CFPB Convenes Panel to Review Mortgage Disclosure Forms

The ""Consumer Financial Protection Bureau"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/ (CFPB) took steps Tuesday to engage mortgage lenders by forming a small business panel to review the integration of mortgage disclosure requirements into a single uniform document.

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The Dodd-Frank Act obligates the bureau to streamline conflicting rules and statutory requirements from the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Truth-in-Lending Act.

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The CFPB billed the panel as a way to increase transparency with mortgage lenders, take into account their thoughts for a single form, and build a fairer and more comprehensive document for borrowers.

""This is another step in the CFPB's wide-ranging efforts to gather the input of the people who will be affected by our rules,"" CFPB director Richard Cordray said in a statement. ""The CFPB is dedicated to issuing thoughtful, research-based rules that take into account not only the benefits to consumers but also how businesses of all sizes will be affected.""

Among other ways, the bureau plans to task the small business panel with review of loan estimates, disclosure terms, and various requirements related to the two long-standing laws.

The CFPB said in the statement that the formation of a panel builds on form-testing activities it has conducted in nine cities and more than 27,000 comments received from the public and industry sources.

The bureau will move forward by proposing a rule for the disclosure form in the Federal Register by July. A report on the disclosure form is due two months after the panel assembles.