Could NAMB Idea Spawn RESPA Consensus?

A National Association of Mortgage Brokers proposal for firming up the good-faith estimate and making it more comparable to the HUD-1 settlement sheet could be a catalyst for achieving a consensus on RESPA reform, according to NAMB president Jim Nabors."We are getting positive feedback" from lenders, Mr. Nabors told MortgageWire. He said there is no support for the Department of Housing and Urban Development's packaging proposals. However, he said he believes HUD could get a consensus on Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act reform by revising the GFE and making sure consumers know the cost of the mortgage transaction before they go to closing. Under the NAMB proposal, originators would be required to re-disclose the GFE if actual costs exceed certain tolerances. Failure to re-disclose would give the borrower the right to sue. The NAMB-designed GFE does not include a line item for disclosing yield-spread premiums. The NAMB is also proposing to eliminate the YSP disclosure in the HUD-1 settlement sheet, which consumer groups strongly opposed at HUD's RESPA roundtable discussion on Aug. 18.