DocMagic, Inc.'s Compliance Department has added the following FHA LIBOR Loan Programs under "Generic Plans" as the "Investor" pursuant to Mortgagee Letter 2007-13:

As of the middle of August, 2008, the DocMagic software returns a deed of trust in a closing loan package for all non-FHA loans when New Mexico is the state in which the secured property is located.  Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will mandate on September 1, 2008, that a New Mexico deed of trust be used instead of a mortgage.  DocMagic, Inc.'s Compliance Department changed the New Mexico Uniform Instrument from a mortgage to a deed of trust, as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac documents are considered Uniform Instruments under DocMagic's License and User Agreement.

The California Department of Real Estate (DRE) has amended its regulations, effective August 15, 2008, pertaining to DRE Forms 882, 883 and 885.  The most obvious change to each one of these DRE Forms is the addition of an Informational Sheet.  Please click here to access the text of the DRE's adopted changes and the updated versions of DRE Forms 882, 883, and 885.

DocMagic, Inc.'s Compliance Department has updated the Impound Requirements matrix to incorporate escrow cushion requirements, if any, for each state. To view the updated matrix, click here.  

On July 30, 2008, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve Board (the "Board") published a final rule amending Regulation Z.  The final rule, the main provisions of which do not become mandatory until October 1, 2009, is available here.  The stated goals of the final rule are: (1) to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive and abusive lending and servicing practices; (2) to improve mortgage advertising; and (3) to provide consumers with disclosures early.

Periodically, DocMagic, Inc.'s Compliance Department reviews its form selection, print, signature and header default rules for its core loan documents (i.e., documents returning in all closing loan packages) to determine whether the rules need updating based on new legal requirements, customary practice, or for other reasons. After a recent periodic review, the Compliance Department modified the print and/or header (the top of page 1 of the form identifying the borrowers, lender, loan number, etc.) default rules for certain core loan documents, because it was determined that lenders seldom request the forms identified below for those borrower types that were excluded from the rules. Changes to these default rules will be implemented in the coming weeks.

Effective September 1, 2008, FIS Flood Services is changing its name to LPS National Flood.  The name change is being made in connection with the spin-off of Lender Processing Services, Inc. from Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. that was completed on July 2, 2008.  We have been assured that there will be no service interruptions, key personnel changes, customer service center location changes or database location changes as a result of either the spin-off or the name change.  In other words, with the exception of the name change and some changes in marketing materials, we expect that customers will continue to receive the same level of excellent service from LPS National Flood to which they have grown accustomed.  For additional information about Lender Processing Services, Inc., click here.  For additional information about LPS National Flood, click here.

The article regarding Maryland's prohibition of prepayment penalties, originally published in the June, 2008 issue of The Compliance Wizard and updated in the July, 2008 issue, has once again been updated.  To view the updated article, please click here.  We thank Maryland attorney Marjorie A. Corwin, Esq., of Gordon, Feinblatt, Rothman, Hoffberger & Hollander, LLC, for her valuable input on this topic. 

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Document Systems, Inc., and are those solely of the author.

Even the substitute Texas Plain Language Amendment sticks to the mistaken notion that there is an "average" borrower for whose easy understanding parties can write loan contracts.1 The plain truth is that the "average" borrower is a fiction and in Texas there is no "average" borrower but there are average borrowers; those who speak English and those who speak Spanish. Obviously, there are others. But, to the proposed law, they do not matter.

This troubling notion of the "average" borrower- at the heart of the proposed law - makes the Texas Amendment virtually impossible to implement. Indeed, if implemented, the undefined and fictional "average" borrower, including the "average" borrower who speaks only Spanish may be even more confused about his or her rights and obligations under the loan contract, loan summaries, and the required disclosures in a form that complies with the Federal Truth-In-Lending Act, 12 C.F.R. § 226.18; and, more than ever, undue influence could factor in his or her decision to enter into a loan contract, invalidating the loan contract altogether.

