In an effort to combat appraisal bias, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) along with both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (collectively the GSE’s) have issued new guidance to support borrowers who believe their appraisal to be inaccurate or deficient. Lenders are required to develop processes for handling a reconsideration of value […]
As of January 1, 2024, mortgage companies soliciting consumers in Illinois will need to ensure their marketing materials do not run afoul of the state’s new law designed to protect consumers from being misled. The new law provides that any marketing materials from a mortgage company with no connection to the consumer’s existing mortgage company […]
Beginning January 1st, loan originators in Illinois will be permitted to work from a remote locationprovided certain customer interaction and information security requirements are met. Previously, loanoriginators were only able to conduct business in locations licensed as a branch office.While many states issued temporary executive orders permitting remote work during the pandemic outof health and […]
Amid growing concerns with data security and consumer privacy, 2023 saw the addition of consumer privacy and data security legislation in multiple states. Below is a summary of the state laws aimed at protecting consumer’s private data that were enacted this past year: States with privacy protection laws in place prior to 2023 include California, […]
California has joined 44 other states and the District of Columbia in passing laws to permitremote online notarization (“RON”). Notaries in California will not be able to perform suchnotarizations until January 1, 2030, however, in order to give the Secretary of State time toadopt regulations and establish the technology necessary to implement the RON laws. […]
In 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued a supervisory highlightoutlining its concerns with the Waiver of Borrower’s Rights, a document historically included inGeorgia closing packages. The CFPB found that use of the form, which requires borrowers towaive their rights to notice or to judicial hearing, is considered deceptive and violates theConsumer Financial Protection […]
Effective September 20, 2023, supervised lenders and servicers of residential mortgages will berequired to provide borrowers with an annual disclosure document informing them of their rightto cancel or to terminate private mortgage insurance, in accordance with the provisions of thefederal Homeowners Protection Act of 1998. The notice also must include the address andtelephone number the […]
North Dakota has revised its licensing laws to change the license type required for residentialmortgage lenders and has added a licensing requirement for residential mortgage servicers. Residential mortgage lenders will no longer be licensed under the North Dakota Money BrokersAct but will instead be required to hold a Residential Mortgage Lender License. The new lawalso […]
The effective date of the North Carolina Remote Electronic Notarization Act (“RENA”) has beendelayed one year until July 1, 2024 to allow the Secretary of State additional time to promulgaterules implementing the act. RENA also authorized the immediate use of emergency videonotarization until the effective date of the permanent legislation. With the effective date ofRENA […]
Maine will soon require a creditor, assignee or servicer that holds or controls consumer funds inan escrow account for the payment of insurance premiums to notify the insurer providinghomeowner’s insurance coverage if the mortgage is sold or transferred. A creditor, assignee orservicer may satisfy this requirement by providing the insurer with a copy of the […]
