They stated that they will:

• Coordinate with other agencies: The CFPB is coordinating with other federal government regulators that also conduct examinations of mortgage companies to ensure all regulators have a shared understanding of the CFPB’s new rules. This will help promote a consistent regulatory experience for industry.

•  Publish plain-language guides: The CFPB will publish easy-to-understand summaries of the regulations in both written and video form. The guides, available in the spring, will be particularly helpful to smaller businesses with limited staff for compliance.

•  Publish updates to the official interpretations: Over the next year, the CFPB plans to issue updates of the “official interpretations,” which provide guidance on how to comply with the rules. These updates will allow the CFPB to address important questions raised by industry, consumer groups, or other agencies. Priority for these updates will be given to issues that are important to a large number of providers or consumers, and that critically affect mortgage companies’ implementation decisions. The Bureau expects to issue the first one in the spring and issue additional updates, as needed.

•  Publish readiness guides: These guides, available this summer, will help mortgage originators and servicers prepare to comply with the new rules by giving them helpful check-lists, such as suggesting that implementation plans include items like revising policies and procedures and finalizing training plans for staff. More in-depth examination procedures are expected to be published later this year by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. Industry members will be able to use these examination procedures to conduct self-assessments and internal reviews of their readiness and compliance.

•  Educate consumers: As the January 2014 date approaches, the CFPB will give consumers information about their new protections under these rules through a broad-reaching consumer education campaign.

More information about the CFPB’s new mortgage rules can be found at: www.consumerfinance.gov/regulations

Any inquiries about the meaning or intent of the regulations may be directed to: CFPB_reginquiries@cfpb.gov or 202-435-7700.

The rule amends the appraisals provision of Regulation B, which implements ECOA. The amended provision covers only applications for credit to be secured by a first lien on a dwelling.

The new rule:

• Requires creditors to notify applicants within three business days of receiving an application of their right to receive a copy of appraisals developed.

•  Requires creditors to provide applicants a copy of each appraisal and other written valuation promptly upon their completion or three business days before consummation (for closed-end credit) or account opening (for open-end credit), whichever is earlier.

• Permits applicants to waive the timing requirement for providing these copies. However, applicants who waive the timing requirement must be given a copy of all appraisals and other written valuations at or prior to consummation or account opening, or if the transaction is not consummated or the account is not opened, no later than 30 days after the creditor determines the transaction will not be consummated or the account will not be opened.

• Prohibits creditors from charging for the copy of appraisals and other written valuations, but permits creditors to charge applicants reasonable fees for the cost of the appraisals or other written valuation unless applicable law provides otherwise.

The disclosure requirements of this rule overlap with a rule on appraisals for higher-priced mortgage loans the Bureau is issuing jointly with several other agencies today. That rule implements an amendment that the Dodd-Frank Act made to TILA, which also requires creditors to provide free copies of appraisals in transactions covered by the rule and to provide a disclosure at application. The same appraisal notice can be used to satisfy both this rule and the TILA rule, in transactions where both rules apply.

The final rule revises Regulation Z to implement amendments to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

The Proposed Rule had provisions to prohibit compensation based on the term of a transaction or proxy for a term; dual compensation; a required zero point loan and loan originator qualifications.

We will have to wait until tomorrow apparently Never on a Sunday is not for the Mortgage Industry.

We are about to enter a new era in consumer lending, the era of the qualified mortgage. But how did we reach this point? Here’s a quick look back:

July 21, 2010 — The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was signed into law. Among other things, the Dodd-Frank Act is designed to “promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system [and] protect consumers from abusive financial services practices.”

July 21, 2011 — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) begins operation. The CFPB’s creation was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act. One of the bureau’s first tasks is to develop the final definition of a qualified mortgage, or QM.

May 31, 2012 — CFPB opens a public comment period to receive input on the new regulations.

July 9, 2012 — The comment period is closed.

July 11, 2012  – The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing addressing consumer and market perspectives of mortgage reforms made by The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Both consumer and industry members provided testimony, including the Mortgage Bankers Association and American Bankers Association.  The ongoing CFPB rulemaking to implement the Dodd-Frank ability to repay rule and special status under the rule for qualified mortgages was the focus of both trade groups’ testimony

July – Dec 2012 — CFPB considers comments provided by consumers, industry groups, U.S. senators and others. Toward the end of the year, they say they are on schedule to finalize the QM rules by their January 21, 2013 deadline.