The Amendment is Not About Translation, Unfortunately

The proposed law is about a contract for a loan, a retail installment transaction, or a regulated home equity loan, (which) must be written in plain language2 designed to be easily understood by the average borrower and [which must be] printed in an easily readable fonts and type size. If the terms of the loan were negotiated in Spanish, a copy of a summary of loan terms and disclosure of "pertinent" information must be provided in Spanish and in "a form identical to disclosures required for a closed-end transaction under Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226.18."

It is unfortunate that the Amendment is not about requiring a Spanish translation of the summary of loan terms and disclosures of "other pertinent" information. If only if it were so, lenders and brokers could easily obtain an accurate, complete and certified Spanish translation of the relevant summary and disclosures. While it may not be impossible to write loan contracts in plain language, lenders and brokers will experience a nightmare as they struggle to provide, in Spanish - not in Spanish translation - "pertinent" information "in a form identical to disclosures required for a closed-end transaction under 12 C.F.R. § 226.18."3 Impliedly, the proposed law requires the use of only one version of language for loan contracts, summary, and disclosures; impliedly, because the Amendment conceives of two distinct versions within the same language, legalese and plain language. Interestingly enough, while the proposed law does not expressly bar parties from negotiating even in legalese, it mandates that the parties write loan contracts only in the plain language that the average consumer can easily understand.

Impossible to Implement

Because the "average" consumer is a fiction and no one can design a loan contract for easy understanding by a fiction, the Amendment is virtually impossible to implement. It will also prove extremely hard to write disclosures of pertinent information in Spanish in compliance with all of Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226.18's exhaustive technicalities, details, analyses, intricacies, and official staff interpretation.

Other challenges to successful implementation of the proposed law include limitations and the motivations of parties who speak only Spanish or other foreign language; the nature of language, the nature of the language of law and contracts, and the defect in plain language requirements and mandates; and, the impact of unfair or deceptive practices laws that prohibit the kind of writing a loan contract, summary, or disclosure that could result in a borrower who does not understand the loan contract or a borrower who is confused about his or her rights and obligations, and a borrower who is unduly influenced.

Borrower Motivations and Limitations

1. Borrowers who become psychologically committed to getting the loan want just money and not necessarily a loan contract, summary, or disclosures - regardless of the language, whether legalese, plain, or Spanish.
2. Borrowers, who experience anomie - powerlessness - and desperation at the same time - conclude even if the loan contract is unfair, what can they do? And, if they cannot do anything, why read? Why insist on plain language loan contract and summary of loan terms and disclosures in Spanish? Such borrowers, regardless of the terms of the loan, are grateful to the lender for simply making them the loan.
3. Borrowers who have developed general distrust of lenders and the lending process cannot objectively listen or read loan contracts even if such contracts are in plain language and requires summaries and disclosures in Spanish. Negative reports from organizations such as ACORN and the continuing litany of predatory lending are not helpful.

Lender and or Broker Motivations and Limitations

1. Lenders and brokers who may choose to comply with the requirements of the Amendment are helpless when borrowers cannot read loan contracts, summaries, and disclosures, even when provided in Spanish; when they can read but do not want to be overloaded with information at that point in time.
2. The compensation structure of the lender and the broker - commissions - does not encourage educating, informing, translating, and interpreting the subtleties and intricacies of the terms of the loan for the benefit of the vulnerable borrower who speaks only Spanish. The linguistically isolated, under the circumstances, are literally lost and they have no choice but to trust the lender and or the broker, or both, or some community or opinion leader.
3. Lenders and brokers, always under time pressure to quickly close loans even when the sun does not shine, view the responsibility to inform, educate, translate, and interpret for the borrower who speaks only Spanish as a drain on their resources. Consequently their approach to communicating with the borrower, under the circumstances is far from sincere and enthusiastic and, at best, minimalist.

