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March 2015
Title Notes E-News

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Industry Hot Topic:

TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) PART II

 

What is the new definition of a mortgage application? Do you know when to truncate or when to round? Which definition of 3 days applies when? Do you know how to apply the mailbox rule? Who will send out the Closing Disclosure -- the lender or the settlement agent? What are the "triggers" which allow you to send a revised Loan Estimate? What are the fines imposed under TILA if you do not properly complete the disclosure form?

 

These are just a few questions you will need to be able to answer before the new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure forms hit the scene on August 1, 2015. Are you ready???? Will 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. And the CFPB is firm that no extensions will be given!

 

2010 RESPA was tough but it doesn't have anything on TRID! 

 

Blue Ridge Mortgage Lenders Association TRID Seminar

Earlier this month, Mike Aiken, Senior Vice President, Compliance Officer & Senior Counsel for Investors Title presented to a packed room of lenders, community bankers, settlement attorneys and REALTORs during the Blue Ridge Mortgage Lenders Association's seminar sponsored by Virginia Title Center. The consensus of the participants as they left the room was:  "WOW .... information overload! Yet, this forum provided me much greater clarity as to how the new rules impact our timelines and processes, the importance of setting clear expectations with our partners, and fine tuning our communication procedures."


If you were unable to attend this seminar, a copy of Mike's presentation, along with TRID Training, Reference and Forms Manuals are available for download HERE from the Virginia Title Center website. A recorded presentation from Investors Title Company is forthcoming.

 

As you move through the learning curve with these new rules and forms, Virginia Title Center is here to assist you. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our Agency Manager, Bobby Fothergill (1.800.468.5811 or bfothergill@virginiatitlecenter.com).

 

Together We're Prepared!

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NOTE:  The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will NOT extend the August 1 deadline for the new TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule. Industry talk quickly spread after a speech from Steven Antonakes, deputy director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, on March 25th to the Consumer Bankers Association, suggesting that the CFPB could delay the Integrated Disclosure deadline. Read more...

Here are additional articles related to TRID you may enjoy:
10 Bad Habits You Need to Break to Be More Productive
from the Time Management Ninja


We all have bad habits that we can admit to. Some of these bad habits keep up from being productive. Others cause us to work harder and impose stress on our lives. To improve our ability to get things done and reduce the effort required, we need to break these habits. What habits are keeping you from getting your work done?

 

Bad Habits = Bad Productivity

Life provides us with enough stress and busyness in our day. You don't need to add your own complications to the mix. Yet, this is exactly what our bad habits do.


It's time to break these bad habits and free ourselves from extra stress and effort.


Here Are 10 Habits you Must Break to be More Productive:

 

1. Multi-tasking 6. Complaining
2. Making Excuses 7. Eating a Junk Food Lunch
3. Checking Your Email Repeatedly 8. Skipping Exercise
4. Reading the News Too Much 9. Letting Your Phone Be a Leash
5. Having an Unclean Desk10. Not Doing it Right the First Time


Are your bad habits causing you extra stress or requiring you to work harder? Examine your habits and see if they are helping or hurting your efforts. It may be time you replaced a few of those bad habits with better ones.Question: What bad habits do you have that impact your productivity?

 

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

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Here are additional articles related to Personal & Professional Development you may enjoy: 
Regional and Community Banks:
Experts Talk Challenges and Opportunities

Findings gathered by GALLUP

by Beth Youra


 It is an interesting and challenging time to be a regional or community bank. While these banks haven't taken as big of a hit to their reputations that large national banks have in the past five years, many have been unable to slog themselves out of the "mushy middle." For example, Gallup research shows that:

  • Regional and community banks may outperform their national counterparts when it comes to fully engaging their customers, but they lag behind their credit union and direct and/or online-only banking counterparts.
  • Business clients are an important segment for these banks, yet business banking clients are more likely to be actively disengaged than fully engaged. While small businesses are more optimistic than they have been at any point since the Great Recession began, they are still unsure of their ability to get credit and are likely to be unsatisfied with the process if they do.
  • At national banks, customers have, on average, 71% of their total financial products with their primary bank. At regional banks, this drops to 66%. By the time we get down to small regional and community banks, this falls again to 65%. 
  • Brands are muddled. Customers do not differentiate between banks' brand promises until they get down to the smallest of banks and credit unions. Regional and community banks don't rate any higher than national banks at creating customer connections.

Combine these challenges with an ever-changing regulatory environment, and what could become an increasingly tight U.S. labor market for highly skilled employees, and you can see how regional and community banks have their work cut out for them. I asked some of Gallup's banking consultants to share their thoughts on how these banks should address the issues before them. Read on to find out what insights the experts shared.

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 Here are additional articles related to the Community Banking you may enjoy: 
 V T C  T I T L E   T I P 

3 Things Consumers Should Consider When Shopping for a Title Company

from ALTA Press Release

 

"Title insurance protects your monetary stake in your home
should someone else make a
claim of ownership to your
property after closing."

Purchasing a home is the single largest investment most consumers make in their lifetime. Soon the spring homebuying season will begin and the American Land Title Association (ALTA) reminds consumers of the three most important things to consider when shopping for a title company.

