Mar 14

Mar 14 Overt Evidence Of Disparate Treatment

Adam discusses the first type of discrimination recognized by the courts: overt evidence of disparate treatment. There are a few good examples and a few good laughs in this video.

Mar 14

Mar 14 Assessing Fair Lending Risk

Adam Witmer

Fair Lending, Compliance Management

A current hot topic with examiners, Adam explains how a financial institution can assess fair lending risk.

Mar 14
Mar 14 Regulation D Excessive Transaction Monitoring

Adam Witmer

Regulation D, Compliance Management

Regulation D sets transaction limitations on savings accounts where a customer is not permitted to make more than 6 restricted transaction from the account during the statement cycle (or calendar month). If a customer repeatedly makes excessive withdrawals, Regulation D, by definition, changes the account type from a savings account to a transaction account. The result is that a converted account would be incorrectly reported on the Call report by the financial institution. Therefore, Regulation D requires financial institutions to monitor restricted transactions and to take action if a consumer exceeds the maximum number of transactions permitted on a savings account.

Mar 12
Mar 12 Rural & Underserved List and What It Applies To

Adam Witmer

Regulation Z, Regulatory Update

Each year, the CFPB releases a list of rural and underserved counties. The most recent list was just released by the CFPB and provides a few changes from prior years. While this list is definitely not the most exciting of lists, it does have an impact on community banks and credit unions in two main areas...

Mar 11

Mar 11 Fair Lending Overview

Adam Witmer

Fair Lending

In this video, Adam provides an overview of fair lending by discussing the protected classes of Reg B and FHA and talking about the three types of discrimination recognized by the courts.

Mar 9
Mar 9 CFPB Issues Final Mortgage Servicing Rules

Adam Witmer

Regulatory Update

Yesterday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule that will help mortgage servicers communicate with certain borrowers who are facing bankruptcy. This final rule gives mortgage servicers more flexibility in providing periodic statements to consumers who are entering or exiting bankruptcy.

Mar 7
Mar 7 Why We Need Flood Insurance

Adam Witmer

Flood

The last few weeks have felt like a tropical rainforest. We have had more rain than I can remember having in just a few weeks time and our area is starting to see the problems with this. For example, my father-in-law has a rental property I had to go to last week that was almost underwater. The rain was coming down so fast that it had nowhere to go. In fact, the furnace vents are under the floor of the house and...

Mar 5
Mar 5 Understanding the Detached Structure Flood Insurance Exemption

Adam Witmer

Flood

Flood insurance rules have been a moving target in recent years. Flood rules as we knew them changed overnight with the Biggert Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012. Then, the rules changed again with the Homeowners Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014. Furthermore, FEMA rescinded their longstanding guidance and the regulators have been slow to implement rules for both Biggert Waters and the Affordability Act. Under the old rules, it was a known fact that a lender had to require a separate flood insurance policy for each...

Mar 2
Mar 2 Reusing a Flood Determination

Adam Witmer

Flood

Community banks and credit unions often do everything they can to keep loan costs down for their customers. They will waive fees, reduce rates, and even forego certain loan related activities in order to keep their customers satisfied. One of the ways financial institutions will try to save money for their customers is to reuse a flood determination from a prior loan. Any time a lender makes, increases, renews, or extends (MIRE) a loan secured by a structure, the lender must...

Feb 28
Feb 28 ECOA Incomplete Application Notice

Adam Witmer

Regulation B, Fair Lending

An incomplete application can create unique challenges for a financial institution. For example, many financial institutions have a difficult time just understanding what an incomplete application really is. To understand what an incomplete application is, we must first understand how Reg B defines a completed application. Under Regulation B, a completed application is an application in which a creditor...