CFPB comments on Mortgage Loans you broker out to another shop or lender. Must the compensation be the same as if you kept that loan in-house?

For background on this question See CFPB SUPERVISORY HIGHLIGHTS, ISSUE 30 – (SUMMER 2023)

Here is the issue. The CFPB said compensation cannot vary (from a MLO Comp Plan Exhibit) on a brokered loan versus an in-house loan where the broker offers a substantially similar product.

The CFPB wrote “Regulation Z generally prohibits compensating mortgage loan originators in an amount that is based on the terms of a transaction. It defines a term of a transaction as “any right or obligation of the parties to a credit transaction.” And it provides that a determination of whether compensation is “based on” a term of a transaction is made based on objective facts and circumstances indicating that compensation would have been different if a transaction term had been different. Accordingly, in the preamble to the CFPB’s 2013 Loan Originator Final Rule, the CFPB clarified that it is “not permissible to differentiate compensation based on credit product type, since products are simply a bundle of particular terms.” As part of their business model, institutions brokered-out certain mortgage products not offered in-house.

For example, the institutions used outside lenders for reverse mortgage originations, but had their own in-house cash-out refinance mortgage product. Examiners determined that the institutions used a compensation plan that allowed a loan originator who originated both brokered-out and in-house loans to receive a different level of compensation for the brokered out loans versus in-house loans. By compensating differently for loan product types that were not offered in-house, the entities violated Regulation Z by basing compensation on the terms of a transaction. In response to these findings, the entities have since revised their loan originator compensation plans to comply with Regulation Z.”

This means if you choose to broker out the loan you must stick to the same MLO comp plan exhibit you use for in-house individual MLO commission calculation. If you are a broker origination organization, this just means stick to the comp plan exhibit because 100% of your loans are brokered out.

If you don’t OFFER the type of loan you are brokering out, this gets grey and you should have a consistent formula you use to calculate what the MLO will earn on a loan not part of your usual bundle of products. The grey comes in where you note the CFPB used reverse mortgages as an example and stated they thought a reverse mortgage was essentially the same as a cash out refinance. I cannot even begin to explain that conclusion.

Take note of this. The CFPB said “By compensating differently for loan product types that were not offered in-house, the entities violated Regulation Z by basing compensation on the terms of a transaction.” This seems to endorse the bucket concept used by most of you out there.

Respectfully,

Nelson A. Locke, Esq

nl@lockelaw.us

https://www.lockelaw.us

(800) 656-4584

A serious warning to HECM Servicers nationwide…….

This decision was announced yesterday. The Hawaii Supreme Court has set precedent and made it crystal clear that sloppy foreclosures will not be tolerated. Their arguments are flawless. This should be applicable to any type of servicing.

But I am especially pleased this decision will protect seniors with HECMs who hit bumps in the road and cannot react as fast as younger folks.

Read here.

How A Reverse Mortgage Lender Took A Hawaii Man’s Home Over A $500 Repair

Respectfully,

Nelson A. Locke, Esq

(800) 656-4584

Federal Matters and Compliance

CFPB reports on HECM Complaints

Locations of reverse mortgage complaints, company response rates

By far, the state with the highest number of reverse mortgage-related complaints submitted to the CFPB was California, totaling 110 complaints (or 17.8% of the total). This is not particularly surprising, since California is far and away the most active reverse mortgage state in the country. Nine of the top 10 reverse mortgage lenders in 2021 all feature California as their most active state.

Florida came in second, with 81 reverse mortgage-related complaints (or 13.1% of the total) submitted to the CFPB in the same period. This is followed by Texas (58); New York (29); and Arizona (19) rounding out the top 5, with similar correlations to general loan activity for the industry.

In terms of a company’s response to the complaining consumer, all 618 listed complaints are accounted for with the vast majority — 595 — being listed as “closed with explanation.” Six of the complaints remain in process as of February 16. Interestingly, only 133 of the complaints (21.5% of the total) have received a direct response to the consumer by the company, with the majority of those instances seeing the company elect not to make that response publicly available in a CFPB database.

You all need to have a login and password set up at the CFPB Lender Portal. Here is the link.

https://portal.consumerfinance.gov/company/s/login/

You should check contents at least every 90 days. If you have a complaint you ignore, it is a red flag and a sure express ticket to a visit from your regulator.

Any questions? Call me at (800) 656-4584

Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

https://www.lockelaw.us

Template for Occupancy Fraud Affidavit

Recently I have encountered several situations where borrowers just flat out lied about their intent to occupy the subject property as their principal residence. The brokers were caught without sufficient evidence in their files that they properly verified the intent to the best of their ability. Thus, this affidavit was born. It covers both those who state their intention as owner occupied, and those who state their intention as non-owner occupied. If you put this on your letterhead and have it executed at closing it would be hard for a fraudulent minded borrower to point the finger back at you.

If this has happened to you and you need my help, contact me at nl@lockelaw.us

That’s it for now.

Here is the form. It is designed as a crystal clear WARNING.

