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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced a proposal to postpone the effective date of the new Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule to October 1 instead of August 1. The CFPB cited an “administrative error” and consumers’ busy schedules at the start of the school year as reasons why it is proposing the two-month delay. The National Association of REALTORS® and nearly 300 members of Congress had pushed for the delay or a period of restrained enforcement of the new rule so all parties can become accustomed to the changes.
The new rule, which is also referred to as the Know Before You Owe rule, is intended to benefit consumers by creating more accountability and offering consumers more time to understand the mortgage process and their options, but industry experts anticipate complying with the new rule could add at least a week to closings. They are concerned the potential delays might even give all-cash buyers an edge over home buyers who are depending on financing, especially when closing quickly is critical in a hot market.
The Know Before You Owe rule is essentially a consolidation of several forms. The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and the initial Truth-in-Lending disclosures will be combined into a new form called the Loan Estimate. The HUD-1 and the final Truth-in-Lending disclosures will be combined into another new form called the Closing Disclosure.
It is the timing requirements to deliver the Closing Disclosure that have real estate professionals concerned about potential delays in the closing process. If the Closing Disclosure is not actually received in person, the new rule requires an additional three-day period if it is delivered by mail or electronically. Sunday is not counted; then add a federal holiday to the mix the Closing Disclosure may have to be delivered seven days or more before consummation.
Also, since the responsibility for compliance with the new rule falls heavily on lenders, it is very likely that lenders will retain tight control over the process of issuing the Closing Disclosure. Any last minute changes to the contract, such as seller credits to buyers or removing a loan contingency, could trigger cause for reissuance of a new Closing Disclosure. This could create further delays in the transaction.
“Starting the loan approval process early will reduce the risk of delayed closings. It is imperative that buyers work with a REALTOR® who understands these new guidelines and can prepare the buyer for all possibilities,” advises Chis Isaacson, president of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®.
SILVAR Past President David Tonna presented the scholarship award to Yun Seo (Jennifer) Kim, graduating senior from Saratoga High School.
The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation presented scholarship awards to 18 graduating seniors from public high schools in Silicon Valley at the end of the 2014-2015 school year. Each student received a $1,000 scholarship.
The Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation is the charitable arm of the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®, the local trade organization representing over 4,500 Realtors and affiliate members engaged in the real estate business on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. The Charitable Foundation’s REALTOR® scholarship program recognizes students who have exemplified outstanding achievements in academics, extracurricular/employment activities and community involvement. The selection committee includes representatives from the local business community, area high schools, area colleges and the local trade association.
Students who received scholarships, the schools from which they graduated, and the colleges and universities they plan to attend are: Greg Pommier, Cupertino High School (UC Berkeley); Brianna Clarice Clark, Fremont High School (Tuskegee University); Daniel Rothenberg, Gunn High School (San Francisco State University); Arisa Ananda Faron, Homestead High School (Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo); Aleksandra Vojvodic, Leigh High School (UCLA); Jhosseline Guardado, Los Altos High School (UC Davis); Laurel Michelle Finkle, Los Gatos High School (UCLA); Jessica Zheng, Lynbrook High School (Princeton University); Caroline Kelly, Menlo-Atherton High School (University of Michigan); James Mullen, Monta Vista High School (UCLA); Marisa Noelle Gong, Mountain View High School (Washington University in St. Louis); Promise Lee, Palo Alto High School (UC Davis); Kevin Wei, Prospect High School (UC San Diego); Vicente Lozano Lovelace, Santa Clara High School (UC Santa Cruz); Yun Seo (Jennifer) Kim, Saratoga High School (New York University); Tuyen Nguyen, Westmont High School (UC Santa Cruz); Rachanon Wajanakunakorn, Wilcox High School (Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo); and Rachel Bontempi, Woodside High School (UC San Diego).
“Our selection committee makes its selections based not only on superior academic accomplishments, but we also look for excellent students who contribute to their communities. The seniors selected for the Charitable Foundation scholarship program are deserving of recognition and we are very happy we can assist them as they embark on their college careers,” said scholarship program chair Nina Yamaguchi.
“Now on its 16th year, the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Scholarship Program is one way REALTORS® are able to give back to the community and to our youth,” added John Tripp, 2015 president of the Realtor Charitable Foundation. “We thank the teachers and staff in each of the participating high schools for helping make this program a success. The program is truly a partnership effort between the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation and the dedicated educators in our service area.”
Members of the REALTOR® group who presented the scholarships to the recipients during their school’s senior awards night were Chris Alston (Keller Williams), Fe Manzano (Century 21 M&M and Associates ), Jimmy Kang (PNC Mortgage), Nina Daruwalla (Coldwell Banker), Cassie Maas (Alain Pinel Realtors), Dani Fletcher (Sereno Group), Suzanne Yost (Alain Pinel Realtors), Mark Burns (Referral Realty), Mary Tan (Coldwell Banker), Robert Reid (Keller Williams), Sue Bose (Referral Realty), David Tonna (Alain Pinel Realtors), Russell Morris (Coldwell Banker) and Theresa Loya (Coldwell Banker).
Since the program started, the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation has provided $288,000 in scholarships to students in the communities served by members SILVAR. The scholarships are made possible by donations from REALTOR® and affiliate members of SILVAR.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Wednesday that it would be “sensitive” to companies that make a good-faith effort to comply with the new Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure (TRID) regulation that goes into effect on August 1, 2015. Although the announcement by the CFPB is less than what some members of Congress requested, which was a hard deadline five-month testing or “grace” period, it is a net win and a welcome development toward clarifying the changes coming to real estate closings on August 1.
The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) has been leading the effort to ensure an effective implementation of the TRID regulation. NAR has advocated a period of restrained enforcement and liability for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule.
NAR will continue to have a dialogue with Congress and the CFPB to minimize possible market disruptions or uncertainty when the rule takes effect August 1. It was through member efforts during the 2015 REALTOR® Legislative Meetings and Trade Expo that more than 275 U.S. Senators and Representatives signed onto a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray to ask for clarification of the new rule.
For the latest information on this issue, visit www.realtor.org/respa.
Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® says ... 