WASHINGTON, DC – May 18, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, today hailed the start of a process by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to harmonize and streamline mortgage disclosure forms required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act.
The CFPB is required under the Dodd-Frank reforms passed last year to undertake this process and to release a proposed rule by July, 2012. The CFPB today released two versions of a streamlined disclosure form that it will begin testing over the next five months with users—including consumers, mortgage brokers, and settlement industry stakeholders.
“This is exactly the kind of data-driven process which government regulators should be doing more of, rather than prescribing solutions from on high,” Rep. Maloney said. “To design a proposed form, and test it before rolling out a requirement to use it is both common sense and all too rare. This process will benefit all parties involved in a mortgage transaction—lenders and borrowers, and it’s the kind of thing that we should be encouraging—rather than discouraging, which is what House Republicans seem to prefer when it comes to the CFPB.”
Consumers and financial institutions will be able to visit the CFPB website and click through both forms and answer a series of questions about the ease of reading the forms and the information contained in them.
“I would encourage consumers to visit the CFPB website and give their input. This is a wonderful opportunity to get involved and shape a key disclosure form that has become arduous and burdensome for both consumers and the mortgage industry,” Maloney said.
Contact:
Jon Houston, 202-225-7944