“Do you intend to occupy this property as your principal residence?” or “Do you intend for this property to be non-owner occupied?”

These questions, indicated by check boxes on most mortgage loan applications, might seem straightforward. But if you misrepresent your intention, it is a crime known in real estate lingo as “occupancy fraud.”

Occupancy fraud occurs when a borrower says he or she plans to live in a home, all the while knowing the property will be rented out.  The key here is to note “all the while”. People can change their minds, but they will need to show compelling evidence that at the time they applied, closed, and funded the deal they absolutely intended for the property to be either their residence or a non-owner occupied investment property. 

Sometimes people change their mind after the fact.  That’s less serious than someone intentionally deceiving the lender by providing information indicating they are either going to occupy or not when they truly have the opposite  intention.

But it still maybe seen as an unintentional misrepresentation and give rise to a claim for damages by the lender that relied on the borrower’s statement about occupancy or investment use.

Most lenders’ loan documents define owner occupancy as a period of at least one year, but mortgage lenders have flexibility in their guidelines. If you intend to occupy a home, but move out within less than 12 months, you should notify the lender in writing and keep a copy of your letter.

Lenders perceive an owner-occupied transaction to be a safer credit risk than non owner occupied.

ONE LIE on a loan application may trigger a full-blown fraud investigation, and  you’ll be facing HUGE negative consequences if you get caught. IT IS A FELONY. But it gets worse. Lying on a mortgage loan application is so serious it can also be considered Money Laundering. ANOTHER FELONY. And then, there is the usual conspiracy charge. THREE FELONIES.

Technically, the mortgage lender could call your loan due and payable, raise your interest rate and payment, or foreclose on your loan.  Whatever does or doesn’t happen will be solely at the lender’s discretion.

The lender could file a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) into the federal government’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a centralized database that financial institutions use to report possible instances of fraud to law enforcement authorities. SARs could become a problem if you make a misrepresentation or outright false statement on a loan application and later want to move to another home or refinance your mortgage.

Understood, this _________ day of ________, 2018;

 

____________________________________            ___________________________________

Borrower                                                         Co-Borrower

 

___________________________________

Witness

 

Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

Compliance Services USA

(800) 656-4584

Don’t be foolish about the status of the CFPB.

Hi folks.

There are a couple of eccentric mortgage folks out there who publish video blogs that announced today (with great glee) that RESPA is dead. Looked like a comedy skit.

Please do not believe this sensationalism. What is going on right now at the CFPB is a leadership issue, and I think it is resolving itself in the favor of the White House. That means we will likely see a more conservative approach to adding new and aggressive tactics to the present CFPB platform. It does NOT mean the CFPB is without teeth. It does NOT mean everything the CFPB has put in place is going to be dismantled. It does NOT mean RESPA is “dead”.

Do NOT make that mistake.

Video blogs that celebrate the end of regulation are irresponsible and demonstrate why we found ourselves in this regulation situation  in the first place.

If you have questions, just email me. And please folks, stay classy.

 

“She rated us a 2. Said 1 is the highest.”

We just got this from one of our clients. Our clients can go home early and celebrate! The regulators appreciated the robust nature of our client’s concern for doing things right and protecting the consumer in the process.

Thank you to our client – you know who you are. You guys are the greatest!

If the rest of you are nervous I only have two things to say.

1. If you are our client and have been doing as we ask, these are the types of results you will see. So you need not be fearful. Especially if we are doing your post closing QC as part of the package.
2. If you are not our client, you probably need to be fearful. Call us at (800) 656-4584 and let’s see what we can do to get you into that safe place.
3. Finally, audits are in fact increasing.

Nelson A. Locke, Esq

Compliance Services, LLC.

 

 

This is why you can’t rely on the in-house compliance persons at the big lenders.

By Barbara S. Mishkin on December 8th, 2016

The CFPB announced that it entered into consent orders with three reverse mortgage companies to settle the CFPB’s allegations that the companies engaged in deceptive advertising in violation of the Mortgage Acts and Practices-Advertising Rule (Regulation N) and the Consumer Financial Protection Act.  Each of the consent orders requires payment of a civil money penalty to the CFPB.

According to the CFPB’s consent order with American Advisors Group (AAG) (described in the consent order as the “largest reverse mortgage lender in the United States”), AAG’s advertisements (consisting of television advertisements and information kits that included a DVD and several brochures) misrepresented that a consumer with a reverse mortgage could not lose the home and could stay in the home for the rest of the consumer’s life.  The advertisements also allegedly misrepresented that a consumer with a reverse mortgage would have no monthly payments and the mortgage would eliminate all of the consumer’s debts.  The CFPB claimed that these statements were misrepresentations because (1) a consumer with a reverse mortgage still has payments and can default and lose the  home by failing to comply with the loan terms such as requirements to pay property taxes or make homeowner’s insurance payments, and (2) a reverse mortgage is a debt and therefore cannot be used to eliminate all of a consumer’s debt.

