May '21 Compliance Roundup

A number of state lawmakers were quite busy in May. In addition, the federal government provided some compliance guidance, with both the CFPB and USDA publishing information during the month. The details are below.

Remember that you will always be up to date, up to the minute, by following the posts in our compliance blog.

Government Compliance News
State governors were busy in May, signing new bills into law that created some interesting changes in a number of states. CFPB and USDA also released new guidance and Fannie Mae provided a clarification. The details and links to ever more information are below.

CFPB. The Bureau has released a new publication on its website. “TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure FAQs” specifically addresses the partial exemptions extended by the “Building Up Independent Lives and Dreams” (BUILD) Act. We are currently reviewing these amendments to determine any impact and evaluating any modifications to our document library and/or systems. Learn more.

Fannie Mae. FHLMC has announced that they will be limiting the scope of the pre-close borrower discussions required under FHLMC Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide to cash out refinance transactions only. We are currently reviewing these amendments to determine any impact and evaluating any modifications to our document library and/or systems. Learn more. 

Indiana. Governor Eric Holcomb has signed IN HB 1255 (2021) into law, which amends a vast array of laws impacting notarial acknowledgments and proofs and the electronic recording of mortgages. We are currently reviewing these amendments to determine any impact and evaluating any modifications to our document library and/or systems. Learn more.

North Dakota. Governor Doug Burgum has signed ND SB 2103 (2021) into law, which amends the so-called “North Dakota Money Brokers Act.” Amendments include specific loan terms that must be made within the loan contract, as well as promulgating new late charge restrictions. We are currently reviewing these amendments to determine any impact and evaluating any modifications to our document library and/or systems. Learn more.

Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has signed TX SB 43 (2020) into law, which creates a new Chapter 159 to the Texas Finance Code, which regulates wrap mortgage loan financing. One of the requirements of this bill is for the lender to provide a disclosure to the borrower. We are reviewing the bill to determine any impact, and evaluating any modifications, to our document library and/or systems. Learn more.

USDA. In May, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that it would only be accepting the legacy URLA until the end of May and warned all lenders to only submit Single-Family Guaranteed Loan Program applications on the new URLA after June 1, 2021. Learn more.

Document Changes

Our compliance team delivered a couple of significant document updates in May. The changes have been summarized below with links to the full descriptions of the updates. 

• West Virginia Governor Jim Justice of West Virginia has signed WV SB 469 (2021) into law, which permits Remote Online Notarizations (RON). The law requires that when using RON, the notary must indicate that RON was used. As a result, a number of documents have now been updated to include that notice. Learn more.
• Due to the slightly different language requirements, and the possibility that an FHA loan may be sold to FNMA, we are adjusting the language on our standard Gift Letter (Cx17342) to incorporate the wording for both agencies. Learn more.

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