The CFPB is looking for your advice?? Can you help?

With all the regulations that have been implemented in the mortgage industry recently, we are now seeing more and more mistakes that are caused at the last minute.  The repulling of a credit report just days before a closing, a discrepancy on an appraisal and so on.  Is it me, or does it seem like every closing is rushed and held up for something that no one has ever experienced before?  I am sure you have been to a few of these closing over the last few years!

Good News!!  The CFPB, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is looking for input on the closing process, specifically in response to the questions below. This is an incredible opportunity as the CFPB is asking us how to make things better in the Mortgage World specifically at the closing table.  Now is your chance to speak up and tell us what you think!  Can you answer some of these questions?

In case you were wondering, the CFPB is the product of Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts.  It is a committee to help the consumers obtain financial products with clarity.

Do us all a favor and answer as many of these questions as you can.

Consumers and Closing

1. What are common problems or issues consumers face at closing?
2. What parts of the closing process do consumers find confusing or overwhelming?
3. Are there specific parts of the closing process that borrowers find particularly helpful?
4. How empowered do consumers seem to feel at closing? Did they come to closing with questions?
5. What, if anything, have you found helps consumers understand the terms of the loan?

Changes and/or Errors at Closing

1. What are some common errors you have seen at closing?  Tell us about errors that were detected after closing.
2. What changes, diverging from what was originally presented at closing, often surprise consumers at closing? How do consumers react to changes at closing?

Other Parties at Closing

1. How, if at all, do consumers typically seek advice during closing? In person? By phone? Online?
2. Where and to whom do consumers turn for advice during closing? Whom do they typically trust?

Closing Documents

1. What documents do consumers find particularly confusing?
2. What resources do borrowers use to define unfamiliar terms of the loan?

Improving Closing

1. What, if anything, would you change about the closing process to make it a better experience for consumers?
2. What questions should consumers ask at closing? What are the most important pieces of information/documents for them to review?
3. What is the single most important question a consumer should ask at closing?
4. What is the single most important thing a consumer should do before coming to the closing table?

Do you have something to share or tell us in regards to what you have experienced at the closing table with your clients. Please tell us as we will be compiling all the comments and suggestions for the CFPB.

This is a major breakthrough, this is a Government Agency that is not only working with the consumer, but is working for you and I to make the process far better! To learn more about the CFPB, click here: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, if you are in the mortgage/real estate business, this is important.

Send your comments and suggestions to wnickerson@merrimackmortgage.com and together we can make history!

Thank you very much,

Bill

A Resolution you can all keep!

As the New Year has been brought in, we all hear those silly resolutions people make.  I am not a big fan of them as they are typically unobtainable goals and fade like the winter months. This is what I ask of you, as I have asked myself.  How can I become a better person and improve on what I am already doing?  Some go without saying, I would like to continue to improve my health everyday so that I can be here for kids and grandkids (no, i don’t have grandkids yet!!). To love my Wife, My Children, My Family and Friends more and more every day. To give more to those that are less fortunate, whether it be in sickness, money or simply just doing a good deed.  If you can stay true to yourself, this will help you stay true to the ones you love and those that surround you.  And remember, you cannot surround yourself with negative people and expect to have a positive life…cut them loose!!  The Beauty of all this, Today marks the very beginning, seize it, embrace it, enjoy it and enjoy those around you.

I wish you the Happiest of New Years and please make the very Best of it!!! Bill