In addition to prohibiting AAG  from making similar misrepresentations in future advertising and requiring AAG to implement a compliance plan that includes an advertising compliance policy, the consent order requires AAG to pay a civil money penalty of $400,000.

According to the CFPB’s consent order with Reverse Mortgage Solutions (RMS), a reverse mortgage lender, RMS’s advertisements (which included television, radio, print, direct mail, and online advertisements) similarly misrepresented that a consumer with a reverse mortgage could not lose the home and could stay in the home for the rest of the consumer’s life, would have no monthly payments, and the mortgage would eliminate all of the consumer’s debts.  The CFPB claimed that these statements were misrepresentations for the same reasons asserted in the AAG consent order.

The CFPB also alleged that the company misrepresented that a consumer’s heirs would inherit the home and that a consumer’s ability to obtain a reverse mortgage was time limited.  The CFPB claimed that these statements were misrepresentations because, respectively, heirs can only retain ownership of the home after the consumer’s death by either repaying the reverse mortgage or paying 95 percent of the home’s assessed value, and there was in fact no relevant time limit on a consumer’s ability to obtain a reverse mortgage.

In addition to prohibiting RMS  from making similar misrepresentations in future advertising and requiring RMS to implement a compliance plan that includes an advertising compliance policy, the consent order requires AAG to pay a civil money penalty of $325,000.

According to the CFPB’s consent order with Aegean Financial (AF), a reverse mortgage broker, AF’s advertisements (which included print, direct mail, radio, and online advertisements) similarly misrepresented that a consumer with a reverse mortgage could not lose the home and could stay in the home for the rest of the consumer’s life, and would have no monthly payments.  The CFPB claimed that these statements were misrepresentations for the same reasons asserted in the AAG consent order.

The CFPB also alleged that AF misrepresented that a consumer who refinanced a reverse mortgage would not be subject to costs.  According to the CFPB, this statement was a misrepresentation because a consumer who refinanced a reverse mortgage would incur costs such as credit report fees, flood certification fees, title insurance costs, appraisal costs, and other closing costs.  The CFPB also claimed that the statement in AF’s Spanish-language advertisements that “if you are 62 years old or older and you own a house, we have good news for you; you qualify for a reverse mortgage from the United States Housing Department” was misleading.  According to the CFPB, the statement was misleading because, while HUD provides insurance for the most popular type of reverse mortgage, a reverse mortgage is not a government benefit or  loan from the government and the product is not  endorsed or sponsored by the government.  The CFPB also alleged that AF failed to keep records of its advertisements as required by Regulation N.

In addition to prohibiting AF from making similar misrepresentations or misleading statements in future advertising and requiring RMS to implement a compliance plan that includes an advertising compliance policy, the consent order requires AAG to pay a civil money penalty of $65,000.

Please remember, Compliance Services reviews your advertising at no charge. Send it to us BEFORE you get into trouble.

 Respectfully,

 Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

Mortgage Industry Compliance Expert

Attorney and Expert Witness

Office (800) 656-4584

Cell (305) 951-2785

http://www.lockelaw.us

http://expertlenderservices.com

 

Have a laugh on me. Read below.

I just received a marketing email that came from a think tank in DC. It made reference to something called the Data Transparency Coalition, and was presenting training on financial transparency to be presented by a representative of the  US Treasury.

So, at the bottom it also said this:

“Workshop Available to Federal, State and Local Government Employees Only. Press is NOT Invited to Attend to Permit Candid Discussion at this Educational Workshop”

Would you find this as amusing as I do? What are they discussing that they need to exclude some outside attendance? I swear its true.

Also a quick comment on those of you who feel like Dodd Frank will be abolished. Just my opinion, no it won’t. It will be modified and refined and probably made smaller. But it is here to stay. The great recession will guarantee that we will never be allowed to operate without stricter compliance parameters. Don’t delude yourself.

It is the end of the year and many of you must re-certify for NMLS and State purposes – making important statements about your compliance in your financial reports.

If you are stretching the truth or maybe not ready for an audit at all, please call us at (800) 656-4584 x103. We can help and if we hear from you this week we can certify you for year end. We work pretty quickly this time of year to insure you can be truthful when you re-certify.

With respect,

Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

Compliance Services and Locke Law US, LLC

(800) 656-4584

Audit Rating System Finalized.

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), whose members include the CFPB, has finalized guidance setting forth a revised uniform interagency consumer compliance rating system (CCRS).  The revisions reflect changes in consumer compliance supervision since the current rating system was adopted in 1980.  The other FFIEC members are the Fed, FDIC, NCUA, OCC, and State Liaison Committee.

The FFIEC members plan to implement the revised rating system for consumer compliance examinations that begin on or after March 31, 2017.

