As mortgage professionals when we first hear about changing regulations, or learn we’re headed for another compliance training workshop it’s easy to let out that collective groan. Yes, ensuring that documents are perfectly executed and that all the timing complies with TRID aren’t the most exciting parts of the job…most of us love the time with clients, talking to them about their dreams and goals, and helping them become homeowners.
Still, regulation is crucial, and helps keep our borrowers, our companies, and the industry as a whole financially secure. And it might help your business more than you realize. Here are a few ways this can be true.
Increased Consumer Confidence
The housing crisis took a serious toll on the desire of Americans to own a home. People who have been through foreclosure, or spent years underwater on a property may be reluctant to buy again. Stories of financial hardship and falling property values made many question whether purchasing real estate makes sense. A February 2016 article from The Washington Post explores this idea, in Where the ‘American dream’ of homeownership is fading the most.
Another concern among would-be borrowers is that risky mortgage lending played a role in homeowners losing their homes. The additional regulations and clear disclosures that have been put into place in recent years can go a long way towards easing the fears of potential home buyers. It may help to walk new clients through some of the regulatory items that protect their interests such as:
- The Loan Estimate Form
- Waiting periods
- The Closing Disclosure Form
- Restrictions on more risky loan programs
In addition, you can discuss how program specific underwriting guidelines help ensure that the loan they take out is affordable to them.
Even Playing Field
Without mortgage regulation and oversight less scrupulous professionals have greater opportunity to offer misleading products or those that don’t benefit the consumer. Clear disclosure laying out the true cost of financing makes it easier to compare apples to apples, and let you highlight your pricing.
The loan estimate form also makes it simple to show a potential borrower a few different programs you have to offer. Mortgage shoppers like choices. Choosing from among a few viable options helps us feel that we are making an informed decision, and that we have greater control over the situation. When you provide several good selections all available through your company, your clients may feel less of a need to shop around to other lenders. At AFR Wholesale our wide array of product offerings helps you have a few great ideas for each client you work with.
Opportunity to Set Yourself Apart
An obstacle is simply another chance to do a better job overcoming it than your competition. When a new regulation comes your way, take the time to figure out how to incorporate it into your process without sacrificing service to your customers.
When the new TRID disclosures and associated regulations were put into place in October of 2015 many within the mortgage industry bemoaned them, and said the unavoidable result would be longer turn times. At AFR we refused to accept delays as inevitable.
Our team got together and starting with closing worked backwards to see how we could work within the new regulations without impacting closing times. We figured out how we can get everything required for the closing disclosures as early as possible in the process.
At first we saw a small lag and time in the closing department increased by about 2 days for a short period of time while we worked out the kinks. However, within 30 to 45 days AFR was back to pre-TRID turn times.
Want to put these same systems to work for your clients, increasing efficiency, decreasing costs, and improving customer satisfaction? Check out our On-Demand Processing service where we process, underwrite, and close the loans for you.
Photography by [Africa Studio] © shutterstock.com
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