On September 21, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Elizabeth Warren, the newly appointed Assistant to the President and Special Advisor to Geithner, convened a Mortgage Disclosure Forum, composed of representatives from the mortgage industry and consumer groups, housing counselors, and financial literacy experts, to discuss streamlining mortgage disclosure forms to make them more clear and understandable for consumers. The newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is charged under the Dodd-Frank Act with revamping the forms. The Forum was also asked to provide feedback on a discussion draft of a combined disclosure form. The discussion draft merges two previously separate forms that mortgage lenders must provide to borrowers under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. The draft was developed by staff at the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. For a copy of the disclosure form discussion draft, please click here. For a copy of Treasury's press release about the Forum, please see click here.