The CCRS includes three categories of assessment factors: board and management oversight, compliance program, and violations of law and consumer harm.  The assessment factors in the three categories consist of the following:

• To assess an institution’s board and management oversight, examiners will consider: oversight and commitment to the institution’s CMS; effectiveness of the institution’s change management process; comprehension, identification and management of risks arising from the institution’s products, services, and activities; and any corrective action undertaken as consumer compliance issues are identified.
• To assess an institution’s compliance program, examiners will consider: whether the institution’s policies and procedures are appropriate to the risk in the institution’s products, services, and activities; the degree to which compliance training is current and tailored to risk and staff responsibilities; the sufficiency of monitoring, and if applicable, auditing, to encompass compliance risks; and the responsiveness and effectiveness of the consumer complaint resolution process.
• To assess an institution’s violations of law and consumer harm, examiners will consider: the root causes of any violations identified during examinations; the severity of any consumer harm resulting from the violations; the duration of time over which the violations occurred; and the pervasiveness of the violations.  The CCRS includes incentives for self-identification and prompt correction of violations.

The revised rating system uses a scale of 1 through 5, with 1 representing the highest rating and lowest degree of supervisory concern and 5 representing the lowest rating and most critically deficient level of performance and thus the highest degree of supervisory concern.  An institution’s overall rating under the CCRS is intended to reflect a comprehensive evaluation of the institution’s performance under the rating system by considering the categories and assessment factors in the context of the institution’s size, complexity, and risk profile.

The CCRS does not assign specific numeric ratings to any of the above assessment factors and an institution’s rating is not be based on a numeric average or any other quantitative calculation.  As a result, an institution does not have to receive a satisfactory rating in all categories to receive an overall satisfactory rating.  Conversely, even if some assessments are rated as satisfactory, an institution can still receive an overall less than satisfactory rating.

The important note is YES this does apply to small Brokers and Lenders and has already been rolled out in a few states. In recent audits, it has been used thoughtfully and seemed fair. Frankly the people having the worst audit experience are those who think they are somehow “above” the process. Be warned.

Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

(800) 656-4584

http://www.lockelaw.us

 

Commercial Loans and Private Lenders

 

January 2nd, 2016

Because of the aggressive nature of the CFPB audit practice and the predictable fear that it creates among brokers and lenders, some of you have chosen to focus on the commercial niche. The mistaken belief is that by switching to commercial, you avoid the risks associated with RESPA, TRID, and the usual compliance requirements of a mortgage broker or lender. Some of you even think you are exempt from the SAFE Act and can let your licenses lapse.

Folks, don’t do this. You can run from compliance but you can’t hide, and they will get around to you eventually. Even if your business model changes to full commercial lending, you still have a healthy list of rules and regulations you MUST comply with in order to pass an audit. And in 99% of the situations I have investigated a license is required.

I drafted a compilation of some Q&A I searched out. It is informative and can be helpful to you. Download this and read it before you make any decisions about reducing or eliminating your compliance efforts.

Commercial Loans and RESPA TRID FAQ 123115

Thanks for reading, call us at (800) 656-4584 and request information about how to engage Compliance Services. You will be amazed at how easy we will make the process for you. Hundreds of clients  and all of them happy.

Nelson A. Locke, Esq

(800) 656-4584

Foreign Nationals and RESPA TRID

January 2nd 2016,

Yes it is true, I cannot stay away from the office for very long. Good for you, huh.

During the past quarter we were engaged by several mortgage companies that  specialize in loans to Foreign Nationals. they also offer federally related loans, but foreign national loans are a specialty.

So I decided to create a one  page summary of when you need to apply RESPA and TRID, and when you can revert to the old way of using a HUD-1 and maybe a classic GFE.

Foreign National Guidelines 100315

Happy New Year everybody!

Nelson A Locke, Esq.

(800) 656-4584

http://www.expertlenderservices.com

 

Hard Money Business Purpose Loans against Principal Residences

This is “risky business”. While there are exceptions in Reg Z that will allow you to make this kind of loan and stay outside of HOEPA and non-qualified mortgage areas, it is by no means crystal clear that this is something you should happily do again and again.

Here’s the issue. The Dodd Frank Act and the subsequent CFPB rules and interpretations are pretty crystal clear in their primary intent, to protect a borrower’s principal residence, his homestead. I don’t think any of us would argue that point, after all it is called the “Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.”

This is a classic situation of ambiguity. If you take Reg Z’s exception at face value, you might end up OK. The operative word is “might”.

You can protect yourself and improve your chances of surviving a regulator challenge to this type of loan by following this simple procedure.

• Require the borrower to sign an affidavit at application, acknowledging that they intend for this loan to be for a proper business purpose, and that none of the proceeds will be used for anything other than that.
• Then, at your closing, have them execute the same disclosure again, this time with a notary present.
• If you retain these two documents in your files, and the customer’s business fails, and he then says that you steered him into putting his residence at risk, you have an argument.

It may be persuasive enough to keep you out of trouble.

If you just make the loan, and rely on the exception, it may imply you really did not investigate and thus failed some duty of care.

Look, like some of my policies I offer you, this is an optional one. But no one ever failed an audit for being too concerned with protecting consumers. That is exactly what this policy does.

