07/06/2009
What should I do if a loan was approved through the board of directors, and the bank president and senior lender change the approval without going back to the board? The policy says they cannot combine their loan authorities.
11/03/2008
What individual risk assessments is a bank expected to perform? How do the individual risk assessments fit together with an "enterprise risk assessment"?
07/14/2008
Should we be collecting applicant information (race, ethnicity, sex) on non-reportable real estate loans? Some examples would be loans against a borrower's home for the purpose of financing college tuition, taking a vacation, purchasing stock, etc. I know we would not include this on our LARs or on the information we send to HUD. I am simply wondering about gathering it for the file. The reason I am wondering if should we have it collected is in case we ever go through a fair lending audit.
06/23/2008
We recently conducted an audit of our flood records and found a file that has a standard flood report noting the property is in a flood area. The loan is a land loan, but has an old literally falling down house on it. The officer of record went to view the property, took pictures and wrote a memo stating that the house was above the elevation and not in a flood area. Could we send the required notice, consult an insurance agent and let them give us a letter that they would not insure it to place in the file? Would that work?
06/02/2008
When a bank has an indirect lending relationship with a car dealer, then how does it go about complying with enhanced due diligence, CIP, etc.?
12/03/2007
My company is approaching an audit from the OTS. We have found that many files have not had flood determinations pulled and they are in a flood zone. How do we rectify this situation? Do I send the notices and a letter now? What penalties do I face for this problem?
11/26/2007
The bank I work for is new to the sub-prime market and hired me to run the collection process from the ground up. I have built this division and some time ago stated that we need a note taking software system that notes the efforts in collections and all other matters in the process. The bank does not want to spend the minimum amount of money to purchase a system ($150 a month). It is my understanding that the bank is not in compliance with federal laws, am I correct? Am I also correct in believing that the bank is opening itself up to liability?
09/17/2007
What are the required disclosures for declined loans and what are we required to keep in the file for audit purposes on declined loans?
08/06/2007
I have an originator who wants to take an auto as additional collateral on a HELOC to cover a collateral shortfall. Would we have an audit issue?
06/18/2007
I have two questions specifically geared toward loan skip-a-payment programs. Can real estate secured loans be solicited for skip-a-payment programs? Is this skip-a-payment program considered an extension? (We follow a six extension rule.) Any help you can give on this subject would be greatly appreciated. It has caused quite a controversy between our audit and compliance area.