The Nature of Language

1. Parties to a loan transaction, generally, speak and write language at different levels and no one can telescope all these levels into one level, the plain language level of the fictional "average" consumer.
2. Languages are audience-specific and the audience for plain language contracts, summaries, and disclosures is diverse with different agenda and motivation. Such audience includes the regulatory agencies that enforce compliance and conduct audits and the court who, in case of a dispute, dispense justice relying on the legal concept to determine the meaning of the plain language of the loan contract, disclosure, or summaries, or their decisions will be arbitrary. Plain language will work only when parties write the loan contract and the required summaries and disclosures for only each other.4

3. The language of contract is a separate foreign language because the language of law is in fact a privileged communication of the initiate5 and therefore not intended to be understood by those not in that particular profession; those who have not learnt to think conceptually cannot grasp many of the text that govern their legal obligations.6 Legalese is not under any list of foreign languages, but it should be. It takes as long to learn as any foreign language, and to most people legalese is a foreign language.

   Although, one can communicate the general function, importance, or effect of a legal concept in a particular loan transaction in plain language, such efforts, at best, can only be in a summary fashion, not word for word [including punctuations] and there is always a danger that an important term of obligation may be lost in the plain language or Spanish translation.

4. Under the proposed law, the "average" Spanish-speaking borrower would need a loan contract in plain language and the related disclosures and summaries in Spanish that he or she can understand. Such plain language is possible only if the original writing is also clear concept, well organized, and the one that an average consumer can understand.7 While one can certainly teach and learn plain writing, legislating such writing will provide no cure.8
5. A writer who cannot understand the legal structure of a regulated Texas loan cannot write the Texas loan contract in plain language "designed to be understood by the average borrower." Similarly, a Spanish writer, who cannot understand the legal structure of a regulated Texas loan, cannot write summary of loan terms and disclosures as required by the proposed law.
6. Unlike plain language, the language of law and the language of contract isolate relevant facts and subsume them under a rule of law. It is certainly a myth that Hemingway's writing style can be universally adapted for use in writing Texas plain language loan contracts, or Spanish language disclosures and summaries required by the proposed law.
7. To overcome borrower illiteracy, oral translation, in addition to written loan contracts, disclosures, and summaries, may also be required. Oral translation, especially when inconsistent with written contracts can be confusing, create misunderstanding, exert undue influence, and even degenerate into a dialogue on a particular borrower concern, question, or issue. All this could amount to an unauthorized practice of law.
8. Deception, confusion, or misunderstanding is inevitable when lenders and brokers negotiate a loan in one language and document the negotiations in another; or, using the same language, negotiate the terms of the loan in legalese and reduce their negotiations into writing in the plain language, or vice versa.9

Beyond Good Motives

The itch to accommodate, include, protect, and even pander to those who speak only Spanish is understandable in the context of that minority's growing purchasing power, credit needs, and political clout. Such efforts can also promote governmental policies towards such minorities, fulfill the promise of protection for such minorities,10 promote the rights of such minorities as borrowers, and respect the rights of such minorities to equal protection under the law. It is also good business to include in consumer lending in Texas, as elsewhere in the nation, those who speak only Spanish or another foreign language.

After the passage of the proposed law, what next may we expect? Out of Texas or from another state? After Texas accommodates, includes, protects and even panders to its Spanish-speaking linguistic minority whose turn will it be next and in what order? Could that, like in other countries, fan divisive impulses and flame communal passions? Could the passage of such legislation lead to a more ambitious legislation, whether in Texas or elsewhere, that could mandate entire loan contracts, including all the notices and disclosures to be written in any number of the world's languages in which parties negotiate the loan?11 The Amendment as originally introduced in the Texas legislature proposed exactly that creating a frightening vision of never ending compliance nightmare. And because we live in an age of some copy-and-paste legislation the itch to pander to linguistic minorities could develop into a nation-wide epidemic when all we really need is a translation: accurate and authentic.

Speaking "plainly," it is naïve, delusional, or demagogic to assume that the "average" borrower, whether in Texas or anywhere in the world, with no legal training and no education in conceptual thinking or doctrinal analysis, might understand a loan contract, summaries of loan terms, and required disclosures merely because his or her vocabulary includes all of the words in which the document is written.

