Howard A. Lax

• RESPA reform

There is still a lot to say regarding the proposal, including a few suggestions on how to fix things without throwing out the good intentions that HUD brings to the table. We need to concentrate in the extended comment period on telling HUD how to get it right. 1. The consumer needs to be educated before shopping, not at the closing table. Move the script to the application phase as part of the GFE, make it an estimate, and provide a final script at the time of commitment (when the title agency and lender call the borrower to schedule the closing). That way the closing goes smoothly, the problems get ironed out before it is too late to do anything, and you can still have an electronic closing. 2. Drop the tolerances until Congress gives HUD authority to impose tolerances. Allow brokers to estimate charges they have no control over (like recording fees) by providing a range. 3. I just saw a closing statement with a $165 mortgage recording fee that nobody noticed had an extra digit ($100). This stuff happens all the time. Most of the time nobody catches it. Do title agents have qulaity control plans and do quality reviews of 10% of their closings like FHA mortgagees do? Why not? 4. HUD also needs to put its money where its mouth is. HUD should commit a hundred million dollars to public school education regarding borrowing, buying insurance, and buying a home. The FDIC would probably match it to provide education on investments, saving, and banking. Stop worrying about those in foreclosure who are beyond help, and teach people what they need to know so they do not end up in foreclosure. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Give a person a fish and he eats for a day. Give a person a fishing pole... 5. A four page GFE in color is useless. Go get four of them, and see how easy it is to flip pages back and forth to compare costs and terms. What was wrong with the one page Pollock disclosure that everyone likes? See the article at http://www.aei.org/publications/filter.all,pubID.27144/pub_detail.asp and the form at http://www.aei.org/docLib/20070521_Pollock1.pdf. 6. Revamp the HUD-1. Starting on page 2 is crazy. Borrowers should be able to compare GFE numbers and closing costs side by side on the same page (page 1). 7. Cost averaging should be limited to costs that are billed monthly and are not known at closing. HUD has no clue how to create a level playing field. HUD should also not shoot its mouth off about how much title agents are overcharging until HUD personnel have walked a mile in their shoes. Does any title agent think he or she is paid 40% more than they deserve? 8. HUD should stick to its mandate - closing costs. It has no business jumping into the FRB's domain of disclosing loan terms. Besides, the FRB has committed to revamping TILA disclosures for all types of loans. The FRB started with credit card disclosures last year. HELOCs are next, and then closed end loans. Why does HUD need to interfere with what the FRB has on its schedule? It took 12 years for HUD to dump the Servicing Disclosure Statement. All of a sudden it has to jump in and add loan disclosures? 9. Let the FRB impose locks on loan originator compensation. The FRB has much broader authority than HUD to stop lending abuses. HUD looks like it is trying to one-up the FRB. If HUD wants to do something to make all brokers earn their keep, change the list of items that a broker needs to provide to earn a fee (Statement of Policy 1999-1). Add an accurate GFE as a mandatory service. Let the broker prepare an updated GFE seven days before the closing if the first one is not accurate. Brokers will comply with the law if they cannot get paid until they do comply.

We have a 24 hour rule now for the HUD-1, which does not get us any good information. Diane, you may be a very good title agent that has all of the ducks in a row at closing. However, the average run of the mill agent, including the national agencies that hire local closers, are preparing final docs an hour before the closing in many transactions. You might argue that this has to stop, for more reasons than the HUD rule. I have serious doubts that it will. In addition, the parties often bring issues to the table that result in revisions to the HUD-1 (a POA, a release, an insurance binder or receipt, a homeowners association invoice, a bill for home repairs, etc.). So, there will be a significant number of situations where the lender cannot or will not resolve a difference between the GFE and HUD-1 at the closing. It is not even clear that the lender will have the capacity to provide a revised script at the closing table. Then there is the issue of what you do about the next transaction waiting in the lobby to close while all of the paperwork is revised. Remember that closings are going to take nearly twice as long with the script, so you cannot just shave a few minutes off every closing on your calendar that day. Which closing do you cancel?