Webinar: New Year, New Rules

Brokers Compliance Group is the Exclusive Compliance Provider of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) and an affiliate of Lenders Compliance Group.

In cooperation with NAMB, we will be providing a quarterly webinar series in 2014.

Each webinar will be devoted to an intense review of important regulatory compliance matters.

• If you are a client of the Lenders Compliance Group of companies, you are entitled to register for FREE.
• Each attendee must individually register.
• NAMB members receive special pricing.
• Non-members of NAMB and non-clients of ours may also register for a small fee.

Our first webinar in the series will be presented on January 30, 2014, at 2PM-EST. Because space is filling up quickly, due to announcements by NAMB and media organizations, we suggest you register as soon as possible.

We are pleased to offer this webinar to our valued clients and colleagues!

Regards,
Jonathan Foxx
President & Managing Director

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WEBINAR OVERVIEW

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DESCRIPTION

New Year, New Rules - Understanding and Implementing

Thursday, January 30, 2014 at 2PM-EST

Webinar Topics:

• How do the Ability-to-Repay (ATR) requirements affect my business?
  

• Qualified Mortgage (QM) and the inconsistent impact on lenders, brokers, and mortgage loan originators
  

• Obstacles and opportunities in Loan Officer Compensation amendments
  

• Lending in the new HOEPA requirements
  

• Appraisals: Latest rules affecting ECOA and Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans
  

In this 90-minute session, we'll discuss the regulatory compliance requirements that you need to implement right away.

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CFPB’s Mortgage Rules for Readiness

The just released 2013 CFPB Dodd-Frank Mortgage Rules Readiness Guide (Guide) from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) provides, finally, a set of criteria and preparation procedures for residential mortgage lenders and originators. It is Version 1.0 and, like previously issued guides and manuals, the CFPB will update the Guide periodically, using the results from its field examinations to further enhance the audit methodologies.

Note that it is called a “Readiness Guide.” Such documents are not meant to be, and are not, conclusive. Such guides are expected to be sign posts leading the way, a means by which a company may learn of the priorities and exigencies of a regulator’s oversight functions. In other words, as the Guide itself declaims: “The Guide summarizes the mortgage rules finalized by the CFPB in January 2013, but it is not a substitute for the rules.”

To put a finer point on the use of the Guide, please always remember that only the rules and their official interpretations can provide complete and definitive information regarding their requirements.*

These rules can be found at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulatory-implementation/.

Each rule in the Guide also includes a hyperlink with additional information, which includes Small Entity Compliance Guides that may make the rule easier to digest. There are links to videos outlining the main elements of the rule. Furthermore, a convenient hyperlink compendium structure is embedded in the Guide, so that the rule headings are themselves hyperlinks directing the reader to the rule-specific CFPB website page.

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IN THIS ARTICLE

Sections of the Guide

Summary of the Rules

Questionnaire

Library

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SECTIONS OF THE GUIDE

The Guide consists of the following sections:

Part I: Summary of the Rules
Part II: Readiness Questionnaire
Part III: Frequently Asked Questions
Part IV: Tools

Part I (Summary of the Rules) contains an outline of the eight final rules issued in January 2013 concerning mortgage markets in the United States pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010) (2013 Title XIV Final Rules).

The rules amend several existing regulations, including Regulation Z, X, and B. Throughout the year, CFPB expects to provide updates to the rules where necessary. Updates will be posted, along with summaries of the changes, on the regulatory implementation CFPB webpage.

The questionnaire in Part II (Readiness Questionnaire) is '”not intended” to encompass all details of a comprehensive compliance program. This should not be interpreted to mean that the questionnaire is a replacement for the examination procedures or regulations. It is intended to serve as a guide in preparing for implementation of the mortgage rules and in performing a self-assessment. Thus, the questionnaire should be used as a self-assessment in determining a company’s progress towards compliance with the new mortgage rules. The questionnaire contains twenty-nine self-assessment questions and numerous subsections. Do not confuse the questionnaire with a proxy examination tool: it will not be added to the Examination Manual. The CFPB views the questionnaire as a “voluntary guide” for preparation. I have no doubt that it will be used by management in their discussions with examiners. The extent of those discussions may be determined by the institution’s size, products offered, risk mitigation, risk profiles, and other factors, such as the overall strength of the compliance management system.

Appraisals and APR for Higher-Risk Mortgages

On August 15, 2012, six federal financial regulatory agencies issued a proposed rule to establish new appraisal requirements for "higher-risk mortgage loans." The proposed rule has been issued by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The proposed rule would implement amendments to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) enacted by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (Dodd-Frank). Under the Dodd-Frank, mortgage loans are higher-risk if they are secured by a consumer's home and have interest rates above a certain threshold.

For higher-risk mortgage loans, the proposed rule would require creditors to use a licensed or certified appraiser who prepares a written report based on a physical inspection of the interior of the property. The proposed rule also would require creditors to disclose to applicants information about the purpose of the appraisal and provide consumers with a free copy of any appraisal report.

Creditors would have to obtain an additional appraisal at no cost to the consumer for a home-purchase higher-risk mortgage loan if the seller acquired the property for a lower price during the past six months. This requirement is meant to address fraudulent property flipping by seeking to ensure that the value of the property being used as collateral for the loan legitimately increased.