Perhaps the best ways to accommodate, include, engage, and protect linguistic minorities, - whether Spanish or any other foreign language speaking - is not to require plain language written contracts in any language but to impose on the lender and the broker an absolute, unqualified, and affirmative duty to protect the borrower. It is tempting to impose similar duty on the linguistically challenged borrower and admonish him or her to learn the English language well enough to completely and fully understand his or her rights and obligations under a loan contract. However, a borrower, like any one, can take a lifetime learning a foreign language and loans must close quickly because time is, always, of the essence; including for the lender who needs his fees, the broker who needs his compensation, and the borrower who needs his money.

Dhiren Sharma is a Paralegal at Document Systems, Inc. and a member of its Legal/Compliance Department.

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1 C.S.H.B. 1747; C.S.H.B. 1547 79 (R).
2 The proposed law defines plain language as "one designed to be easily understood by the average consumer," Tex. Fin. Code § 341.502.
3 12 C.F.R. § 226.18 deals with contents of disclosure and, together with Supplement I to Part 226-Official Staff Interpretation, constitutes about 22 closely typed pages of regulation and official analysis of the regulation to aid compliance.
4 The Polish Government after World War II attempted to draft all laws so plainly that workers and peasants could understand them, but it soon became clear that without legal concepts, the application of law was capricious and unpredictable, L. Fuller, The Morality of Law 45 (rev.ed.1969) quoted by Hyland, supra, 618.
5 Richard Hyland, "Essay: A Defense of Legal Writing, 134 U Pa. L. Rev, pp. 625-626 at 604.
6 Ibid, 618.
7 Can Regulation Z, 12 C.F.R. § 226.18, or any definition of Finance Charge or High Cost Loan be written [or re-written] in plain language "designed to be understood by the average consumer?"
8 This explains why plain language legislation, such as Conn. Gen. Stat § 42-152 (c) (1)-(2) which specifies the average number of words in length in a sentence, are wholly arbitrary - or meaningless platitudes, like the reminder that a sentence should be no longer than necessary, N.J. Stat § 56:12-10 (a) (2), quoted in Hyland, supra 620.
9 According to a regulator at Maine's Department of Consumer Credit Regulation, the department once required a lender to refund some of the points charged on a sub prime loan that was solicited in Spanish. The loan process was conducted in both Spanish and English, and the lender communicated with the borrower through an English-speaking relative. With the facts, the agency concluded that the lender knew that the borrower did not speak English well enough to conduct a loan transaction, and thus the transaction was unfair, Negroni, Adrea Lee; Neill, Lorna M., Marketing Mortgages en Espanol, Mortgage Banking, August 1, 2002, p.39. In Brooklyn Union Gas Co. v. Jiminez (1975) cited with approval in Sitarz v. Drexel Burnam Lambert, Inc et al (1991).
10 "The New Colossus" the following text appears at the base of the Statue of Liberty: "America will not allow any language -including English - to erect a language barrier which effectively excludes the "huddled masses yearning to be free."
11 As of May 11, 2004 there were 6,800 languages spoken in the 200 countries of which 2,261 languages are written with printed and on line dictionaries in 304 languages, www.yourdictionary.com/languages.html.

You've entered all of your loan-specific information onto DocMagic for Windows ("DMW"), and you are now ready to process the Worksheet. When processing the Worksheet, DMW offers a number of options to suit the user's needs.  The DMW Processing window has five separate sections - (1) Worksheet Selection; (2) Processing Options; (3) Delivery Options; (4) Security; and (5) Additional Services. 

 
Click here for larger image

Worksheet Selection

The "Worksheet Selection" area allows you to select the Worksheet(s) that you wish to process and to verify the primary borrower's last name and package type.   The most recent worksheet that you entered will automatically be selected for you, but you may select a different worksheet to process in the drop down menu found in the "Worksheet Number" column. If you choose to process multiple worksheets, you may do so simply by selecting additional worksheets from the drop down menu. Note: each worksheet may also have its very own processing options.  To view each worksheet's processing options, highlight a worksheet that has been selected for processing, and then select each option that you would like to take place.

