Stevens: CFPB Listened to Input of MBA

Enforcement of compliance with the new RESPA/TILA disclosure forms has been postponed.  As appeared inevitable after almost unanimous testimony in favor of a delay at a House Financial Services Committee meeting in mid-May, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced on Wednesday that they would allow lenders additional time to come into full compliance with the so-called TRID rule.  Implementation of the rule and use of the disclosure forms will still begin on August 1.

Testimony at the FSC hearing made it clear that lenders were facing vendor issues over installation of the necessary software for the implementation and that those delays would interfere with training for use of the software and forms and of quality insurance procedures.  Several members of the committee had previously introduced legislation seeking to provide safe harbor for lenders until January 1, 2016.

CFPB Director Richard Cordray said the delay came in response to considerable input received from stakeholders and said, "I have spoken with our fellow regulators to clarify that our oversight of the implementation of the Rule will be sensitive to the progress made by those entities that have squarely focused on making good-faith efforts to come into compliance with the Rule on time. My statement here of this approach is intended to ease some of the concerns we have heard about this transition to new processes in the coming months."

It is unclear whether a new date has been sent for enforcing the TRID rule.

Mortgage Broker Association President and CEO David H. Stevens said, "MBA welcomes the news that the CFPB will recognize the good faith efforts of lenders to comply with TRID by delaying enforcement for a period after the new rules go into effect on August 1^st.  After speaking with Director Cordray, I believe the Bureau has listened to the input of MBA as well as other stakeholders about how best to enforce TRID. With so many difficulties around integrating systems, the industry needs flexibility to ensure consumers do not incur costs or lose home sales due to unforeseen problems.  This enforcement grace period is a win/win for the industry and consumers alike.