UDAAP ADVERTISING & MARKETING

January 16, 2017

Marx Sterbcow presenting at The Legal Description and Dodd Frank Update’s 5th Annual Regulatory Outlook Webinar

The Legal Description and Dodd Frank Update have teamed up again to provide their 5th annual Regulatory Outlook Webinar on Wednesday, January 18, 2017 (2:00 – 3:30 P.M. EST) educating mortgage, title and settlement services professionals on the compliance trends and issues to expect in the New Year. The yearly webinar series has quickly become one of the most important educational sessions each year to find out what in store for the State of the Settlement Service Industry in the coming year.

This webinar features instructors Francis “Trip” Riley of Saul Ewing, Loretta Salzano of Franzén and Salzano, and Marx Sterbcow of the Sterbcow Law Group. These nationally-recognized attorneys will join moderator Danielle Kaiser of NATIC in a discussion of the pressing political, regulatory and compliance issues to watch in 2017 and how to prepare your business.

Instruction will include:

April 26, 2016

RESPA Conference: Marx Sterbcow and Charles Cain to present at the 2016 National Settlement Services Summit in Charlotte, North Carolina

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow, the Managing Attorney, of the Sterbcow Law Group, and Charles Cain, Vice President, Agency, WFG National Title Insurance Co. will present at the 2016 National Settlement Services Summit [NS3] at the Le Meridien & Sheraton Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina on Wednesday, June 8, 2016.

The session titled “Ethics: UDAAP, Reverse Vendor Oversight and Legal Malpractice” will discuss how Title agents and attorneys are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards, and how Dodd Frank’s ban on Unfair, Deceptive or Abusive Acts or Practices (UDAAP) have given the CFPB broad authority to root out questionable activities. Learn how UDAAP is requiring agents to gear up when it comes to ethical conduct, particularly in the area of RESPA compliance. The presentation will explain how UDAAP could make vendor management liability and oversight a two-way street through a new enforcement tactic known as “Reverse Vendor Management Oversight”. Reverse Vendor Management Oversight could challenge the bounds of legal malpractice by requiring title agents, lawyers, and attorney notaries to be on the lookout for vendor compliance issues with their clients. Speakers will share real-world examples, and attendees will walk away with actionable tips for remaining UDAAP compliant in an increasingly active RESPA and UDAAP enforcement environment.

October Research Corporation has generously offered a Discount Code to attend NS3 for all friends and clients of the Sterbcow Law Group. To receive your Discount Code please contact the Sterbcow Law Group and we will send you the special discounted rate code to attend NS3.

October 21, 2015

RESPA News Lead Generation Compliance Webinar

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney with the Sterbcow Law Group, and James Milano, member with Weiner Brodsky Kider PC will speak on RESPA News’s webinar series on the topic of Lead Generation Compliance. The webinar is scheduled for Tuesday, November 10, 2015 from 2:20-3:15 PM EST. The Editor of RESPA News, Justine Jones will moderate the webinar.

We will train participants on the regulations governing the real estate lead generation industry and what increased attention the CFPB, Federal Trade Commission, and other agencies mean for your business practices. The webinar will focus on how the CFPB expanded its authority with the use of UDAAP, the potential ramifications of Regulation Z’s Loan Officer Compensation Rule, the dangers of co-marketing with other settlement service providers, and how to carefully vet lead generation companies.

October 20, 2015

Marx Sterbcow to Moderate RESPRO RESPA Webinar

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney with the Sterbcow Law Group, will moderate a RESPRO Marketing Service Agreement webinar with Phil Schulman, partner at K&L Gates on October 22, 2015. The RESPA webinar titled “To Agree to Market or Not Agree to Market” will discuss how MSAs have been around for 20 years and in June of 2010 HUD’s RESPA Division issued an interpretative rule. Now however, after the CFPB’s RESPA consent order in Lighthouse Title, the PHH decision, and the recent CFPB Bulletin 2015-05, Marketing Service Agreements a/k/a MSAs have become a controversial and hot topic. Learn what you can do and what you can’t do based on the latest CFPB guidance.