If you want to learn more, call me at the number below. If you are not my client, perhaps you should think about it.

That’s it for now.

Nelson A. Locke, Esq.

Compliance Expert

(800) 656-4584

Do you advertise HUD or FHA products?

If you originate HUD loans (FHA) you should post this disclosure on your web site and your marketing materials.

Back in the day, this really was not an issue. Now with the CFPB it is an issue. Think of it from the consumer protection perspective. False or misleading advertising. Misleading is a big word, loose interpretation.

Things have certainly changed. For example, there used to be two HUD logos that existed. One was solid white, the other had a blue ring around it. The blue one was allowed for lenders to use, to announce their approval by HUD and FHA. The white one was for HUD or FHA use only. If only things were still that simple. However, even then, with only two choices of logos, most of us still got this one wrong and used the white one in marketing. The blue one was correct.

Hud or FHA would see the white logo and then call, probably order us to take down the white one, and we would change to the blue one. That does not happen anymore. I would recommend you NOT use either one.

So what can you do? If you want to stay out of trouble with HUD or FHA and avoid any perception that you are claiming to be affiliated with HUD, or have some sort of real or imaginary approval from HUD beyond that of your DE status, post this on your marketing materials.

“These materials are not from HUD or FHA and were not approved by HUD or a government agency. The Sender is not in any way affiliated with any organization listed or referenced within this website, including HUD/FHA. The inclusion of various education, information, web links, or materials are not an endorsement of the Sender or any of its employees or business partners. For information directly from HUD/FHA, visit http://www.hudclips.com”

Feel free to cut and paste this on to the bottom of the first page of your marketing material and web site.

Anyone have any questions about anything? Just email me, hit reply and let me help you!

Is your compliance consultant licensed? If you need a license, shouldn’t they?

When a mortgage broker or mini-correspondent is making the important decision to retain a compliance firm one of the most important things they should consider is size. In this case, big is not always better and here’s why.

We hear from around 50 mortgage brokers and mini-correspondents a week. Many are already clients of our compliance audit prep and defense practice – calling with a question. The rest, well, they are fishing for the answer to how to best protect themselves as they realize how far out of compliance they actually are.

Some are impressed with large national firms that run full page advertising in trade papers. As they swoon over the large ad they fail to notice that the company employees non-attorney staff that are not trained to reason their way through all these regulations and understand the true meaning of the regs. That’s not us; I am an attorney with special training  regarding the CFPB, HUD, and the APA. Acting as your compliance advisor we will help you reason your way through regulations.

Sometimes the mortgage broker or mini-correspondent fails to ask if the compliance consultant has ever actually been a mortgage broker. And most of them have not. Ask if the consultant has an NMLS license. WE do. I originate loans and hold several NMLS licenses. This means when we work with our mortgage brokers and mini-correspondents we understand the process and how to integrate regulations with reality.

Integrating regulations with reality. Does that sound good to you? Further, would you like working with someone who is available quickly via email or phone to guide you at those critical decision moments? That’s us.

Call today, let’s get together and get you compliant before you find yourself holding that audit letter and wondering what you will do in your next career. Just sayin………

(800) 557-6580

An Audit Horror Story, will your audit sound like this one?

Last month I was contacted by a very frightened Mortgage Banker, a small shop with about seven employees doing Agency loans.

This woman tried her hardest to always do the right thing but made three big mistakes that I believe will cause her to lose her license. It was avoidable. I got to thinking; is this YOUR story? So I will share just enough of the story  that you can ask yourself that very important question. IS THIS YOUR STORY? Here’s part of what happened.

1. The Banker accepted assurances from staff that compliance and quality control were up to par. They weren’t. Staff gave the quick answer, because they were employees not owners and not invested in the need to tell the complete truth.

2. The Banker’s Company did not have any kind of written customer complaint policy in place. Then a consumer had a “bad experience” and complained to an Agency. When the regulator showed up unannounced to investigate the complaint, which is what they do; a presumption of non-compliance was created when no customer complaint policy was found to be in effect.

3. Once staff became sufficiently frightened by the regulator’s presence staff engaged in “self help” after the fact and tried to “fix” the problem file. They thought no one was looking. Well someone was. A regulator was looking. Now we also had a presumption of dishonesty. This is the one that will always result in the worst possible scenario for the Banker. The presumption is the attitude came from the top. That’s you, right?

This Banker will likely lose her company’s  Lender Approval, and may even lose her personal MLO license. All of this was avoidable. How?

An honest assessment NOW about how good your program really is. Just because you spent a lot of money, does not mean your compliance program is good. It just means you may have paid too much.

Consider the use of an outside Compliance Expert to examine what YOU do and tell you if it is sufficient to keep you in that “presumption of compliance” zone.

Train your staff; tell them the consequences of conduct such as what I have described here.

Keep an eye on them.

Consider appointing your outside QC person as Agency liaison. This keeps the contact professional and does not disrupt staff where they get to the point of fear.

This is what I do. Call me at (800) 557-6580 and ask for help.

