The top U.S. framers of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today affirmed a priority of simplifying the mortgage disclosure form as part of a broader effort to give families “better tools to make better choices.”

U.S. Treasury Timothy Geithner and Harvard profession Elizabeth Warren, newly-named Assistant to President Obama, hosted a forum to seek input on simpler mortgage disclosure, a task made mandatory by the financial oversight reform laws enacted in July.

Under the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the newly created consumer agency is charged with combining and simplifying two overlapping mortgage disclosure forms that emerged as a result of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) of 1968 and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) of 1974.

Both forms are required to be presented to mortgage applicants. And they have converged somewhat over the years, but remain separate and too complicated for consumers to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives – taking out a mortgage, Warren said.

 Warren will report to both President Obama and Geitner as she creates the framework of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

“Fine print obscures the cost of credit and makes it impossible for families to compare products,” Warren said in a statement. “Too often, families come to understand the legalese only when they get bitten by it. Streamlined disclosure can level the playing field and give families better tools to make better choices. “

She said simpler disclosure is particularly necessary in the mortgage market “where borrowers receive stacks of incomprehensible paperwork when they’re looking for a loan.”

The forum held today included consumer advocacy groups, housing counselors, financial experts, mortgage companies and other mortgage industry stakeholders.

A Treasury statement said feedback and ideas received at this and future meetings will contribute to expediting the “design and testing of new draft mortgage disclosure forms for consumers.”

Throughout this process, the consumer bureau team will work closely with the Federal Reserve on their pending proposals for TILA disclosures and the new disclosure requirements under the financial reform legislation.

“Simplifying these forms is a prime example of where we can and will accelerate our efforts to deliver real benefits to consumers as soon as possible,” Geithner said.

So just when we get the GFE firgured out, we may get yet another form?

Posted via email from Title Insurance
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