Processing Options

The "Process and Return documents" option will always be automatically selected for you when processing the worksheet.  You may also select the additional option of automatically printing the documents when processing is complete.  Note, however, that this option will only print the full set of documents the first time a worksheet is processed.  After that, selecting this option will only automatically print the documents that have changed since the last time the worksheet was processed. 

Delivery Options

Use of the "Delivery Options" section is optional.  You will want to use this area only if you wish to have the documents picked up at another location, such as at a title company or signing service.

If you prefer to email the documents to someone for them to retrieve, check the "E-mail to another location" box, and type in the email address of that person.  The email will be sent from the DocMagic Servers and a confirmation email will be sent.  Make sure that the person you are emailing has configured their SPAM filtering service so that emails coming from docs@docmagic.com are not blocked.  The confirmation emails sent to you will also come from this email address.

If you wish to have the documents picked up by another DocMagic user with a different account number, choose the "Leave for Pickup by another DocMagic" option.  When selected, you will need to specify that DocMagic user's client number.  The next time this DocMagic customer connects to the DocMagic servers, this person will receive your loan package.

If you wish to leave the documents for pick up at http://www.docmagic.com/, check the "Leave for Web Pickup" box.  When processing is complete, the "Processing Messages" window will provide you with a code that you would give to the person to whom you want to deliver the documents.  You may also double-click on the code in this window to copy it to the Windows clipboard. Note that this person will need to have the DocMaster software (available free at http://www.docmagic.com/) installed before they can pick up the documents.

And, finally, in the "Delivery Options" section is the "DSI to Print and Deliver" box.  If you select this option, the "Edit Delivery Information" section will become available where you can type in the address to which you would like us to send the documents after we have printed them.

The "eDisclosure" box will be available if you have typed in an email address for the borrower in the "Borrower Details" screen and are preparing a predisclosure package.  If you select this option, an eDisclosure will be sent to the borrower when you process a predisclosure package.  Click here for information regarding DocMagic's eDisclosure service.

Security

This section only becomes available if you have chosen either the "Leave for Web (Internet) Pickup" or "E-mail to another location" box.  If you have selected either one of these, then you may, as an additional security measure, require that the user provide a password when retrieving the documents.  You may select one of the password choices from the drop down menu or choose "other" and type in your own password.

In this section, you may also request that you be notified via email when another person retrieves the documents by checking the "E-mail Read Receipt Check" box.  DocMagic will send you an email letting you know when the documents are retrieved if you choose this option.  Notice that when selecting this option the email address to which the "Read Receipt" will be sent is displayed.

You may read more about your security options in this Tech Tip article of The Compliance Wizard.>

Additional Services

In this section, you may request a Flood Certification when processing a Closing Package.  When requesting the Flood Certification, you can then specify if you would like it for the Life of the Loan.

This section also allows you to request that we register the Loan with MERS for you.  To successfully register your loan with MERS via DocMagic Online, it is important that you first complete three (3) steps.  First, you must register with MERS and receive a MERS Organization ID number.  Second, a MERS integration representative must activate the ID number.  Finally, you must add DocMagic as an authorized MERS vendor on MERS' website.  This last step, which is critical for the service to work, is detailed here.

If you have any questions concerning your document processing options, please contact Customer Service at (800) 649-1362.

To view all Tech Tips of the Month, click here.

You've entered all of your loan-specific information onto DocMagic Online ("DMO"), and you are now ready to process the Websheet. When processing the Websheet, DMO offers a number of options to suit the user's needs. The DMO Processing window has five separate sections - (1) General Options; (2) Loan Application; (3) Delivery Options; (4) Security; and (5) Additional Services.

