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February 2015
Title Notes E-Blast

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Welcome to the February 2015 edition of the VTC e-news. 

 

The hot topic in the lending industry is the preparations necessary to implement Integrated Disclosures under RESPA/TILA this coming August. As well it should be, after all this is only going to change the way we've done business for the last 30 years. That's right, we are bidding farewell to the old ways of providing a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and an initial Truth-in-Lending (TIL) as part of the application and initial disclosure process. So long are the days of closing out transactions with a Final TIL and the HUD-1 Settlement Statement. Soon we'll be moving to the new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, both hitting the scene on August 1, 2015. Will you and your affiliated partners be ready? There's a lot to learn, a lot to understand about the impact, and a lot that will need to change prior to the effective date.

 

With this in mind, Virginia Title Center is sponsoring a luncheon seminar with the Blue Ridge Mortgage Lenders on March 12 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center. This seminar is in partnership with the Roanoke Valley and New River Valley Associations of REALTORS®. Who should attend? Mortgage lenders, real estate attorneys, REALTORS®, and support staff for each. Click here to access more information and a registration form.

 

Together We're Prepared!


Patti Dickerson, Director of Marketing & Communications
The 8 Instinctive Habits of Remarkable Leaders
by Jeff Haden, LinkedIn Influencer


 Once in a while you meet a leader who stands out -- even in a room filled with skilled, 

experienced, successful people. She hasn't just learned to be remarkably charismatic. He hasn't just learned to be remarkably likeable.


You can tell, in an instant, they simply think and act and lead differently than most people.


But those rare individuals don't become remarkable leaders overnight. While some are born with an aptitude for leadership, truly outstanding leaders are made. Through training, experience, and a healthy dose of introspection they learn how to make quick decisions. They learn to work with different personalities. They learn to nurture, motivate, and inspire.


They learn to truly lead.


And in time those skills become automatic and reflexive. While great leaders do a tremendous amount of thinking, that thinking happens behind the scenes. In the moment, in the trenches, when people look to them and need them most, they act: swiftly, decisively, and confidently.


Want to become a remarkable leader? Work hard to, like them, do some things naturally, automatically, and instinctively:

 

1. They praise.5. They set the example.
2. They decide.6. They give feedback.
3. They take responsibility.7. They seek help.
4. They communicate.8. They challenge


Click HERE to read the entire article with details about each of these habits.

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 Here are additional articles related to Leadership you may enjoy: 
~ S E M I N A R ~
TILA-RESPA Integrated Mortgage Disclosure
Rule Implementation. Together We're Prepared!


Virginia Title Center, in conjunction with the Blue Ridge Mortgage Lenders Association, is pleased to invite you to join us for an important educational session regarding the implementation of the new loan estimate and closing disclosure forms and their practical implications on real estate closings. 

Thursday, March 12, 2015

11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Salem Civic Center  |  Arena Floor

1001 Roanoke Blvd, Salem, VA 24153

Cost: $20 per person  |  Includes buffet lunch 

 

Will you be ready for the changes by August 1, 2015?

 

Gain insights into the new loan estimate and closing disclosure forms
and their practical implications on real estate closings. 

 
Seminar Presenter:
Mike Aiken

The seminar will be presented by Mike Aiken, Senior Vice President, Compliance Officer & Senior Counsel for Investors Title.


Mike will conduct an interactive discussion explaining how the revised forms mandated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) will change business as usual for lenders, attorneys, and REALTORS®.

 

We hope you can join us! Reserve your seat today!            
Mortgage Choice Act Reintroduced in Congress

Bipartisan bill faces friendlier Senate environment

by Trey Garrison, Housingwire


U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Mich., reintroduced to the new Congress the "Mortgage Choice Act" - a bipartisan piece of legislation that would amend and clarify the qualified mortgage definition in the Dodd-Frank Act thereby improving access to credit and qualified mortgages for low and moderate income borrowers while protecting consumers from bad loans.

 

The bill, identical to the Mortgage Choice Act of 2013 - H.R. 3211 - would adjust the Truth in Lending Act definition of fees and points by exempting points and fees any affiliated title charges and escrow charges for taxes and insurance from the qualified mortgage cap on points and fees.

 

Last Congress, the bill died in the Senate. Click HERE to continue reading.

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 Here are additional articles related to the Mortgage Industry you may enjoy: 

What Does Barney Frank Think of Dodd-Frank now?
Barney Frank: "Homeownership is not a good way for poor people to save --- I think there are other ways."
Touts the CFPB, warns on risk retention
from the Housingwire exclusive interview by
Trey Garrison

HW: Now that you've seen the bulk of Dodd-Frank implemented, where do you think you got it right, and is there anywhere you think you got it wrong?

 

Frank: I do believe securitization without risk retention is trouble. It substantially diminishes the incentive to be careful if no one has responsibility. At the last second (former Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.) introduced QRM and to my great dismay the loophole swallowed up the rule.

 

Click HERE to read the entire interview.

Why Community Banks Matter, and Will Survive

by John Depman, BankDirector.com

 

"Community banks epitomize all
that is important in our industry 
-- the personal touch."

Drive into most any town in America and you're bound to spot one fairly quickly. Whether on Main Street or tucked in a shopping center on the edge of town, a branch of one the country's 6,600 community banks probably is nearby.

 

As institutions that offer much-needed credit to small businesses, make mortgages that turn the American dream into reality, and support public projects that enhance our daily lives, community banking's impact on our country's economic growth and stability cannot be overstated. While strengthening these institutions is in everyone's interest, those at the senior level-management and boards-are facing tough choices and challenges as they attempt to modernize, streamline and digitize their banks.