Do you offer Reverse Mortgages?

Usually, because of the unique nature of the product and the ever-changing regulations, you should consider having a compliance expert who has actually originated these loans.  In my experience, those traditional forward loan compliance people miss many of the nuances of the HECM program, leaving you to pay the fine. Maybe you need to think about that?

I have personally originated or supervised or underwritten over 3,000 HECMs. I am a DE Underwriter, licensed attorney, and Compliance Expert.

Don’t take a chance that your forward “guy” will actually know the differences. Protect yourself. Call me today.  (800) 557-6580

Take a look here.

“I just got an audit letter. What should I do now?”

When that dreaded audit letter shows up most brokers and lenders instinctively reach out to the regulator and try to start a dialog about his audit objectives. Is this a good thing? I will give you my opinion at the bottom of this post.

It’s always good to know why you were selected for an audit. There are three ways you are usually selected. First way: you have a customer complaint hanging in the wind and the regulator wants to investigate to determine the merit of the complaint and how robust your business practices are, or are not. Second, in the absence of a consumer complaint, an audit could be triggered by a suspicious activity report. A suspicious activity report (“SAR”) can be filed by any qualified industry participant who feels there is probable cause that you or your company may be doing something improper. “May” is the big word here, because this process gets very subjective. It is supposed to be taken seriously but I have seen it used improperly by parties who think that filing SARS makes them somehow look more compliant or concerned with proper operations. Finally, you can be selected randomly for an audit.

So here’s the deal. One way or the other, the auditors are likely coming. Let’s hope you are selected randomly. A random audit will follow the agency audit checklists and will be more friendly and personable.

However, if there was a SAR filed – and there is really no such thing as a “wrongful SAR” because the government impliedly encourages reporting which means literally  anyone wanting to impress their boss can recommend a SAR – you will be affected by the filing for years and approached with suspicion. If you think a SAR triggered your audit, be careful how you respond to the regulator. In fact, it is smart to have your attorney respond for you.

Now, if the audit was triggered by a consumer complaint you can usually tell pretty quickly. It is revealed by the auditor if asked. Your response should be to show you have a good CFPB compliant consumer complaint policy with a designated executive and a proper log book. This will show the auditor how your consumer complaints are handled and what the resolution was. This builds credibility.

However here is my best advice. For any audit notice call your outside compliance specialist right away. Appoint them your CFPB or AGENCY liaison. Let them do the “asking” for you.

By the way, I do this. Call me today. Before you find yourself in trouble. (800) 557-6580

So, can you talk amongst yourselves about what happened during your audit? You will be shocked at this opinion.

This week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) notified mortgage lenders on how to treat confidential information related to the agency’s examination practices.

Under the CFPB’s regulations, reference is made to CSI. CSI may include any work papers or other documentation that CFPB examiners have prepared in the course of an examination. Any CFPB supervisory actions, such as memoranda of understanding between the CFPB and an institution and related submissions and correspondence, are also considered as confidential information.

Even if firms have signed private confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements that restrict the sharing of certain information with a regulator, the NDAA may very well be considered voidable and superseded by CFPB regulation.  The Bureau has authority over certain non-bank financial companies such as mortgage lenders and servicers, payday lenders, private student lenders, as well as large debt collectors, consumer reporting agencies, student loan servicers and international remittance providers.

So this bulletin addresses the work papers prepared by the auditor or regulator as they work their way through your records. What I think it means, is that even if you have a confidentiality agreement with a party, federal rules supersede that agreement and you are NOT allowed to discuss the confidential work papers of the auditors who examined you. So if there is a practice out there of sharing “audit stories” it may now become a violation to talk amongst yourselves about certain aspects of audits.

Unless of course a lawyer-client or other qualified privilege exist. Such as psychiatrist, pastor, spouse; etc.

Sounds a bit like shock and awe tactics. Not sure; maybe I have misread it. One things for sure, with all the complexity of the CFPB you will need a psychiatrist, and you already need a good lawyer.  The six page bulletin is available here.

“I have compliance manuals I created a long time ago, they were good back then, why change?”

Here are why you should take a good hard look at your existing Compliance Manual.

DODD-FRANK did not exist “back then”.

The SAFE ACT did not exist “back then”.

The CFPB had not even been conceived “back then”

The NMLS was in its gestation period…..but not up yet “back then”.

Everything is different. Everything has changed. You should either compare your home grown manual to a current iteration of what the CFPB looks for, or just throw in the towel and start as if you didn’t have a program at all. Sometimes the clean sweep is the best way to create the presumption of compliance. Imagine the look on your auditor’s face. He just asked for your Compliance Manuals. And you said….”here they are, we have used these since 2008″.

Look, its ALL different. You originate, you know that. You have been dealing with it daily as your sponsors struggle to protect themselves by monitoring you. It’s a new question every day. It’s a whole new world out there for us mortgage lenders.

