Will the CFPB’s LO Comp Rule Get Delayed?

It’s no secret that the mortgage industry – loan brokers in particular – hate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s loan officer compensation proposal, especially any language that offers ‘flat fee’ payments to companies or originators. Comments about the proposal are still being filed and some trade group officials (speaking off-the-record) contend that the “fix is in” and that the young agency is more concerned with meeting the rule making deadline of early 2013 instead of “getting it right.” Right now, hope hinges on Congressional intervention. Loan brokers would like to see Congress delay the rulemaking for at least two years, giving the CFPB additional time to shape a compensation proposal that is fair to all. There is also a growing concern that few at the CFPB have ever worked in the lending industry as originators and are dictating policy without having walked in the shoes of an LO.