As the implementation deadline approaches for the integrated disclosure rule, a request has been made by the title industry for a transitional period. Meanwhile, solutions providers continue offering resource and product services aimed at helping maintain compliance.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule, which combines disclosures currently required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, goes into effect on Aug. 1.
Earlier this month, the American Land Title Association issued a media release that asked the CFPB for a five-month, restrained enforcement period for incorporating the new disclosure forms into industry-wide title business practices.
“A restrained enforcement period helps our members, and the broader real estate industry, make the changes needed to their business processes and collaborate with industry and regulators to ensure the consumer has a positive experience at the closing statement,” ALTA Chief Executive Officer Michelle Korsmo said.
The 108-year-old organization also flagged an accuracy issue with the bureau’s Closing Disclosure form. According to the association, what fees home buyers pay for title insurance, which is governed by state law, differs from fee information the federal agency requires on its new form. As a result, additional paperwork would be necessary to show consumers their actual insurance premiums costs and to document compliance with state-issued regulations on these fees.
ALTA announced availability of its training DVD for the rule. The 2.5-hour DVD highlights key points of the rule, how the regulation impacts the title business and reviews the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms. ALTA members will pay $125 for the training guide, and the cost doubles for non-members. Interested parties also have the option to add Lunch and Learn training modules for title businesses looking for a presentation tool to help them discuss the integrated disclosure regulation with their real estate clients.
“It’s important in this new era of real estate closings that ALTA members remain the confident, professional and trusted third party at the closing table,” Korsmo said. “Ensuring that members of the land title insurance industry are well-trained in advance of Aug.1 helps accomplish that goal.”
On March 12, the Mortgage Bankers Association announced its TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure Resource Guide was available to help lenders understand the new regulation’s play book.
“TRID is 1,888 pages in length and affects every mortgage business functioning in the single-family mortgage market,” MBA Vice President of Education Development Jeffrey Schummer said in a press statement. “Compliance with this new rule requires major systems and operational changes.”
MBA priced its guide, which covers both the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms, at $1,500 for members and $6,000 for non-members. Additionally, the guide offers lenders a sample for creating policies and procedures and implementation checklists while also giving advice on teaming up with technology vendors.
Also, MBA and ALTA will host two one-day virtual forums on March 26 and April 16 that will address industry changes and implications from the CFPB regulation. The March event will serve as an alternative for attendance at the sold-out conference in Chicago, and the April workshop will function as the alternative participation companion for the sold-out event in the District of Columbia.
Both virtual symposiums will go live when their physical counterparts commence, and each online forum costs $275 for MBA members and $850 for other participants. During the powwow, industry experts in legal, title, technology and operations disciplines will give participants a detailed crash course on the rule, the effects and implications it has on lending operations and regulatory compliance technology currently available.
Mortgage service provider ClosingCorp stepped up to highlight its new Lumen Risk Management Suite. In a Feb. 24 press piece, the San Diego-based company said its suite would help lenders with a game plan for managing the upcoming closing disclosure rules.
The risk management platform combines information from loan files with ClosingCorp’s data bank of service providers and property data by county, and checks this material against regulations governing lenders and third-party vendors. As a result, lenders can disseminate transparent information to consumers from loan pre-qualification to closing.
Elsewhere, document generation services company Carleton lifted its SmartDocs tool up from the sidelines with product upgrade news. According to a media announcement, SmartDocs was upgraded late last year to ensure lenders could satisfy CFPB mandates for integrated disclosures. Along with version control and security upgrades, recent SmartDocs updates included more disclosure calculations, alphabetized fee-field sorting and abilities to write data fields, text and formats for producing necessary documents to satisfy the regulation.
“Under the new regulations, lenders will need to make sure that the format of the disclosure documents remains in compliance when changes are made to their loan products,” said Pat Ruszkowski, CEO and president of Carlton.
On Feb. 11, the National Credit Union Administration held a free webinar titled Preparing for the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures and later published the slide presentation from the event on its website. During the webinar, the regulator’s consumer protection staff and CFPB officials gave virtual attendees an executive overview of the rule. Afterward, presenters tackled details of new closing form deliverables, new timing mandates on disclosures and which mortgage loans fell under the regulatory mandate.
