Publications
Guides
Reference pages on how the exam and its rules work, newest first.
- PMI cancellation, termination and the midpoint
The Homeowners Protection Act sets three dates: borrower cancellation at 80 percent, automatic termination at 78 percent, and final termination at the midpoint.
- RESPA section 8: kickbacks and referral fees
RESPA section 8 bars referral fees and unearned fee splits on a federally related mortgage loan. The permitted payments, the disclosure, and treble damages.
- Equal Credit Opportunity Act deadlines
30 days to notify of action taken, 25 months to keep the file, 3 business days for the valuations notice. Every ECOA clock with its section.
- Right of rescission: the three business days
The clock runs to midnight of the third business day after the last of consummation, the notice and the material disclosures. Sundays and holidays are out.
- What a SAFE MLO test pass does and does not do
A pass clears one of six minimum standards and is good in every state. NMLS licenses nobody: the state agency does, and an unused pass expires after five years.
- Mortgage fraud schemes and SAR filing rules
Non-bank mortgage originators have filed suspicious activity reports since 2012. The $5,000 trigger, the 30 and 60 day deadlines, five year retention.
- Mortgage advertising rules: Regulation N and Z
Regulation N bars 19 kinds of misrepresentation in mortgage ads and keeps records 24 months. Regulation Z s. 1026.24 sets triggering terms and seven bans.
- Higher-priced vs high-cost mortgage tests
HPML turns on one APR test at 1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 points over APOR. HOEPA has three tests: APR at 6.5 or 8.5, points and fees, and the prepayment penalty terms.
- The loan originator compensation rule
Regulation Z s. 1026.36 bars pay based on a loan term or a proxy, bars dual compensation, and sets the three-option anti-steering safe harbor.
- Business days under TRID: does Saturday count?
Regulation Z carries two business day definitions. The precise one counts Saturday and drops Sundays and federal holidays. Which rule uses which, in a table.