Lending Disclosures Delay 1 in 10 Transactions

Lenders struggled to keep up with the new rules, and they weren’t experienced dealing with final closing statements. Settlement statements and closing disclosures don’t always match.

WASHINGTON – Feb. 15, 2016 – At Florida Realtors Mid-Winter Meetings in January, Henry Ensler, director of sales and marketing with Sunbelt Title Agency, said he thought the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Documentation (TRID) or Know Before You Owe rules were a good thing before they went into effect on Oct. 3, 2015.

"But they didn't quite work out that way," Ensler told Realtors during the meetings. He said lenders struggled to keep up with the new rules, and they weren't experienced dealing with final closing statements. He said that the settlement statements and closing disclosures don't always match, and clients many times struggle to understand why.

A new survey of Realtors conducted by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) attempted to find out exactly how well the TRID rules are, and are not, working. According to Realtors, the new disclosures led to few contract cancellations – but they've caused a delay in about one in 10 transactions.

NAR's TRID survey highlights

• 10.4% of transactions were delayed
• Less than 1% of transactions were canceled
• The typical transaction delay due to the new disclosures is 8.8 days
• 54.5% of respondents had problems getting closing documents for transactions and half found errors once they did
• Realtors were less likely to have access to closing documents in delayed settlements
• Most frequent closing disclosure problems: Missing concessions, incorrect names or addresses. However, Realtors also cited problems with incorrect fees, commissions and taxes
• E-settlement procedures had fewer errors and faster remediation

A complete overview of survey results can be found on NAR's website.

© 2016 Florida Realtors®. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission.