Report puts RESPA deadline at Nov. 20

The Bush administration is looking at making as many as 90 regulatory changes before the president leaves office, The Washington Post reports.

HUD's proposed RESPA rule is one of nine regulatory changes considered economically significant (with an impact that exceeds $100 million a year) and therefore subject to 60-day Congressional review.

If those regulatory changes -- many of which the Post says are aimed at weakening consumer and environmental protections -- aren't made on a strict timetable, the next administration could roll them back. That's something the current administration understands only too well, because they were able to block implementation of 254 proposed regulatory changes proposed in the final days of the Clinton administration.

So, the deadline for publishing economically significant rules (like RESPA) is Nov. 20, the Post reports.

In an e-mail alert to members, the American Land Title Association said that in a telephone conversation today, administration officials reiterated that "the current housing finance situation has highlighted the need for transparency so that individuals understand what they are getting into, and the Administration believes this can be done in a way that is not overly burdensome to industry."

ALTA officials says they prepared two press releases, and are hoping they "get to send out the nice one."