With Aug. 1 bearing down on the mortgage industry, making sure you’re ready to comply with the changing TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule and its subsequent forms is as important as ever.
That’s why experts from across the mortgage space are getting together to dole out some last-minute advice for settlement agents and their partners at the National Settlement Services Summit’s (NS3’s) “TRID Technology: Countdown to Implementation” panel discussion June 10 in Atlanta.
“We’re going to talk about the Integrated Disclosure’s pending impact on the industry, and what lenders, investors, technology providers and title and settlement providers are doing to prepare for it,” said Harry Gardner, vice president of eStrategies at Ellie Mae. “Of course, everyone is talking about it, and for NS3, the intent is to focus on the title and settlement area specifically.”
Gardner, a former executive of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and long-time leader of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO), joined Ellie Mae in May 2014. As VP of eStrategies, Gardner is responsible for leading Ellie Mae’s strategy and execution around eMortgage and eClosing capabilities.
One of the specific things Gardner will address is how Ellie Mae is working to prepare lenders for the change so that the fee structure between entities remains accurate throughout the mortgage process.
“Ellie Mae has been implementing enhancements and updates to Encompass, our loan origination software, for over 18 months in order to prepare our lenders for Integrated Disclosures. We feel that the concept of a collaborative structure for closing costs naturally belongs within the LOS as the system of record, so that the lender has complete visibility of the title and settlement fees as the loan approaches closing. It’s in everyone’s best interest to ensure that fees are accurate, within the CFPB’s tolerances, and tightly managed after the initial three-day Closing Disclosure is issued to the borrowers,” Gardner said.
To a larger point, Gardner said what settlement and title professionals need to be most prepared for is managing their fee database and fee structures, looking at who their partners are, and assessing the various ways they may be required to provide those fee structures in the future through multiple unique software portals.
The panel also consists of Mary Schuster, chief product officer and vice president of regulatory affairs at RamQuest Inc.; Lisa Mitiguy, product manager of strategic initiatives for Fannie Mae; and Kathy Scanlon, product development director for single-family strategic delivery at Freddie Mac. The goal of the panel is to address many questions of industry participants before the TRID rules take place, because even though the CFPB has said the change won’t be drastic, the impact of the rule might be larger than advertised.
To get more information on the 2015 National Settlement Services Summit in Atlanta June 8-10, including the agenda and a list of speakers, click here. You can register for NS3 online or click here to get information on how to register via mail, fax or phone.