Service will send an e-mail to a participant to let them know when a document, such as a mortgage discharge, has been recorded against their property. The service is open to owners of homes and businesses in the 28 communities served by the registry. (
Read complete article.)
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Study Reveals Housing Market To Be At Its 'Healthiest' Level Since 2001
excerpted from DSNews 4/2/15
In its first-ever analysis of the U.S. housing market, Nationwide Economics indicated that the national market was at its healthiest level in 14 years.
Nationwide's Health of Housing Markets (HoHM) Report - Q1 2015 is the first report in a planned quarterly series of reports. Using a metric known as the Leading Index of Healthy Housing Markets (LIHHM), Nationwide said the health of the overall housing market in the United States suggests there is little reason to believe that another downturn will occur in housing during the coming year.
The LIHHM is a data-driven view of the near-term performance of housing markets based on current health indicators for the national housing market and 373 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). LIHHM ratings focus on the entire housing market and not just prices or sales, according to Nationwide. (Read complete article.)
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Mortgage Credit Availability Creeps Up in March
excerpted from
HousingWire 4/7/15
Mortgage credit availability increased in March according to the Mortgage Credit Availability Index, a report from the Mortgage Bankers Association analyzing data from Ellie Mae.
The MCAI increased 2.3% to 121.4 in March. A decline in the MCAI indicates that lending standards are tightening, while increases in the index are indicative of a loosening of credit. The index was benchmarked to 100 in March 2012.
"A number of factors contributed to a loosening of credit in March: Freddie Mac's introduction of their 97 LTV program (Fannie Mae's was implemented in December), additional loosening of parameters on jumbo loan programs, an increase in offerings of cash-out refinance loans, and continued expansion of the (Federal Housing Administration) streamline refinance and VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan programs," according to Mike Fratantoni, MBA's chief economist. (Read complete article.)
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ALTA NEWS: ALTA Joins Letter Urging Continuation of Ban on Eminent Domain for Underwater Mortgages
excerpted from ALTA Advocacy Update 4/6/15 by Michelle L. Korsmo, ALTA CEO
In April, ALTA and its partner trade associations sent letters to the U.S. House and Senate appropriations committees urging them to renew the ban on using FHA insurance to refinance performing mortgages seized through the power of eminent domain. ALTA successfully lobbied for this ban last year, when it was passed as part of HUD's appropriations bill. Unless it is renewed, the ban will expire on September 30, 2015.
In the letter the groups stated: "While we support a broad range of programs to assist struggling homeowners and the communities in which they reside, we are firm in our belief that using the power of eminent domain in this manner would harm our nation's housing markets and the very communities it is intended to help." If you have any questions please contact ALTA's vice president of government and regulatory affairs, Justin Ailes, at [email protected] or 202-261-2937.
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U.S. Mortgage Applications Rise
Reuters | April 8, 2015
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, rose 0.4 percent in the week ended April 3.
The Underappreciated Impact of Dodd-Frank: The Rise of Federal and State Regulatory Cooperation
DS News | April 9, 2015
There are multiple levels of regulation in the financial services industry with federal, state, and even local officials supervising companies within the industry. These regulators often cooperate, but also sometimes act in conflict with one another in their pursuit of consumer protection and enforcement of laws.
After Foreclosures, Home Buyers Are Back
Realtor Mag | April 10, 2015
Home owners who lost their home to foreclosure during the financial crisis are now trying to step back into home ownership. But a critical question remains: Will mortgage lenders take these ex-owners back, and will they qualify for a mortgage?
Lawmakers Ask CFPB to Delay Enforcement of TILA-RESPA
DS News | April 11, 2015
Two Republican lawmakers have written a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) director asking for the delay of the combined Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) mortgage disclosure forms.
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Join the PREP Blog and the PREP LinkedIn Group
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CONTENT DISCLAIMER
The views and opinions expressed in the media, articles, comments, or links in this publication are those of the speakers or authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions held by the Property Records Industry Association (PRIA) or its members. PRIA does not warrant the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the information contained in this publication. If you have a complaint about something you have found in this publication, please contact PRIA by email at [email protected].
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FAIR USE NOTICE
This publication may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. PRIA believes this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this publication is distributed without profit, to those who have expressed a prior interest in such information, for comment and nonprofit educational purposes.
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