The American Bankers Association today responded to inquiries from House Financial Services Committee members about the effects of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule on the financial services industry. In a letter to committee members Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) and Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas), ABA highlighted the significant burdens the rule has placed upon banks of all sizes to upgrade systems, retrain staff, conduct testing and notify vendors and customers, and outlined its efforts on behalf of bankers struggling to comply.
As TRID was developed and implemented, the association has engaged bankers, legal and regulatory experts to thoroughly review the rule and pinpoint significant compliance risks. ABA has worked to elevate those issues to the CFPB through letters and meetings with bureau staff, including Director Richard Cordray. Recently, ABA and other financial stakeholders provided the bureau with a list of priority issues, and received a verbal commitment from Cordray to provide clarification in a number of key areas.
ABA has also gathered quantitative and qualitative data from bankers across the country on how TRID has affected their operational processes and product offerings. A survey conducted in February revealed that consumers are seeing the greatest impact from TRID due to increased loan costs, fewer choices and delayed closings. In addition, a quarter of banks reported eliminating certain mortgage products due to a lack of clarity in the rule, and many said they were struggling to comply with the rule because of incomplete or inaccurate systems provided by third-party vendors.
The association stressed that further clarification from the bureau is needed to help bankers and vendors address problems with systems and other issues, and reiterated its commitment to work with Cordray and the CFPB to address the ambiguities and unanswered questions TRID presents.
Following prompting from ABA and other trade associations, the CFPB will hold a free webinar on Tuesday, April 12, at 2 p.m. EDT, to provide further question-and-answer guidance to the financial and housing industries on complying with the TILA-RESPA integrated disclosures. ABA took the lead in working with CFPB Director Richard Cordray to provide further guidance on implementation of the complex new disclosure regime.