Here’s an idea. I offer a subscription plan whereby you can send me your compliance questions whenever they arise, and I will provide guidance via an email response based on knowledge of our current world. Just don’t abuse me, folks. If you are that far out of compliance or out of date, just engage me and let’s get rolling.

You can reach me at (800) 557-6580. That’s it for now.

Financial Assessment is taking effect now – were your loan officers and underwriters prepared for the impact of this major change in our thinking?

This post will be about Reverse Mortgages and the upcoming implementation of financial assessment. While I direct it to HECM originators and underwriters, you can probably rest assured it will end up on the agency or CFPB’s future “check lists” for use during an audit. So, what is a financial assessment?

Effective April 27th, 2015, all HECM borrowers will be submitted to a soft underwriting procedure called the “financial assessment”. It is a review procedure developed by FHA with input from the Industry. It requires the originator to be more savvy when collecting the initial data and requires the underwriter to review the borrower’s financial situation and certify to HUD that the borrower is “HECM-worthy”, and that the borrower’s financial profile is such that it becomes unlikely the HECM would default and become a liability to the FHA fund down the road somewhere.

Credit will be scrutinized more closely. In addition to federal or other liens and problems with prior mortgages, the underwriters will now screen at an enhanced level looking for borrower patterns of financial irresponsibility regarding use of credit, payment of taxes, maintenance, and insurance.  Title histories will be scrutinized more closely for unusual changes in ownership. And as always occupancy will remain a key issue for underwriter comfort level.

While this assessment does not rise to the level of a full underwrite it is certainly much more involved than what our borrowers have had to satisfy in the past.

Underwriters, you know your additional responsibilities. You read  ML 14-21, 14-22, and HUD’s Financial Assessment Guide . But what about you originators?

You guys are going to have to  ask more questions, dig deeper into credit, verify more, and educate more. If you don’t, your borrower will hear it all from the counselor, and FUD will ruin your prospects.

Because I also originate loans, I just completed my first round with financial assessment. It was manageable. Your attitude is a big part of how you deal with this change.

I am available for a one hour webinar with yourself or your staff, to review this new development and provide some guidance especially to the MLO. All you have to do is call the number above. Affordable training done by a licensed compliance attorney who actually originates HECM loans, go figure huh.

Don’t lose business where you can avoid it. And don’t originate loans that don’t meet the new guidelines, because that disappoints your senior and upsets the guy who pays the bills.

That’s it for now. If you need me, just let me know.

Gramm Leach Bliley – Identity Theft – and “What’s in your wallet”?

I was recently working on a situation where we needed to see some old documents related to a file that was in controversy. After much pushing and pulling a third party produced personal identification, documents, and photographs that had originally been provided when that third party was an employee of a different institution. What were they doing with that information in their possession?  Was this proper? Can you keep personal information about your past clients to include materials that could create a risk of identity theft for them or a potential abuse of  their privacy?

I don’t think so. There might be some argument about regulatory record retention that you could try to rely on, but I believe the CFPB would look upon this as creating a consumer risk that actually had no purpose as an offset.

Now think, what’s in your “wallet”? Of course, I mean your storage files.

If you have any of this personal information, or have kept documents that should have been shredded after submission to your funding lender, I suggest you go to your storage facility and shred all of them right now. Keep only the file basics as required by state and federal law. Protect your client’s identity and privacy by shredding the supporting identification documentation.

Got it?

Let me work for you, Give me a call at 800-557-6580. Knowledgeable and affordable. Over and out.

Have your compliance questions answered within 24 hours by an expert at a fixed cost.

Many of my Mortgage Industry Compliance Clients tell me that before they found me, they sometimes waited days for a response from their compliance advisors. This increased chances that they would be in violation of a regulation and subject to possible fines.

So I set up a system to make this easy for you.

You can subscribe to our Q+A service on a six month or annual basis and I will respond to your compliance questions within 24 hours. If the matter is one so serious that I feel you should investigate your situation further, I will discount my hourly rate for anyone with a subscription. These are not canned answers, they are personal to your question.

This service is a nice compliment to the policies, procedures, governance documents, and training packages that I have already assembled. You have 24 hour access for questions. I have a new client. Win-Win, right!

Our new Plano office is one block away from a Texas Federal Courthouse. CFPB issues are federal and we are admitted to the federal bar. We can represent you when the CFPB comes knocking.

So, think about the value added here. What good does the big firm do you if you can’t get through to them?  Let me hear from you!

Have you scheduled your annual AML/GLB training? It’s a CFPB requirement.

Did you know that once a year, the new regs require you to train your staff (and yourself and your Board of Directors) on the nuances of Anti-Money Laundering and the Privacy Act. It does not stop there. You also have to test them, and retain proof of the tests and their passing scores.

And during the year, you have to provide the training to any new hire within 30 days of their reporting for duty.

Most Brokers and Lenders don’t take this too seriously. It will get you in hot water with the auditors and could cost you dearly if you ignore it.

The solution? Let me do it for you. I have a program that will provide both the annual and “one-at-a-time” training for you at one low cost for the full year. I even proctor the exam. All you have to do is show up via Gotomeeting. Which I also provide.

