I am fairly new to the compliance arena, especially with respect to lending. Is the borrower covered by the 3500.14 Prohibition against kickbacks and unearned fees? Our internal auditor is questioning whether our lender can take a borrower to lunch after the loan has closed. The loan was in connection with a federally related mortgage loan.

There is no problem with that. As long as any benefit is going to the borrower the RESPA kickback provision will not apply. If he was taking the real estate broker to lunch for bringing him the loan - then you would have a problem.