Here is a screen shot of what you should see:

Click for larger image

General Options

In the "General Options" area, you select the package type and document file format you wish to receive. For the document file format, you may choose either DocMagic BLK format, which requires the DocMaster program, or Adobe PDF format, which requires that you have the Adobe software installed.

For the package type you have 5 choices:

1. Application: Provides the Uniform Loan Application

2. Closing: Provides all the documents included in the closing package

3. Predisclosure: Provides all the documents included in the predisclosure package

4. Servicing Transfer: Provides the document included in the loan servicing transfer package

5. Flood Certification: Provides the Flood Certification document

Note that all Loan Program codes automatically include documents for the Application, Closing and Predisclosure package types. However, you may need to contact Customer Service to set up documents for Servicing Transfer or Flood Certification package types for some loan programs.

For the document format you can choose either DocMagic BLK format, which requires the DocMaster program, or Adobe PDF format, which requires that you have the Adobe software installed.

Loan Application

If you would like to include a Uniform Loan Application in your Closing package you may use "Loan Application" section to attach a Fannie Mae file. You may use either v3.0 or v3.2 of the Fannie Mae file format. We recommend you use the v3.2 format, if possible, to obtain more complete information from the borrower on the loan application.

Delivery Options

Use of the "Delivery Options" section is optional. You will want to use this area only if you wish to have the documents picked up at another location, such as at a title company or signing service.

If you wish to leave the documents for pick up at http://www.docmagic.com/, check the "Leave for Web (Internet) Pickup" box. When processing is complete, the "Congratulations" window will provide you with a code that you would give to the person to whom you want to deliver the documents. Note that this person will need to have the DocMaster software (available free at http://www.docmagic.com/) installed before they can pick up the documents.

If you prefer to email the documents to someone for them to retrieve, check the "E-mail to another location" box, and type in the email address of that person. The email will be sent from the DocMagic Servers and a confirmation email will be sent. Make sure that the person you are emailing has configured their SPAM filtering service so that emails coming from docs@docmagic.com are not blocked. The confirmation emails sent to you will also come from this email address.

The "Send Borrow eDisclosure" box will be available if you have typed in an email address for the borrower in the "Borrower Details" screen and are preparing a predisclosure package. If you select this option, an eDisclosure will be sent to the borrower when you process a predisclosure package. Click here for information regarding DocMagic's eDisclosure service.

And, finally, in the "Delivery Options" section is the "DSI to Print and Deliver" box. If you select this option, the "Edit Delivery Information" section will become available where you can type in the address to which you would like us to send the documents after we have printed them.

Security

This section only becomes available if you have chosen either the "Leave for Web (Internet) Pickup" or "E-mail to another location" box. If you have selected either one of these, then you may, as an additional security measure, require that the user provide a password when retrieving the documents. You may select one of the password choices from the drop down menu or choose "other" and type in your own password.

In this section, you may also request that you be notified via email when another person retrieves the documents by checking the "E-mail Read Receipt Check" box. DocMagic will send you an email letting you know when the documents are retrieved if you choose this option. Notice that when selecting this option the email address to which the "Read Receipt" will be sent is displayed.

You may read more about your security options in The Compliance Wizard.

Additional Services

In this section, you may request a Flood Certification when processing a Closing Package. When requesting the Flood Certification, you can then specify if you would like it for the Life of the Loan.

This section also allows you to request that we register the Loan with MERS for you. To successfully register your loan with MERS via DocMagic Online, it is important that you first complete three (3) steps. First, you must register with MERS and receive a MERS Organization ID number. Second, a MERS integration representative must activate the ID number. Finally, you must add DocMagic as an authorized MERS vendor on MERS' website. This last step, which is critical for the service to work, is detailed here.

If you have any questions concerning your document processing options, please contact Customer Service at (800) 649-1362.

To view all Tech Tips of the Month, click here.

Written by Howard A. Lax of LIPSON, NEILSON, COLE, SELTZER & GARIN, P.C.

The following article is reprinted with permission from the January/February 2007 edition of The Mortgage News.

