DALLAS-Although "CFPB" has become a four-letter word at most CUs, Linda Clampitt said the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau actually has done a good job in recent months of producing "how to" guides.
Clampitt, SVP at CU Members Mortgage, urged CUs to get active in compliance, especially with new mortgage rule implementation dates looming in January 2014.
She urged looking to CU trade groups and the Mortgage Bankers Association for help. "That would be the first thing-pull down a number of guides and timeline tools."
Meanwhile, Clampitt recommended better usage of networking opportunities to stay updated on mortgage rules, including local CURENs, and the Las Vegas-based American CU Mortgage Association, which holds its 2013 annual conference Sept. 22-25.
One oft-overlooked mortgage compliance resource is law firms that specialize in real estate law. Clampitt said some have been offering webinars that are valuable because they provide an attorney's view. "They give black-and-white interpretations and answer questions specifically, although you have to pay for them," she said. "We were able to get a lot of good information from Mitch Kider from Washington, D.C." Kider is with the firm Weiner Brodsky Kider (www.wbsk.com).
She reminded many CUs mistakenly believe they are exempt from new CFPB mortgage rules, when they are only exempt from certain parts of those rules.
Not A One-Person Task
According to Clampitt, CUs should have a working group focused on compliance, and that the working group should hold weekly meetings to discuss upcoming deadlines and how regs will impact processes. CU Members Mortgage, for example, has a working group just for the CFPB qualified mortgages rule. The group includes an attorney, two compliance people, two production people and an IT person, because all of those areas are affected, she explained.
