09/19/2005
From a Federal Savings Bank SBA and Commercial Real Estate Lending Platform: are there constraints (whether state specific or federal regulated) in the payment of referral fees to third parties such as commercial or residential real estate agents for Commercial origination opportunities? i.e. using a percentage of the loan amount as opposed to flat fee etc.
08/29/2005
I'm trying to confirm that if our affiliated mortgage company refers a customer to the bank for a HELOC, that we need to do the Affiliated Business Arrangement form? I know it is required for a Home Equity "Loan" referral, but want confirmation on lines of credit.
08/29/2005
Is it a RESPA violation to pay somebody who is not employed by the broker for doing a loan or gathering information for the broker to do the loan?
07/04/2005
We are in the process of implementing an automated overdraft protection service. As a courtesy, the Fair Lending folks at the FDIC spoke with us regarding "guidance" on this service. Specifically, they told us that if we have any checking products that are age-based (such as 50 years plus checking) that has a waived service charge that we are discriminating against all other accounts holders that have an account that is not aged base and has a service charge or a minimum balance requirement. The violation would fall under ECOA. We were told the only way that we would be in "guidance" would be if the aged based account was 62 years plus. We asked them to site specifically "where" in the Reg B or in the joint guidance that this is stated. Apparently this is very broad guidance. Has anyone else come up against this situation or been written-up in an exam for this? Any advise as to our next move?
04/18/2005
I would like to know if there are any regulations relating to commission-paid employees, namely "internal" versus "external" mortgage originators. Internal business is through branch referrals and external sources; external business is where we market the customer base directly but business is developed mostly outside of the bank (no branch referrals). Is the commission or referral structure regulated or is it a matter of organization structure?
02/07/2005
Our bank is considering offering the following promotion to homebuilders that work with us. The program would work as follows: We make a "spec" loan to the builder and charge a $500 origination fee to the builder. Our promotion would state that if we get the permanent loan to the buyer (consumer) of that home, we would refund to the builder $250 of the $500 fee the builder paid to the bank. Is that an illegal kickback?
02/01/2005
Question: I need some guidance on an affiliated business arrangement. We have an employee who is a SVP and Chief Credit Officer and is also over our Mortgage Lending Department.
01/03/2005
If a broker-dealer provides customer leads to a mortgage banker and the mortgage banker originates, processes and funds loans from some of the leads, can the mortgage banker pay a marketing or lead-generation fee to the broker-dealer?
10/18/2004
Our Internet branch has proposed a new idea, but I am worried about violating RESPA’s "referral fee" and "splitting fee" regulations. They want to recruit tax preparers (during their off season) to "team up" with our loan officers. The tax preparers would call their tax clients and offer to assist them with their mortgage needs (purchase loans, refinance loans, etc). The tax preparer would then take down personal information (i.e. income, assets, debt, etc) and give the information to their loan officer teammate. The loan officer would then do the rest of the work (i.e. final application, processing, etc). Once the loan funds, it is proposed that the tax preparer would receive 20% of the loan officer’s commission. Is this a violation of RESPA?
03/15/2004
We would like to offer our real estate agents special incentives for bringing us new business. Can we legally offer them lower fees, better rates or special services for their referrals?