Compliance Blog

Yet another regulator is thinking about taking another swing at the lending process.

Earlier this week, the FTC published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) that addresses every aspect of mortgage lending: advertising and marketing, origination, appraisals and servicing.   Any rules adopted following this ANPR would not apply to banks, thrifts or federalcredit unions.  But as the rulemaking will solicit activities that are alleged to be unfair or deceptive, any rules that are developed might be seen as a nice fix for federal credit unions, banks and thrifts as well. 

In addition, some credit unions use mortgage lending CUSOs that very well might come under an FTC rulemaking.  But keep this in mind: ANPRs are more of a fact-finding mission than anything else.   There's no guarantee that the FTC will issue regs in this area.  But the ANPR certainly signals that they are considering it.

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What is a shark attack?  Other than the obvious answer, I like to use shark attacks as an analogy.  For me, a shark attack is an unfortunate event that comes out of the blue.  Why does the shark attack you?  Because it was hungry, and you were nearby.  The number one reason for shark attacks in my opinion?  Bad luck.

Case in point: a credit union in Pennsylvania was recently sued over alleged improper ATM disclosures.  Read about it here.  The plaintiff had sued at least one other bank using the same argument.  I'm sure that if someone looked long and hard enough at any financial institution's disclosures, they'd find something that isn't quite up to date.  With ever-changing regulations, it is virtually impossible to be 100 percent compliant all of the time.

So, I shared that article to remind everyone that sharks exist.  Do your best to update disclosures, especially where they touch upon fees. 

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Attention to those in the Capital Region.  MACUMA has invited NAFCU's compliance team to lead a training session on June 29 in Arlington.  Here's some information on how to sign up.