October 20, 2015

Marx Sterbcow invited to speak at 2015 Bank Counsel Conference

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow, managing attorney, of the Sterbcow Law Group, has been invited to speak at the Louisiana Bankers Association 2015 Bank Counsel Conference on the topic of “Who’s Your Vendor? Secondary Market Compliance & Title Agent Vendor Management.” The session will provide insight into how banks should be managing their vendors and what requirements they should be requiring their title agent vendors to have in place. The presentation will also focus on managing the third party vendor management risks in a Post-TRID world and the expectations the secondary market will be playing in this new changing regulatory landscape.

The 2015 Bank Counsel Conference will be held on December 10-11, 2015 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in New Orleans.

August 27, 2015

Marx Sterbcow to appear on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe Radio Program

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow will appear Saturday, August 29th, 2015 on the Real Estate Mortgage Shoppe with Radio Host Jo Garner from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM CST on WREC 600 AM on iHeart Radio. The topic is “Ask The Expert–How the New Real Estate Lending Guidelines Affect You.”

August 27, 2015

Marx Sterbcow to speak at the Midwest TRID and Compliance Summit in Kansas City

by Marx Sterbcow

Marx Sterbcow, the managing attorney, of the Sterbcow Law Group, has been invited to speak to the Kansas Land Title Association, Mortgage Bankers Association of Greater Kansas City, and Missouri Land Title Association‘s Midwest TRID and Compliance Summit on September 23, 2015 in Kansas City, Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium, Tower Club East, One Arrowhead Drive, Kansas City, MO 64129.

The presentation “Vendor Management and the Secondary Market” will discuss the secondary market investors expectations for settlement agents and how you should be monitoring your third party and fourth party vendors.

Mr. Sterbcow will then moderate a Lender Panel where he will ask TRID and Vendor Management questions to Kate Steineman from Wells Fargo, Ruth Battle from Central Bank, and Amy Prater from Bank Midwest to help title agents understand what they need to do to get ready for the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure implementation date on October 3, 2015.

July 28, 2015

CFPB CONSENT ORDER TARGETS YET ANOTHER MORTGAGE COMPANY FOR ADVERTISING VIOLATIONS

by Marx Sterbcow

The CFPB announced on Feb. 12, 2015 another consent order for issues involving a lender mortgage origination advertising practices. Flagship Financial Group, LLC was alleged to have made material misrepresentations in commercial communications that improperly suggested that Flagship Financial was affiliated with a United States government entity and Flagship made material misrepresentations that it was endorsed or sponsored by a governmental program. This consent order is very similar to the American Preferred Lending consent order.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that Flagship disseminated advertisements promoting FHA streamline refinance loans and that the format & design of these advertisements looked like a government notice and implied that a governmental agency was the source of the advertisement.

The FHA streamline refinance mailers contained the heading “PURSUANT TO THE FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION (FHA) HUD No. 12-045,” and “United States Housing and Urban Development 12-045 Program,” and instructed consumers to call their “assigned FHA loan specialist.” Flagships name appeared only on the back of the FHA streamline advertisement mailers in the disclaimer section that Flagship was not an agency of the federal government and wasn’t affiliated with the borrower’s current lender.

July 28, 2015

CFPB TARGETS MORTGAGE ORIGINATION ADVERTISING PRACTICES

by Marx Sterbcow

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has been sending strong messages across the real estate industry lately with its aggressive campaign against companies who they believe have made material misrepresentations which improperly suggested the lender was affiliated with a United States governmental entity or the company advertising its mortgage products was endorsed, sponsored by, or affiliated with a governmental program to consumers. The first consent order is American Preferred Lending.

On Feb. 12, 2015 the CFPB entered into a consent order with American Preferred Lending, Inc. whereby the bureau deemed American Preferred Lending violated Regulation N, 12 C.F.R. 1014.3(n) and UDAAP. The consent order found that American Preferred Lending disseminated direct-mail mortgage loan advertisements that improperly suggested that American Preferred Lending was affiliated with a governmental agency, and misrepresented that the advertised mortgage loan products were endorsed, sponsored by, or affiliated with a governmental program. The CFPB said the direct mail pieces appeared as if they were United States government notices.

The CFPB noted that “the overall format of the advertisements, including the use of plain text in labeled boxes and the title ‘Payment’ Reduction Notice,’ evoked a government form.” The advertisements were also not clearly marked so consumers could see they came from American Preferred and not the Government.