Complying With RESPA’s Section 8 Rules

Presented by Jack Holzknecht and Mary Beth Guard

WHAT?
Over the past few years the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has tripled its enforcement staff. And no big surprise, the number of enforcement actions has increased significantly. Many of the actions involved violations of Section 8 of RESPA, which prohibits unearned fees and kickbacks. For the past year or so we have seen HUD enforcement actions involving RESPA nearly every month. The settlements have ranged from a few thousand dollars to nearly a $1 million. Failure to comply with Section 8 rules can lead to jail terms, in addition to the penalties.


WHY?
Upon completion of this program, participants understand:

What transactions are covered by RESPA's prohibition against unearned fees and kickback;

What constitutes a referral fee, or an unearned fee or kickback; and

What compensation is permissible.

Participants receive a detailed manual that serves as a handbook long after the program is completed

PROGRAM CONTENT
This two-hour phone seminar focuses on:

What actions are prohibited;

What constitutes an unearned fee or a kickback;

Typical violations cited by examiners and by HUD;

What constitutes an affiliated business arrangement and the rules that apply to such arrangements; and

How to properly handle broker arrangements, both those where the bank is working with a broker and those in which the bank serves as a broker.

WHO?
The program is designed for compliance officers, auditors and anyone in the mortgage lending or audit departments.

About the Speakers:
Jack Holzknecht is a principal with Pegasus Educational Services, LLC, a training firm headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky. He is an experienced consultant who has provided training to thousands of bankers and examiners for twenty-four years. He has the ability to identify the key compliance issues from each regulation. Jack's career began in 1976 as a federal bank examiner. He later headed the form and software and education divisions of a regional consulting company. In that capacity he developed loan and deposit form systems and software. He also developed and presented training programs to bankers in 43 states. Jack has been an instructor at compliance schools presented by the Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New York and Texas bankers associations. He developed and delivered compliance training for the FDIC and OTS for ten years. He is a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager and a member of the National Speakers Association. He is also a "BOL Guru" at http://www.bankersonline.com/ and frequently answers compliance questions sent to "Bankers' Threads."

Mary Beth Guard currently serves as Executive Editor of BankersOnline.com and CEO of Glia Group, Inc., Mary Beth has had a long and distinguished career, graduating from law school in 1980. She has focused her work exclusively on the banking industry since 1984. Previously, Mary Beth served as EVP/General Counsel and COO for the Oklahoma Bankers Association, EVP of Specialized Services for Thomson Financial Publishing, and General Counsel for the Oklahoma State Banking Department. Mary Beth is on the advisory board for Bankers' Hotline and Compliance Action, as well as on the editorial board for ABA Bank Compliance magazine. She has presented training programs for virtually every major national financial industry association, as well as more than a dozen state bankers associations and a host of other organizations. In addition, Mary Beth has written more than a thousand banking-related articles and is a BOL Guru.

This program was recorded in its entirety in December 2009. The CD-ROM includes program slides, materials (if available) and follow-up Q & A document.