08/04/2003
We are planning a home equity/home improvement brochure which gives the basics for each product. Under HELOC terms, can we say competitive variable rate tied to the prime rate without it triggering more disclosure? I would have thought so, but I am asking a guru because there are two differing thoughts on the bankers' thread postings. Obviously, we are trying to have this brochure generic enough to not have to update it each time the prime rate changes.
06/23/2003
We offer a "No Closing Costs" Credit Line Home Equity loan for which we do not provide a GFE. If the customer is required to pay all closing costs, should we be providing a GFE?
06/01/2003
The rules are out and the initial shock wave is over. No more excuses. It is time to get serious about building a Customer Identification Program.
Coverage
03/24/2003
Currently our Rate and APR for the HELOC program are the same on the published rate sheet. This is a variable rate loan product, shouldn't the APR be different taking into consideration the floor and cap on the rate for this type of loan?
03/01/2003
Question: I know that certain fees are finance charges. Are they still finance charges if the bank pays for them?
01/20/2003
If a client is purchasing a home, and it happens to be a residence they have been renting, are they required to have a rescission? Another situation: If a home equity line of credit is closing the same day as the primary financing for the purchase, is a rescission required for the line? One more: If the property is deeded to a personal trust, is a rescission required on a refinance?
08/05/2002
I have a Reg Z question and just need a second opinion. This week we noticed that on our HELOC disclosures, instead of disclosing the Wall Street Journal as the index, the computer was disclosing our bank's own index. In discussing this with the system support at a company that I won't name but they are a very popular loan processing system, he said this was caused by a computer glich and we needed to rebuild our adjustable rate products. I then asked him if a change in terms agreement would need to be sent to all of the customers affected (approx. 300) he said yes. I verified this with Reg Z and the index is one of those that would need a change in terms, but if the error was a "bona fide" computer mistake can we avoid doing this? Just so you know, our base rate is the exact same as the Wall Street Journal index rate. I'm sure the answer is to send the new disclosures, but I thought I'd double check. I sure would like to send this company the bill for what this will cost.
08/05/2002
I would like to send a letter to customers age 4065, homeowners, with $30K or more available home equity, children age 1719 in the home. The letter would suggest applying for a home equity LOC to use for possible college tuition expenses. I've been told this violates REG. B because I'm discriminating on the basis of age. Is this true? Our bank advertises the same product in newspapers, newsletters, lobby displays, etc. This is just one part of a larger marketing plan.
03/11/2002
We are receiving conflicting information on Reg Z disclosure requirements for HELOC. We provide an initial disclosure and booklet at the time of application. However, Reg Z appears to also refer to another disclosure at consumation of the transaction. Must we redisclose assuming no terms have changed from the time of original disclosure?
01/07/2002
We have just put into our HELOC notes/disclosures a floor rate of 6% even though our index is WSJ prime plus a margin. Currently, the WSJ prime is 5% plus our index puts our HELOC's at 5.25% My question is can we put a floor rate feature on the HELOC?