Lenders 'Waiting' on RESPA Changes

When it comes to complying with the new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act regulations, many lenders appear to be sticking their heads in the sand, according to a pair of Washington regulatory lawyers. Jeffrey Naimon of BuckleySandler said his clients seem to be adopting a wait-and-see attitude, hoping, perhaps, that the new Obama Administration will pull the regulations before their most onerous sections take effect on Jan. 1. "The rules are incredibly complicated," he said at the annual RESPRO conference, "yet our phones are not ringing off the hook." Lots of "petrified" lenders are "waiting to see what others do," agreed Jeffrey Arouh of Holland & Knight. At the same time, though, Mr. Arouh warned that lenders who are not ready to implement the regs will be "out of the game." "The rule is the rule," he said. "You're kind of stuck with it, so you have to deal with it." Mr. Naimon, meanwhile, said he's surprised lenders haven't attacked the regulations on the grounds that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has overstepped its bounds. "I question HUD's legal authority" for many of the changes in RESPA's new rules, he said. "I don't think a lot of this holds water, but no one is interested in poking the government in the face right now."