The National Settlement Services Summit (NS3) annual regulator open forum kicked off the first-day events in Charlotte, N.C., with a discussion on today’s hot regulatory and compliance topics.
Richard Horn, founding attorney of Richard Horn Legal, PLLC, moderated this session with panelists Sharon Asar, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ombudsman associate, Jed Bellman, assistant commissioner from the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, and Ken Trepeta, president and executive director for Real Estate Services Providers Council, Inc.
In the first half of the session, Asar addressed how the CFPB Ombudsman’s Office can help industry participants informally resolve process issues arising from bureau activities. She advocated fairness in such an overall process. She said the office does not take sides in issues brought to it – neither for the public stakeholder nor the CFPB – but rather worked to create a fair process for the issue resolution.
Horn asked about bringing a whistleblower complaint, and how the CFPB’s Ombudsman Office can help with such issues. Asar said her office has received questions regarding whistleblowers, with all concerns being dealt with carefully and confidentially. Although the bureau has a whistleblower office, Asar said the Ombudsman’s Office can help facilitate conversation with the whistleblower office and maintain the confidentiality of the inquiry.
Asar also told the audience that independence, confidentiality and impartiality are key things to remember in the process of resolving issues.
In the second part of the forum, Horn asked Bellman and Trepeta some tough questions relating to regulatory and compliance. Bellman, whose focus is on non-depository institutions, addressed important issues for those understanding compliance regulations at the state and federal level.
He indicated that the expectations are made that everyone strives for compliance and that evaluations are made on behalf of the actions of mortgage lenders, brokers and servicers.
Trepeta, who previously worked as the director of real estate services for the National Association of Realtors, reminded attendees that it is important to “stay ahead of the curve” when it comes to security steps dealing with emails. Prior to working at NAR and RESPRO, Trepeta was a vice president of governmental affairs at the Financial Services Forum and JPMorgan Chase.
Other questions addressed the bureau’s use of its power to protect against unfair, deceptive and abusive acts or practices (UDAAP) and marketing services agreements (MSAs). Trepeta said everyone is being cautious regarding MSAs based on interpretations made by CFPB, while Bellman said at the state level, the regulators were looking to the CFPB’s interpretation for guidance on supervision and enforcement of RESPA regarding MSAs. On UDAAP, Bellman said the state use of Dodd-Frank’s UDAAP authority could be used in specific cases – such as one recent court case in New York – but on a broad scale, he thought state regulators had more tools at their regulatory disposal to pursue enforcement actions, and would not want to cede those to bring a UDAAP case in federal court.
The question of TRID and its implementation success also was raised with Bellman emphasizing his licensing department was doing its best to make sure compliance is the desired goal. He said his office was just beginning to start TRID examinations.
Trepeta suggested that TRID has been a disaster for some, especially small lenders. He suggested that the CFPB should attempt to fix a lot of the little things as its reopens its rulemaking on TRID, so that everyone is being helped and everyone understands the expectations.
At the conclusion of the panel discussion, the presidential election was brought up, with both panelists asked how the outcome could affect the CFPB, businesses and industries. Audience questions also were entertained to close the session.