While many provisions of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (the "FACT Act") impose obligations on credit reporting agencies, Federal banking agencies, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Trade Commission, there are a few sections of the FACT Act that affect a lender and broker's disclosure obligations to its consumers. These disclosure obligations will become effective on December 1, 2004.

In order to keep DocMagic software users better apprised of document changes and additions as they occur, DSI posts listings of all newly created and revised documents. Here is the list of forms created or modified from July through October, 2004.

The following article is reprinted from Basis Points® , Vol. 3, Issue 7, Copyright © 2004, with the permission of CounselorLibrary.com, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.

Two states, Massachusetts by regulation and Connecticut by law, recently made changes to their existing mortgage loan rate lock-in requirements.

The following article is reprinted from Basis Points® , Vol. 3, Issue 8, Copyright © 2004, with the permission of CounselorLibrary.com, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.

The New Mexico Financial Institutions Division of the Regulation and Licensing Department finalized regulations implementing the Home Loan Protection Act. The regulations, which were adopted and became effective on June 30, 2004, deal with four aspects of the Act - providing guidance to creditors covered by the Act regarding the application of Section 58-21A-4(B), which prohibits creditors from engaging in the unfair act or practice of flipping a home loan, describing the types of circumstances the Financial Institutions Division will consider in determining whether the reasonable due diligence standard set forth in Section 58-21A-11 of the Act is satisfied, clarifying the legal liability exposure of creditors and assignees for actions that may be brought for violations of the Act, and establishing approved third-party, nonprofit counselors required by Section 58-21A-5G. A summary of the Act is available in the July 2003 issue of Basis Points.

The following article is reprinted from Basis Points® , Vol. 3, Issue 9, Copyright © 2004, with the permission of CounselorLibrary.com, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission.

In a decision at odds with three other federal circuit courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has found that a borrower states a claim under RESPA by alleging that a lender imposes a "mark-up" on third-party settlement services. The court agreed with the decisions in the Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth Circuits that RESPA does not prohibit "overcharges" by lenders, but split with these circuits when it decided that "mark-ups" are not allowed under RESPA.