Bill seeks to enhance mortgage disclosures

Rep. French Hill (R-AR) introduced last week a bill to modify mortgage disclosure requirements while offering clarification to consumers and regulatory relief to financial institutions.

Hill said the TILA-RESPA (TRID) Improvement Act of 2017 enables consumers to know the costs of their title insurance premiums when they purchase a home.

“As TRID has become a massive, complex rule, it is hindering financial institutions’ ability to share accurate information to consumers during the mortgage closing process,” Hill said. “This legislation seeks to correct this error by ensuring that consumers know the exact cost of their title insurance, not the number reported as one price on a lending estimate and another price on a closing document.”

In October 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) implemented the Know Before You Owe (KBYO) or TRID mortgage disclosure rule, which integrated a series of mortgage forms and was designed to assist consumers with better understanding the home closing process. In the majority of states, however, consumers are not receiving an accurate disclosure of their title insurance premiums.

The mortgage disclosure modification, officials said, would allow the calculation of a discounted rate known as simultaneous issue, which is a rate title insurance companies provide to consumers when they purchase a lenders and owners title insurance policy simultaneously.