MBA Call to Action Urges Support for TRID Safe Harbor
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule have been implemented. But the battle continues in Congress.
The Mortgage Action Alliance, the grassroots advocacy arm of the Mortgage Bankers Association, issued a Call to Action yesterday to its membership, urging support of a House bill that would provide a temporary safe harbor for lenders making good-faith efforts to comply with new TRID rules.
House leaders announced that H.R. 3192, the Homebuyers Assistance Act. (https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/3192) will come up for a vote this week. Introduced by Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., and Brad Sherman, D-Calif., the bill would help ensure smooth implementation of TRID rules by providing a temporary legal safe harbor for lenders who make a good-faith effort to comply with the regulations through February 1, 2016.
In the Senate, S. 1711, introduced by Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., would provide a similar legal safe harbor through January 1, 2016. That bill has yet to be considered. “A temporary legal safe harbor for lenders will ensure the new requirements are implemented in an orderly manner and that consumers are not confused or, worse yet, impaired in their ability to purchase a home or refinance a loan,” MBA said.
The House is pushing forward with a vote even as CFPB Director Richard Cordray provided informal assurances in a letter last week. He said Bureau examiners would “evaluate an institution’s compliance management system and overall efforts to come into compliance, recognizing the scope and scale of changes necessary for each supervised institution to achieve effective compliance.”
In a July letter to the CFPB (https://www.mba.org/Documents/Comment Letters/LETTER_CFPB TRID Delay_FINAL.pdf), MBA urged the Bureau to adopt a formal safe harbor period for lenders of at least six months from implementation date (Oct. 3). It urged the CFPB to make clear the safe-harbor period should preclude enforcement by other state and federal regulators and private litigants.
“Under the circumstances, MBA regards such an approach as essential to ensuring that the new requirements are introduced in an orderly manner so they serve the consumers they are designed to protect and do not unduly confuse or, worse yet, impair their ability to purchase a home or refinance,” MBA said.
MAA asked its members to contact their elected officials to take action by contacting their elected officials. For more information about MAA, click https://www.mba.org/get-involved/take-action-with-maa.
