| 
 For better viewing, please download images embedded in newsletter.
  
 |  
 | 
     
  
Title Notes E-News     
March 2015       
  
 |   
 
  | 
  
  
  | 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 | 
 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!  
  
| 
 |  | TRID Seminar at Spotswood Country Club in Harrisonburg |   
Earlier this month, Mike Aiken, Senior Vice President, Compliance Officer & Senior Counsel for Investors Title presented in Harrisonburg to lenders, community bankers, settlement attorneys and REALTORs during the seminar sponsored by Bankers Title Shenandoah.   
  
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 process, the importance of setting clear expectations  with our partners, and fine tuning our communication procedures." 
 If you were unable to attend one of these seminars, a copy of Mike's presentation, along with TRID Training, Reference and Forms Manuals are available for download HERE from the Bankers Title website. A recorded presentation from Investors Title Company is forthcoming. 
  
As you move through the learning curve with these new rules and forms, Bankers Title Shenandoah is here to assist you. Please do not hesitate to call me at  1.888.259.7184 or send me an e-mail. 
  
Together We're Prepared! 
  
     
Butch Rutherford, Vice President and Agency Manager 
_____________________________________________________________________________ 
  
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 Desk | 10. 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. 
  
_________________________________________________________________________ 
 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.  
  
 ________________________________________________________________________ 
  Here are additional articles related to the Community Banking you may enjoy:  
 
 |  
 | 
 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. 
- The cost for title insurance varies across the United States  and homebuyers need to make certain they have proper protection for  their investment.
 - All real estate is local and consumers should shop for a local title company.
 - 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? 
__________________________________________________________________________ 
  
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 
._______________________________________________________________________ 
   
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. 
 
 
_________________________________________________________________________ 
  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... ______________________________________________________________________  
 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 Bankers Title Shenandoah 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  |  
  | 
  
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, 
do more and become more, you are a leader." 
 
 - John Quincy Adams - 
 
 
 
 |  
 
| 
   
 | 
 **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?
  
 
          Bankers Title Shenandoah 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 us your thoughts. 
 |  
 
Hello, just a reminder that you're receiving this email because you have done business with or expressed an interest in Bankers Title Shenandoah, LLC. Don't forget to add brutherford@bankerstitleshenandoah.com  to your address book so we'll be sure to land in your inbox! 
 |  
  | 
  
  
  | 
  
  
  | 
  
  
 
  |