The aforementioned agencies are seeking comments from the public on all aspects of the proposal. The public will have 60 days, or until October 15, 2012, to review and comment on most of the proposal.

IN THIS ARTICLE

History

"Higher Risk" Mortgage Loans

Appraisal Requirements

Additional Written Appraisal

Calculating the Annual Percentage Rate

Replacing the Annual Percentage Rate

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History

On July 21, 2010, Dodd-Frank was signed into law. Section 1471 of Dodd-Frank establishes a new TILA section 129H, which sets forth appraisal requirements applicable to “higher-risk mortgages.”

Specifically, new TILA section 129H does not permit a creditor to extend credit in the form of a higher-risk mortgage loan to any consumer without first:

• Obtaining a written appraisal performed by a certified or licensed appraiser who conducts a physical property visit of the interior of the property.

• Obtaining an additional appraisal from a different certified or licensed appraiser if the purpose of the higher-risk mortgage loan is to finance the purchase or acquisition of a mortgaged property from a seller within 180 days of the purchase or acquisition of the

• Property by that seller at a price that was lower than the current sale price of the property. (The additional appraisal must include an analysis of the difference in sale prices, changes in market conditions, and any improvements made to the property between the date of the previous sale and the current sale.)

• Providing the applicant, at the time of the initial mortgage application, with a statement that any appraisal prepared for the mortgage is for the sole use of the creditor, and that the applicant may choose to have a separate appraisal conducted at the applicant’s expense.

• Providing the applicant with one copy of each appraisal conducted in accordance with TILA section 129H without charge, at least three (3) days prior to the transaction closing date.

"Higher Risk" Mortgage Loans

The new TILA section 129H(f) defines a “higher-risk mortgage” with reference to the annual percentage rate (APR) for the transaction. A higher-risk mortgage is a “residential mortgage loan” secured by a principal dwelling with an APR that exceeds the average prime offer rate (APOR) for a comparable transaction as of the date the interest rate is set, as follows:

• By 1.5 or more percentage points, for a first lien residential mortgage loan with an original principal obligation amount that does not exceed the amount for the maximum limitation on the original principal obligation of a mortgage in effect for a residence of the applicable size, as of the date of such interest rate set, pursuant to the sixth sentence of section 305(a)(2) of the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Act (12 U.S.C. 1454).
  

Fannie and Freddie: New Appraisal Portal–Deadline Approaches

A critical appraisal requirement deadline approaches![i]

The requirement went into effect on December 1, 2011. The deadline is March 19, 2012.

In This Article *

Synopsis

Overview

Starting the Registration Process

-Registering with Fannie Mae

-Registering with Freddie Mac

Accessing the UCDP Portal

Using the UCDP Portal

Training

What to Expect from Lenders

Important Dates

Synopsis

On and after March 19, 2012, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) will mandate compliance with their new Uniform Mortgage Data Program® (UMDP Program).[ii] The UMDP Program has been developed under the direction of their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The UMDP Program implements uniform appraisal and loan delivery data standards that are meant to support data accuracy and integration of mortgage data. Actually, the UMDP Program implements two of Fannie Mae's Loan Quality Initiative (LQI) objectives: electronic submission of appraisal data and collection of additional loan data in an updated format. Thus, the UMDP Program is an intrinsic part of the LQI requirements.

The UMDP Program includes:

· Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD): standardizes key appraisal data elements.

· Uniform Collateral Data Portal® (UCDP®): electronic collection of appraisal data.

· Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset (ULDD): leverages MISMO Version 3.0 standard. [iii]

In this article, I will pay particular attention to the Uniform Collateral Data Portal® (hereinafter, UCDP Portal).[iv] The UCDP Portal was activated in June 2011. This is a single portal for submitting data electronically of an appraisal file. Lenders must use the UCDP Portal to those data files, including the Uniform Appraisal Dataset (UAD),[v] when applicable, before the delivery date of the mortgage to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Appraisal report forms for all conventional mortgages delivered to the GSEs on or after March 19, 2012 must be transmitted through the UCDP Portal (prior to the delivery date of the mortgage) under these two conditions:

• The loan application is dated on or after December 1, 2011, and
• An appraisal report is required.

Variances and waivers will not be given to a lender from either GSE for the subject data, if a lender is not able to submit an appraisal before a single delivery or is not ready by the announced effective dates.

The loans subject appraisal data upload to the UCDP Portal at this time are conventional loans sold to Fannie and Freddie. FHA, VA, and Rural Development mortgages are excluded from the UCDP Portal requirement. Mortgage brokers cannot register for UCDP Portal.[vi]

There are three user categories that will access the UCDP Portal:

• Lenders that have an existing Fannie Mae Seller/Servicer Number
• Correspondents that do not have an existing Fannie Mae Seller/Servicer Number
• Agents (Appraisal Management Companies, Appraiser Vendors)

Overview

There are many “moving parts” to the UMDP Program, but we will highlight the UCDP Portal.

The rule of thumb is, as follows: if an appraisal is required, the appropriate appraisal report form should be transmitted via the UCDP Portal for all conventional mortgages with application received dates on or after December 1, 2011 for loans delivered to the GSEs on or after March 19, 2012.