Hey, Where’s the CFPB’s LO Compensation Rule?

The mortgage industry – loan officers and brokers in particular – are anxiously waiting for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to unveil its final loan officer compensation proposal. The rule was slated for early August release and here it is mid-month and nothing’s been issued. A media inquiry to the agency about the rule went unanswered this week. But some loan officers have suggested that the longer CFPB takes, the better the result might be for the industry. Or is this just wishful thinking? The biggest concern is the issue of flat fees. The fear is that flat fee pricing will cause certain lenders to avoid markets where home prices (and therefore the mortgage amount) are cheap. After all, 2% of $100,000 is a lot less than 2% of $500,000. Who knows, maybe the agency is trying to fix this.