Tag: settlement services
Well, it’s almost that time of year. Close finishes. Drama. Late heroics. Bubbles bursting for many of the unlucky…
That’s right. It’s almost time for TRID Madness!
Why? Is something else going on in the near future?
August isn’t far away, and there’s some real concern out there about who will be ready for the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (TRID)…and who won’t. Many of us remember the chaos (mostly on the settlement side, but not entirely) caused by the form change for the HUD-1 in 2010. “Hiccup” is probably too mild a word for what ensued in the months after the new forms were mandated. But what happened over that frantic period will likely be nothing compared to what could take place after August this year.
Although we’ve heard that the biggest of the big are pretty much ready, and that much of the title industry has been moving on this for awhile, August will reveal which “solutions” work…and which don’t. But when I hear that a good number of businesses on both sides of the transaction haven’t even started testing their systems yet, well, I wonder how August will go. It appears that many didn’t truly realize that this is (and I apologize if you’ve heard this before, but it’s true) NOT a forms change. This is a process change, which will require the businesses making the mortgage come to reality to collaborate in one way, shape or form. This is new stuff.
On top of this, lurking in the background, we have a regulatory and enforcement entity which, to date, has shown little inclination to give the housing industry the benefit of the doubt or a mulligan on mistakes. This ratchets up the tension that much more…so much so that some lenders are privately conceding that if they’re not ready in August, they’ll put a moratorium on mortgage loans until they are. We’ve known since 2010 that big changes were around the corner for our industry. We’ve talked about it and talked about it. Well, it’s here. QM, it appears, was just a tremor…a bit of foreshadowing for what we’re probably about to feel.
Here’s hoping those who have taken TRID lightly don’t find themselves kicked out of the dance too early.
If you’re a part of the mortgage industry right now (especially on the settlement services side), you’re aware that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed yet another “simplification” to the HUD-1, somehow incorporating the Truth in Lending statement. I’m not a title attorney, but even I know that you may want to consult with one or get up to speed quickly if this is the first you’ve heard of the proposal. Big change (think about the last form change, and now add teeth to it) is coming. Again. more
So, it has admittedly been a little while since my last post. Okay. A long while. This is the point where I tell you I’ve been busy, and you, my loyal reader or readers, admonish me for using that tired excuse.
But an interesting thread has popped up in one of my industry LinkedIn groups, and I think it merits comment and consideration. more
My apologies for the lengthy delay. I’ve been busy!
One of the things I have been doing is observing the way our industry reacts to the sea change affecting it every day. The regulatory scheme is different, and getting differenter every day. (Nice thing about blog postings is that one doesn’t need to use perfect grammar all the time.). more
Let’s be honest. There aren’t a lot of consultants or agencies serving the mortgage and title industry when it comes to public relations or marketing commmunications. There are many reasons for this. After all, this is a very “hands-on” industry. Many simply choose to go it alone–even without an “in-house” marketing department. Many of the smaller businesses place great value on everything but their own time. I’ve seen small agency owners eschew a $300 plane ticket to make a 12 hour drive at an odd time, solely in the name of cost savings. And I’m not necessarily condemning this. But it helps explain why many of the more established PR agencies out there aren’t hanging out at mortgage and settlement services conferences. more
Wow. What a difference a week makes.
Even in a competitive industry, not everyone is your competitor…
A couple of years into the End of the Real Estate World As We Know It, it looks like there are still a few more dips ahead on the roller coaster ride no one asked for. I see the good people of the mortgage and real estate industry buckling up for another year of uncertainty. Much has changed, and yet, much hasn’t. One thing that may have to is our general attitude toward our peers. more