Among lenders' top concerns about compliance, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's (CFPB) mandates and deadlines still are at the top of the list, according to QuestSoft's annual compliance survey.
Of more than 500 lenders, 62.2% ranked the qualified mortgage rule as a high concern. Other CFPB rulings lenders ranked as a high concern included ability-to-repay violations (57.2%), as well as the combined truth in lending and good faith estimate disclosure forms (54.8%).
CFPB-related rulemaking has captured the top spot in the survey every year since 2012 – the first survey year available following the creation of the regulatory body – QuestSoft reports.
Interestingly, survey respondents also expressed concern for CFPB rules that have yet to be finalized or publicized. Recently introduced discussion points for proposed Home Mortgage Disclosure Act changes (57.5% high concern) and other CFPB-related rulemakings (47.7% high concern) both outscored any non-CFPB category.
"Compared to last year's survey, lenders appear more weary than ever of the CFPB's rules, as non-CFPB issues are seen as increasingly lower priorities," says Leonard Ryan, founder and president of QuestSoft. "It seems the message of the survey is that for many lenders, the mortgage environment has become highly dependent on the box of lending that the CFPB rules are creating."
Ryan notes that survey respondents also cited vendor management as a growing concern. He indicated that his company has experienced a four-fold increase in the cost of simply processing compliance requests.
The survey also highlights Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act fee tolerances (45% high concern), Fair Lending exams (40%), Community Reinvestment Act exam scrutiny (31.4%), state consumer lending laws (25.7%) and the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry mortgage call reports (20.1%) as this year's additional compliance issues.
QuestSoft's entire survey can be found here.