Let’s face it: mortgage compliance is a cost of doing business that isn’t going away anytime soon – or if ever. If Mitt Romney gets elected he may try to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But ask yourself this question: when was the last time the government actually closed an agency, much less one that is barely a year old? (As reported on the National Mortgage News website this past summer we know of a handful of nonbanks that are being audited right now.) So, what does a good compliance officer cost these days? That’s hard to say, but mortgage consultant Joe Garrett recently wrote to his clients, saying, “We know of one not so big commercial bank on the west coast which pays its Chief Compliance Officer $160,000.” Key word here is the phrase “not so big commercial bank.” And living in California – despite a correction in home values – is hardly cheap unless you’re living in the desert.