HUD increased civil money penalties for a number of its regulations, including the penalty for a loan servicer's failure to provide an escrow analysis under Section 17 of Regulation X. Why couldn't HUD fix Section 21 of Regulation X while it was tinkering with its regulation? We keep reminding HUD that Section 6 of RESPA was amended in 1996:

Sec. 2103. REDUCTIONS IN REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT OF 1974 REGULATORY BURDENS.

(a) Unnecessary Disclosure.--Section 6(a) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(a)) is amended to read as follows:

``(a) Disclosure to Applicant Relating to Assignment, Sale, or Transfer of Loan Servicing.--Each person who makes a federally related mortgage loan shall disclose to each person who applies for the loan, at the time of application for the loan, whether the servicing of the loan may be assigned, sold, or transferred to any other person at any time while the loan is outstanding.''.

The Servicing Disclosure Statement disclosure is no longer required by RESPA, and HUD should amend Section 21 of Regulation X to conform to the law. Even Grant Mitchell, who wrote the 1992 version of Regulation X, concurs that changing Section 21 of Regulation X is long overdue. In an email message we received on January 10, 2007, Grant Mitchell stated:

...I left the regulatory revision to Section 6 Mortgage servicing in the bin before I left HUD in April 1999. Maybe someone just felt a midnight amendment on a September 30th in an Omnibus Reconciliation Act for the entire federal government didn't deserve recognition and they are not going to do it. It's called administrative abnegation. There are a couple of Japanese soldiers in a cave on Okinawa, also, who don't know the war is over.

Grant

Grant E. Mitchell, Esq.
Lotstein Buckman, LLP
5185 MacArthur Boulevard, NW
Washington, D.C. 20016
202-237-6000 x118 or 202-351-6118 (Direct) 202-237-8900 FAX mitchell@lotsteinbuckman.com
website: www.lotsteinbuckman.com

The revised law is on HUD's web site - it is not as if nobody at HUD realizes that RESPA has changed. As far as we can tell, changing Section 21 of Regulation X is not even on someone's "to do" list. In case HUD needs to look up the term "abnegation," it means "self denial" (according to dictionary.com). Congress amended RESPA more than a decade ago. HUD can no longer rationally claim self denial. We think that, in this case, HUD's inaction would be better described as "self delusion."

The following legal public holidays1 will be observed on the dates listed below. Whenever a legal holiday occurs on a Saturday, it is observed on the Friday immediately preceding the holiday. If the holiday occurs on a Sunday, it is observed on the following Monday.

2008 Public Holidays	Day	Date
New Year's Day	Monday	January 1
Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday	Monday	January 21
Washington's Birthday	Monday	February 18
Memorial Day	Monday	May 26
Independence Day	Friday	July 4
Labor Day	Monday	September 1
Columbus Day	Monday	October 13
Veterans Day	Tuesday	November 11
Thanksgiving Day	Thursday	November 27
Christmas Day	Thursday	December 25

 

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1 5 U.S.C. 6103(a)

The following is a list of the Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac conforming loan limits for both first and second lien mortgage loans.  Please note that the conforming loan limits for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the Virgin Islands are 50% higher than the limits set forth below.

Year	First Mortgages				Second Mortgages
	1-Unit	2-Units	3-Units	4-Units
2008	$417,000	$533,850	$645,300	$801,950	$208,500
2007	$417,000	$533,850	$645,300	$801,950	$208,500
2006	$417,000	$533,850	$645,300	$801,950	$208,500
2005	$359,650	$460,400	$556,500	$691,600	$179,825
2004	$333,700	$427,150	$516,300	$641,650	$166,850
2003	$322,700	$413,100	$499,300	$620,500	$161,350
2002	$300,700	$384,900	$465,200	$578,150	$150,350
2001	$275,000	$351,950	$425,400	$528,700	$137,500
2000	$252,700	$323,400	$390,900	$485,800	$126,350

* To view a list of counties for which the conforming loan limits have been increased as a result of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, click here.