  1. The cost for title insurance varies across the United States and homebuyers need to make certain they have proper protection for their investment.
  2. All real estate is local and consumers should shop for a local title company.
  3. Considering all of the costs of owning a home can be overwhelming and consumers should remember why their investment needs protection.

An owner's title insurance policy helps ensure that a [new] homeowner's bases are covered if any ownership disputes arise. In order to make sure a homeowner has clear rights to a property, the title agent will review prior deeds or mortgages, divorce decrees, court judgments, delinquent taxes and child and spousal support payments, utility or other easements and more.

 

Click here to read the entire press release.

 

Do you help protect your client by recommending they purchase an owner's title insurance policy .... or are you doing them a disservice by telling them this is an unnecessary expense, and potentially costing them thousands of dollars later?

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Here are additional articles related to the Title Insurance you may enjoy: 
House Committee Grills Cordray on QM, Mortgage Regulations
by Trey Garrison, Housingwire

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray appeared before the House Financial Services Committee on March 3rd for his semi-annual report to Congress.

 

Cordray's full remarks can be read here. 

 

Comments from Committee Members:

"The CFPB undoubtedly remains the single most powerful and least accountable Federal agency in all of Washington," said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas. He adds,  "... Americans are losing both their financial independence and the protection of the rule of law." Hensarling said CFPB actions are hurting the financial industry, not protecting consumers. "QM increasingly stands for 'Quitting Mortgages' as community bank after community bank finds they can no longer offer mortgages to many of their deserving customers," Hensarling said.

Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, said consumer protection must be done in a smart, tailored, and politically- neutral manner..."Today, we are approaching the five year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, which created the CFPB. Unfortunately, since its creation I see an agency that has yet to prove it can function in a sustainable manner. Its actions have demonstrated a lack of transparency and lack of accountability."

The American Land Title Association, the national trade association of the land title insurance industry, was critical of Cordray and the CFPB ahead of the hearing.


"In 150 days, new disclosure forms for real estate transactions will completely change the homebuying process as it's known today," said Michelle Korsmo, ALTA's chief executive officer. "As our member companies work to implement these new forms on Aug. 1, we strongly urge Director Cordray to announce a five-month restrained enforcement period so that new business processes can be adjusted to comply with these regulations. As with previous regulatory reform, only when the new forms are in practice will many issues and defects be discovered. 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 table.


To read this article in its entirety, please click HERE.

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The CFPB Identifies 6 Compliance Violation Trends:  Number three bodes ill for TILA-RESPA problems

Out of Touch: The Importance of Staying Grounded in the [Mortgage] Industry
by David Lykken

As you become more of a leader in the mortgage industry, you will increasingly face the temptation to lose touch with what's going on in the frontlines. When you're at the top level, doing interviews with trade publications, attending conferences, and chatting about the workings of the industry from a higher level, you can lose sight of what's going on with your employees and consumers. Don't get me wrong ... I believe all of these things-industry news, conferences, etc.-are important to becoming a stronger leader. But, you've also got to pay attention to what's going on at the ground level.

 

There's a powerful scene in the third Rocky movie. Rocky has gotten famous and is starting to get comfortable with his celebrity status. He pays more attention to the interviews he is doing than improving as a boxer. As a result, his technique suffers and his performance begins to slide. When he approaches his trainer for advice, he receives the following explanation: "The worst thing that can happen to any fighter-you got civilized."

 

Sometimes, as leaders in the mortgage industry, I think we can get too civilized. We can get too high-level and too generic. If we really want to make a difference in our organizations and the industry, we should spend some time each day talking with the people on the front end. We should talk to our LOs. We should talk to our consumers. We should talk to people at the very root from which our industry grows. Only then will any conversations we have at a higher level actually make sense.

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 Here are additional articles related to Success in Mortgage Lending you may enjoy:

NAR: Millennials Still Want Real Estate Agents
And this is their year to buy
by Brena Swanson for Housingwire

... And according to a new survey from the National Association of Realtors, millennials are looking to Realtors to help put them in homes.  

 

Although the Internet was the top source of where millennials found the home they purchased (51%), they also used an agent to purchase their home at a higher share (90%) than all other generations.

 

Regardless of their age, buyers used a wide variety of resources in searching for a home, with the Internet (88%) and real estate agents (87%) leading the way.

Millennials were the most likely to use a real estate agent, mobile or tablet applications, and mobile or tablet search engines during their search, while Generation X buyers were the most likely to use an open house.  

 

The largest group of recent buyers is millennials, those 34 and younger, who compose 32% of all buyers. Generation X, ages 35-49, is closely behind with a 27% share. Millennial buyers represented more than double the amount of younger boomer (ages 50-59) and older boomer (60-68) buyers (at 31%). The Silent Generation (ages 69-89) made up just 10% of buyers in the past year.

 

"Over 80% of millennial and Gen X buyers consider their home purchase a good financial investment, and the desire to own a home of their own was the top reason given by millennials for their purchase," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist...

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Here are additional articles related to Real Estate Trends you may enjoy:

Upcoming New Mortgage Rules Have You Wondering Where to Turn?

Check out the documents and presentation available on the Virginia Title Center website provided by Investors Title HERE

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

 

**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.

 

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