LoanTek’s Interview with Marc Savitt, President NAIHP-What do Mortgage Professionals Need to Know about the CPFB?
In LoanTek’s April 30th interview with Marc Savitt, we discussed his experience with the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and delved further into the subject of ‘What Mortgage Professionals Need to Know about the CFPB and Their Regulatory Requirements’. Savitt is currently the President of the National Association of Independent Housing Professionals (www.naihp.org), Past President and Legislative Chair of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (www.NAMB.org). Marc has been an industry leader and lender for over 30 years. As President of the NAIHP, Marc has met with the CFPB 11 times and has an insider viewpoint of what is transpiring in Washington and how it will affect mortgage companies. The NAIHP is an association dedicated to acting as the Legislative voice of small business housing professionals. Few industry professionals have a better perspective on the CFPB and the upcoming regulatory challenges facing Mortgage Originators.
On the surface Marc Savitt approaches the CFPB with a positive outlook. Marc recently spent an hour with Richard Cordray, the first Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to Savitt, “Cordray is no regular Washington Bureaucrat”. Cordray’s previous career prepared him to lead the CFPB. Prior to Cordray’s appointment to the CFPB he served as Ohio’s Attorney General for consumer complaints. Marc was impressed by Corday’s in depth questions and understanding of the issues facing the mortgage industry. Savitt describes Cordray and his staff as “smart, engaged and willing to handle the challenges to position the CFPB for effective management of this new governmental agency”.
In Marc’s perspective, the CFPB is working to coordinate regulatory efforts with State Agencies. With the goal of the CFPB of limiting replication of policies and maximizing and coordinating the State staff efforts; a welcome and rare find in the mortgage industry’s current regulatory quagmire. Key initiatives within the CFPB are to ‘repurpose and refine’ to gain efficiency. The CFPB is working with industry professionals to assess best practices. As an example, Cordray’s staff is no stranger to the beleaguered Good Faith Estimate and the notion of creating document efficiency for the consumer. If CFPB is successful in this endeavor the consumer will have better lending information in a one page document and better decisions will be made (remember the old Good Faith Estimate?). A tireless advocate, Savitt is adding on to the work he’s done on HVCC and is now working on improving The Good Faith Estimate and the Truth in Lending. When the document has been finished, CFPB will place their revisions into the Federal Registry.
Marc Savitt continually champions a level playing field for all mortgage originators. The concept is one that provides clarity and competition in the marketplace – both to the end benefit of the consumer. In making sure Mortgage Professionals, in their respective State and Federally Chartered arenas, are treated the same for regulatory requirements, Marc asserts that Banks and Mortgage Companies should have the same licensing process and expectations. Regulation that requires all originators to keeping current on compliance issues, like those promulgated by the CFPB, further protects the consumer.
Overall, Savitt expressed that he is not concerned about any new requirements brought forth by the CFPB. As an informed veteran Marc will insure that his company will learn the new requirements and comply. Marc is not certain, however, how all mortgage professionals will fare. This is especially true given the disparity of education requirements (none) within the federally chartered institutions. As for this author’s opinion, our industry would be in a better position, as would the overall economic health of our Country, were there more mortgage professionals like Marc Savitt. Marc is passionate about the mortgage environment, an environment that requires all originators to be informed and educated, with a better end result for the consumer.
As a final question, we asked Marc, What would you want readers to ‘take away’ from this interview? He responded, “Stay connected”. You can learn more about the NAIHP at www.naihp.org or ‘like’ their page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NAIHP .
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