November 11, 2012 — The publishers of the Home Buying Institute launch a not-for-profit website, QualifiedMortgage.org to serve as a central source of information on QM-related subjects.

December 28, 2012 — Inside Mortgage Finance reports that “the agency’s Qualified Mortgage rule will be unveiled the evening of January 9″ 2013.

Lenders are concerned and have been discussing the proposal and what might happen.  The rule will change the way many of them do business and will affect all areas of the mortgage market.

We are at a wait and see moment.

• when the final rule is posted on the Bureau’s Web site, or
• when the final rule is published in the Federal Register

he Bureau’s Web site is www.consumerfinance.gov 

Clarifying what constitutes issuance of a rule is beneficial because in some cases the date of issuance of a rule has legal consequences.  For example, under section 1400(c)(3) of the Dodd-Frank Act, certain provisions of title XIV will go into effect on the date that is 18 months after the designated transfer date,unless relevant regulations are “issued” by that date. Given the Bureau’s practice of posting rules on its Web site before the Office of the Federal Register makes the rules available for public inspection or publishes the rules in the Federal Register, uncertainty could arise regarding the date on which such rules were issued. The Final Rule eliminates uncertainty by clarifying when the Bureau’s rules are deemed issued.

The Bureau generally intends to issue rules by posting them on its Web site, but, as a precaution, the Final Rule provides that a rule will be considered issued upon publication in the Federal Register if by inadvertence or for some other reason the rule is not posted on the Web site or is published in the Federal Register before it is posted on the Web site.

• ATR/QM Rule  –  Ability to Repay/Qualified Mortgage; Issued May, 2011, originally  to come out in final 4/12 – Rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown
• HOEPA Rule – High Cost Mortgage Loans (Reg Z)  issued July  9, 2012, Comments submitted  September 9 – Rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown
• Loan Officer Compensation Rule – Mortgage Originator Standards (Reg Z) issued August 17, 2012, Comments due October 16, 2012 – Rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown
• Servicing Rule – Mortgage Servicing (Regulation X; Reg Z) issued August 10,  2012, Comments due October 9, 2012 – Rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown
• Escrow Rule  – Requirements for Escrow Accounts  (Reg Z)  Rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown
• ECOA Appraisal Disclosure Rule – Final rule before January 21, 2013, implementation date unknown

More to look forward to later in the year:

• HUD Disparate Impact Rule -   Final rule issuance date and implementation date unknown
• QRM rule – Six rule makers (not including CFPB) Final rule to be published after QM. Effective date unknown
• RESPA-TILA Integration Rule – TILA/RESPA Mortgage Disclosure Integration (Regulation X;  Reg Z) Proposed rule issued July 9, 2012, First comments due  and submitted September 7, 2012, Second (main set) due November 6, 2012.  Final rule and effective date unknown
• Basel III Rule- Three rule makers ( FRB, OCC & FDIC) Issued June 7, Comments due October 22, 2012. Final Rule, effective date, unknown
• HMDA Pre-Rule -  Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (Reg C) Proposal and final rule dates unknown
• Loan Originator Anti-Steering Rule – Proposal and final rule dates unknown

Happy New Year to all..

• Recruitment and Retention Plan
• Training and Workforce Development Plan
• Workforce Flexibilities Plan

The plans presented in this report represent the CFPB’s current goals for recruitment and retention, training and workforce development, and workforce flexibilities.

Over the past year, the CFPB continued to build its workforce by identifying and recruiting the best qualified people to meet immediate and long-term staffing needs.
As of November 3, 2012, the Bureau had 1,014 employees. The Bureau’s growth since FY2011 is indicated in below:

According to the company, the video highlights a team of holiday carolers presenting a parody of a PBS telethon raising funds for the Compliance Officer’s Relief Fund. In five minutes, the “Compliance Carolers” manage to squeeze all of the major rules into a handful of revised Christmas carols. Or, according to Questsoft, “Think ‘Carol of the Bells’ built on a litany of abbreviations.”

This year’s video is available to view online. QuestSoft is also offering a complimentary special combo DVD/CD pack that contains all of the songs from this year’s and last year’s Christmas videos combined into a single set.