 

Although there are 57 percent fewer community banks today compared to the number in business when I began my banking career 26 years ago, and the percentage of overall U.S. banking industry assets they hold has declined from about 40 percent to about 14 percent in that period, today's community banking system is no less vital to consumers and businesses.

 

A Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) report shows that community banks make up about 45 percent of the industry's small loans to farms and businesses. Small business is the backbone of America and community banks are the engine that drives small business. Continue reading...

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The Health of Community Banks Receives New Attention

 

The state of community banking has taken on a new urgency, with the release of a study highlighting this sector's decline over the past two decades and congressional testimony by an official of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) that acknowledges the regulatory burden felt by smaller financial institutions.

 

The study found that the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act has exacerbated the problem, with community bank small business lending dropping 11 percent since the 2010 law went into effect while the share of banking assets by small community banks dropped 19 percent.  Click HERE to read more about the findings of this study -- "The State and Fate of Community Banking"
 V T C  T I T L E   T I P 
Top 3 Reasons Real Estate Transactions Depend on Title Insurance Agents
from Business Wire
  

The American Land Title Association (ALTA) reminds consumers and practitioner of the top three reasons their efficient real estate transaction depends on the work of title insurance agents.

  1. Title insurance agents spend their time and resources preventing claims and protecting homeowner's property rights.
  2. The title search and insurance policy makes the United States property transfer system the most efficient system in the world.
  3. Title insurance protects consumers and ultimately reduces the total cost of homeownership.
Click HERE to read the entire article.

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Did You Know ... that our underwriter, Investors Title, does not accept Southern Title policies as back titles? We can give a reissue credit on them, yet we are not allowed to accept them for back titles.

Upcoming New Mortgage Rules Have You Wondering Where to Turn?

Visit the CFPB website for resources related to the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule implementation

View the FDIC video that covers the Loan Originator Compensation Rule

Register for the March 12 Seminar on Integrated Disclosures
Tips and Tricks from Top Producers 
by Graham Wood, REALTOR

®

 Magazine
  
Ten Things Banks Should Do,
But Generally Don't 
by Jeff Marsico, The Kafafian Group, Inc.

For those who have been in the banking industry for a while, the pace of change has picked up noticeably. Previously, change happened so slowly that minor modifications to how we did business, implemented through the budgeting process, were sufficient to keep our bank relevant.

 

Those days are long gone. Gone are the rigid regulatory restrictions on competition. Gone is the need to visit your local branch often. Going are the customers who used to march into your bank to get their passbooks stamped. And going are the days when incremental improvements to business as usual is sufficient to move us forward.

 

Below are 10 ideas bankers can utilize to prepare their corporate cultures to be more adaptable to change and build a more sustainable future. These are not my ideas; they have been implemented, to varying degrees, by a few financial institutions that I have been fortunate enough to know. If implemented in total they could really make a material impact on a bank's competitive position in this fast-changing financial services arena.

1. Aspire
 6. Specify strategic priorities
2. Develop people
 7. Know your customer base
3. Kill processes
 8. Use marketing effectively
4. Know your strategy gap
 9. Align accountability with strategy
5. Identify a competitive advantage
10. Consider operating expenses as strategic      
      investments

This above list is not exhaustive. It is limited to those things that can have the greatest impact on your bank's culture, strategic thinking, and future viability in a rapidly changing industry. What would you add to the list?

 

Click HERE to read this article in its entirety.

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 Here are additional articles related to Banking Trends you may enjoy: 

Which Loan Types are Fueling Bank Growth?
by Billy Burnet, Sageworks Blog

Following the recent recession, U.S. commercial bank loan portfolios have continued to expand. As of the third quarter of 2014, the total value of portfolios was $7.4 trillion, up from $6.5 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2011. Which areas of lending and what banks are driving the expansion? A recent issue of Banking Insights, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revealed the answers by analyzing call reports of all U.S. commercial banks.

 

First, it's important to note how the $7.4 trillion breaks down among institutions and by loan type. Large Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs) represent 45 percent of the total, while domestic SIFIs make up 25 percent. Community banks and regional banks represent 21 percent and nine percent, respectively. Regarding loan type, retail loans (residential mortgages, HELOCs, consumer loans) represent 44 percent of the total loan portfolio. Commercial and industrial (C&I) and commercial real estate (CRE) loans comprise 22 percent and 20 percent, respectively. Agricultural lending represents two percent, and all other loan types represent the remaining 12 percent.

 

Regional banks had the most diversified portfolios, but community banks generally had higher concentrations in CRE and agriculture loans. In fact, community banks accounted for 44 percent of all CRE lending, and 78 percent of all agricultural lending. Keep reading...

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Here are additional articles related to Commercial Banking you may enjoy:

 

**Remember to offer your borrowers Owner's Coverage on their most valuable investment. It's a one time premium with a lifetime of security. In addition, they will receive a reduced premium rate when they obtain it simultaneously with your Lender's Coverage.**

WANTED: YOUR FEEDBACK
What Topics Are On Your Mind?

Virginia Title Center wants to provide you with pertinent information in future E-Blasts and Webinars. What questions are on your mind regarding the real estate and mortgage lending industry? What topics would you like addressed in future E-blasts? Send Patti your thoughts.
Past issues of the Virginia Title Center E-News are archived on our website HERE
Patti L. Dickerson                                      

Give us a call and let us know how we can better serve you and your team!

Director of Marketing & Communications
Virginia Title Center, LLC
Integrity. Security. Excellence.

 

Virginia Title Center is committed to serve you with unmatched expertise, exceptional customer service and a comprehensive selection of title and settlement solutions to help you grow and succeed. 

 

 Our professionalism, technical knowledge and experience provide security as we insure protection for your most valued investment.