Give me a shout, there is still time to get this done before they come knocking on your door.

That’s it for now.

Welcome to the Reverse Mortgage Training Blog!

Well, somebody had to do it, right? What I plan to do here is re-build the training libraries I had created for my former employer. Thanks to Go Daddy, they just sort of evaporated one day. Remember that if you plan to use Go Daddy for a blog. It’s nice that they have Danica Patrick working for them, but I would have preferred they had left my blogs alone. Now I have to start all over.

So I plan to use some of the older ones, update them when necessary, and and create many new ones to help a HECM MLO gain more insight into the product and a greater understanding of the senior demographic.

I’m planning on posting about once a week.

So if I gave you access to this blog, USE IT and watch your sales climb. Nothing would make us happier.

 

 

What the HECM is a Reverse Mortgage anyway?

WHAT? REVERSE MORTGAGE?

You know, for years we never had this problem. All mortgages were “forward” mortgages. They all amortized. They all started out high and ended up at zero. And then, in 1988, along came a little guy in Minnesota with a crazy idea. What if we started out low, and went up? Hence, the Reverse Mortgage was born.

First there were only FHA programs. Then Fannie Mae jumped into the hot tub with FHA. Next, Transamerica and Household Bank. Finally, some private banks like Virtual Bank climbed in also.

Then, oops, over 50 million seniors? Might be some risks to consider. So the process started to reverse itself. First Fannie Mae climbed out of the hot tub. Then the insurance companies and private banks jumped out too. Finally, even FHA eliminated half its programs and here we are today with essentially three variants of reverse mortgages to market.

Want to learn more? Listen to this presentation. Things have been changing quickly; I might not be 100% right. But you will come away knowing more than you started with.

Marketing to Seniors – The best way is going to surprise you!

This is one of the most important questions I get asked. I used to be a whale of an originator. Everyone wanted to know how I found all those clients.  I never left my desk.

Further, there are persons in our office right now that follow this system perfectly and have never had to look too far for a new application.

So what is the secret about marketing to Seniors?

Listen and learn.

 

 

“Senior Speak”……what they are hearing when you are busy talking, and how to get them on the same page!

Seniors are unique. As we age, we hear and speak differently. I don’t mean the words or grammar used – I mean what is going on analytically inside our head as we listen to the words being spoken. As most seniors age, they naturally becomes more cautious and vulnerable. That affects the way they hear things.

So to be effective you must take this into consideration when you make a telephone call or an in-person presentation.

Here are some important tips about “Senior Speak”.

Tips to get your clients off that pesky “fence”…..and land the application!

We all know how hard it can be when you work with that certain type of senior who just seems incapable of making the “go ahead” decision. Sometimes they have really good reasons for taking their time. For example, they might be trying to decide if they should downsize instead. Or maybe they are thinking of selling and moving into assisted care. Or perhaps they are thinking about moving to another state.

But many times the decisional paralysis is the result of irrational fear. We have spoken about the fud factor in other sessions. Fud is what causes irrational fear. Many seniors have irrational fear especially as they age. Life is a bell shaped curve and self confidence follows that curve almost exactly. The older we get the less confident we are.

If you have encountered a client that is paralyzed by irrational fear, this audio might help you. It gives you tips on identifying six of the most common irrational fears, and how to address them.

Getting Seniors off the fence 091614

Read about my “TENS LIST” and how to use it to get more applications!

The most successful originators are the ones with the best discipline. They put equal amounts of time each day into farming or prospecting for new applications, as they invest in processing and closing activities on their existing files.

When I was originating, I knew I needed a system that would force me to be organized and consistent in my daily approach to finding new business.

And so, I invented the TENS LIST. Listen here to a short description of how it works.

Then download the example TENS LIST format and put it into motion.  Here’s the form.  LW Tens List 082114

Your applications will climb almost immediately.

Telephone Tips – CALL TWO

And here we have the second half of the story. Remember, in part one of this two part series, you left your client sitting in their favorite chair, eyes closed, dreaming about what they were going to do with all that new found financial freedom.

In this segment we will hear about how to handle the second call – the “good news”. How to set it up and close the appointment.

But what about “bad news”? I will give you some ideas on how to handle that and keep the client in the process.

Remember, no deal is ever cold unless YOU allow it to go cold. Using this information, you will increase your application count and subsequently, your income.

NL Telephone Tips Second Call 080414

Telephone Tips – CALL ONE

Here we go with the first half of our series on mastering the art of the telephone appointment closing.

Here’s a PDF script for you. NL Telephone Tips First Contact 080414

Here is how I feel when this blog works the right way!

Telephone Tips – Introduction

Hey there people, I promised I would give some tips on how to make handling that 800 pound gorilla (the telephone) a more pleasant experience. I made a series of three audio files, this is number one. I will also release a written outline, as soon as I figure out how.

Once again I would like to thank Go Daddy for screwing up and erasing all my prior blogs and making all this work necessary.