We’re learning for the first time what the CFPB considers the top mistakes being made by lenders in mortgage originations under TRID. CFPB’s September 2017 Supervisory Highlights reports on the Bureau’s first round of mortgage origination compliance examinations. Prior to these examinations, the Bureau refused to provide a grace period for lender compliance but stated publicly that it would be sensitive to the progress made by lenders who focused on making good faith efforts to comply with the rule.

Some of these mistakes may be attributed, at least from the viewpoint of the lenders who were pinpointed by CFPB, to settlement service providers (real estate lawyers in South Carolina), so we should pay close attention to this list. Failure to pay attention to it may place some of us squarely on lenders’ naughty lists.

This report indicates most lenders were able to effectively implement and comply with the rule changes, but the examiners did find some violations. The following list contains the most common mistakes:

• Amounts paid by the consumers at closings exceeded the amounts disclosed on the Loan Estimates beyond the applicable tolerance thresholds;
• The entity or entities failed to retain evidence of compliance with the requirements associated with Loan Estimates;
• The entity or entities failed to obtain and/or document the consumers’ intent to proceed with the transactions prior to imposing fees in connection with the consumers’ applications;
• Waivers of the three-day review period did not contain bona fide personal financial emergencies;
• The entity or entities failed to provide consumers with a list identifying at least one available settlement service provider in cases where the lender permits consumers to shop for settlement services;
• The entity or entities failed to disclose the amounts payable into an escrow account on the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure when consumers elected to escrow taxes and insurance;
• Loan Estimates did not include dates and times at which estimated closing costs expire; and
• The entity or entities failed to properly disclose on the Closing Disclosures fees the consumers paid prior to closing.

The report boasts that the CFPB examiners worked in a collaborative manner with one or more of the entities to identify the root causes of the violations and to determine appropriate corrective actions, including reimbursements to consumers.

The report also covered the Bureau’s supervisory activities outside the mortgage origination arena and indicated nonpublic supervisory resolutions have resulted in total restitution payments of approximately $14 million to more than 104,000 consumers during the review period (January through June, 2017). The CFPB also touted resolutions of public enforcement actions resulting in about $1.15 million in consumer remediation and an additional $1.75 million in civil penalties during the review period.

Despite the notion that the CFPB may be in disfavor in the Trump administration, it remains a powerful body in our industry. Compliance with its directives is crucial to remain in the residential closing business at this point.