In a startling turn of events, two major players in the mortgage and real estate industry have been dealt a hefty blow with fines totaling a staggering $1.95 million. The penalties come as a result of their failure to comply with the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), a federal law designed to safeguard consumers in real estate transactions. The mortgage company, known for its prominence in the market, and the real estate agency, a …
In the last 3 weeks, I spent 7 hours in front of 125 real estate agents! A captive audience. Curious how I got there? If you’ve read this far, this is not a brag post. It’s an opportunity for you to get in front of your target audience and with someone else driving them into your seats! It’s to make you realize, you have to be different from your competitors to get different results than …
On October 13, 2022 the Federal Department of Labor published findings in Vol. 87, No. 197 of the Federal Register. The W-2/1099 controversary hits many businesses. As stated in previous posts, there is no special 1099 consideration for mortgage loan originators. Regardless of which state you work in or which type of employer your work for, Mortgage Loan Originators are required to have their income reported on IRS Form W-2. There are many companies that …
How does a mortgage company meet the statutory requirement for Anti-Money Laundering education? The question comes up because many companies do not comply with the annual education requirement for all employees. In our opinion the law and regulations on AML training is purposely not specific because the term education is defined by the outcome and not the input. More simply put if you understand the requirements of the law you are educated. To be sure …
The overlap between federal and state laws and regulations becomes very apparent once there is an examination and/or an enforcement action. With COVID dominating our work environment over the past two years, not many audits or exams were scheduled by state regulators. That is all about to change. They are way behind and will begin the process of catching up sooner than you may be ready for. In many cases where mortgage companies get caught …