Best Practices

Lions, and Tigers and Seller Financing, Oh My!

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If you are closing seller financed transactions on primary residences including contracts for deed (hereafter referred to as seller financing), or if you have clients who are accepting seller financing, you should take the time to educate yourself and your clients on the current pitfalls.  Please refer to Martha McConnell’s excellent article entitled “Seller Financing – the New ‘Jabberwocky’!” in the Summer 2014 issue of Chicago Record Title for a detailed report on what has led to this serious concern.

lions1 Because it is a complicated issue, I am not sure I can express a bottom line in any kind of succinct manner, but I will attempt to do so here.

The CFPB has been given the power to supervise and regulate laws that impact seller financing, including the SAFE Act, TILA, the Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule, HOEPA and the Loan Originator Rule.

Under the applicable federal rules, it is possible that sellers engaging in seller financing may have to become licensed as “loan originators” or “mortgage brokers”.  The loans may have to be fully amortized, and it is possible that these seller/lenders may have to make determinations and disclosures that have not previously been required. Certain exclusions are available, but the rules are complex and detailed, and should be handled with care.

Inconsistencies between the federal and state versions of the SAFE Act, both of which require licensing and registration of loan originators, is another area of concern.

Clients who fail to become licensed or to fall into an exclusion may find they are unable to foreclose, and may, along with the attorneys who closed the transactions and the title policies that insured them, be subject to claims and litigation. In addition, the CFPB has broad enforcement powers including the power to impose civil monetary penalties ranging from $5,000 to $1 million per day.

This is an area of the law that is going to require monitoring and thought in the coming months. Legislation in South Carolina to address the inconsistencies in our version of the SAFE Act may be one avenue for improvement. In the meantime, please take great care if you or your clients venture into seller financing.

Who Will Get On the Wells Fargo Wagon?

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Wells Fargo announces it will generate and deliver the Closing Disclosure

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Wells Fargo announced on September 24, 2014 that it will generate and deliver the borrower’s Closing Disclosure when the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule becomes effective on August 1, 2015.

Software companies, title insurance companies and closing attorneys have been speculating about this for many months. Now we have an answer, at least as to this mega-lender. Whether other lenders will fall in line remains to be seen.  The stated rationale is that the process will allow Wells Fargo to consistently meet compliance and regulator expectations.

The announcement stated that Wells will continue to collaborate with closing attorneys to determine fees and other content required for the Closing Disclosure and to ensure that the lender has accurate information.

For purchase transactions, the closing attorney will continue to be responsible for the seller’s information and will prepare and deliver the seller’s Closing Disclosure. A copy must be provided to Wells Fargo.

The Closing Disclosure must be delivered three business days prior to the closing, and Wells Fargo anticipates this requirement will require that all the parties work together more than ever on scheduling closings.

Conducting closings will continue to be the responsibility of closing attorneys, but with increasing focus on compliance with the lender’s closing instructions, according to this announcement.

This announcement has a huge impact on the closing process. The closing attorney will continue to be responsible for gathering information required to generate the document that replaces the HUD-1 Settlement Statement, but Wells Fargo, not the closing attorney’s office, will actually generate and deliver the form.

Please recall that Wells Fargo is the lender that endorsed ALTA’s Best Practices. My best advice for residential closing attorneys in South Carolina who want to remain in the game after August, 2015?  Get your office in compliance with Best Practices now so you will be prepared to implement the hardware/software changes this announced “collaborating” with lenders will require.

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Embrace ALTA’s Best Practices

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 BestPractices2Some real estate practitioners are furiously bringing themselves into compliance with ALTA’s Best Practices, while others are furiously ignoring the entire topic or, at best, waiting until they hear marching orders from lenders. I propose that we all step to the plate and embrace Best Practices.

Residential practitioners can and should use compliance as a marketing tool. Some commercial practitioners are assuming that when lenders become educated and begin demanding compliance from residential practitioners, they will naturally ask for the same or similar compliance from commercial practitioners. Striving for compliance is an opportunity for all practitioners to demonstrate to their clients, to real estate agents and to lenders their value in real estate transactions.

ALTA is now encouraging practitioners to conduct a self-assessment of their adoption of Best Practices by September of 2014. Time may be of the essence because a practitioner may first hear marching orders from a lender in connection with a specific real estate closing. If it is impossible to demonstrate compliance quickly, that closing will likely be lost to someone who is better prepared.Best-Practice-processes

I am convinced that the numbers of residential real estate practitioners in South Carolina will be drastically reduced in the next year or two. Attorneys approaching retirement age may decide to retire rather than to learn how to use the new forms. Large law firms  who handle commercial transactions may decide that residential transactions are no longer worth the effort. Left standing will be the practitioners who embrace this change and tackle it now. There is opportunity for growth for those who act wisely in the face of change.

Title insurance companies are willing and able to help and have resources that can ease the pain. But no outsider can do the actual work. Each pillar requires careful consideration from a management standpoint, and only the closing attorneys themselves can make the necessary decisions for implementation. Each pillar will require on-going demonstration of compliance. Files must be papered. Calendars must be tickled. Software and hardware must be kept current. Compliance will not be a matter of establishing written procedures and continuing business as usual. We should establish a culture of compliance and make it the responsibility of all employees.

I can’t say this strongly enough: At some point, practitioners will either have to embrace compliance or get out of the game. The time to act is now.

If you want to continue to handle residential real estate transactions, call your title insurance company today and ask for assistance in nailing down each pillar.