Welcome to the "Z" Team!

Ensuring fair access and equal treatment to national bank customers is a fundamental part of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.  OCC customer service representatives assist national bank customers with questions and complaints, and the agency provides advisories and public service announcements to help consumers understand their rights, banking rules, and the risks associated with products and practices.

For answers to banking questions and how to file a complaint regarding national bank activities, visit OCC’s consumer-focused Web site, HelpWithMyBank.gov. Their section on “Mortgages” offers many points of real estate interest for most areas including the Placerville and Sacramento, California regions.

Should you have a specific problem with a financial institution other than a national bank, contact the customer assistance groups of these organizations:

• For Credit Unions, contact the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
• For State Banks, contact the State Banking Department the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), or Federal Reserve
• For Thrifts and Trust Companies, contact the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS)

The Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Office of Thrift Supervision and the National Credit Union Administration jointly on Thursday released the latest and what is expected to be final version of property appraisal guidelines.

The new guidelines set a standard for appraisal independence. Lenders can exchange information with appraisers, but they cannot “directly or indirectly coerce, influence, or otherwise encourage an appraiser or a person who performs an evaluation to misstate or misrepresent the value of the property.”

Among other rules:

· Banks cannot tell the appraiser of any expected or qualifying estimate of value.
· Banks cannot specify a minimum value requirement for the property that is needed to approve the loan or as a condition of ordering the valuation.
· Banks cannot tie an appraiser’s compensation to loan approval.
· Banks can’t blacklist an appraiser if his valuations fail to meet expected thresholds.

The agencies also clarified that broker price opinions (BPOs) don’t comply with the minimum appraisal standards.

Source: Housing Wire, Jon Prior (12/02/2010)

The Federal Reserve Board is proposing enhanced consumer protections and disclosures for home mortgage transactions.  Changes proposed include significant changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending).  The latest proposal would:

Improve the disclosures consumers receive for reverse mortgages and impose rules for reverse-mortgage advertising to ensure advertisements contain accurate and balanced information;

Prohibit certain unfair practices in the sale of financial products with reverse mortgages; 

Improve the disclosures that explain a consumer’s right to rescind certain mortgage transactions and clarify the responsibilities of the creditor if a consumer exercises the right; and

Ensure that consumers receive new disclosures when the parties agree to modify the key terms of an existing closed-end mortgage loan.  

The comment period ends 90 days after publication of the proposal in the Federal Register, which is expected shortly.

More info. http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/press/bcreg/20100816e.htm