Congress made critical changes to RESPA in the Dodd-Frank Law. These changes will be effective January 2014. Critical changes include a reduced time to acknowledge the RESPA request (now 5 days) and a reduced time to respond (now 30 days). Note that time periods for responding do not include holidays and weekends. You need to allow extra days.
Congress also doubled the damage penalties from $1,000 to $2,000.
A portion of the Dodd-Frank Law is pasted below. Note the critical portions highlighted by our office in bold print.
Important new provisions regarding force placed insurance and escrow accounts is also included. These will be explored in more detail in a future blog post.
======================================
PL 111-203, July 21, 2010, 124 Stat 1376
UNITED STATES PUBLIC LAWS
111th Congress – Second Session
Convening January 05, 2010
PL 111–203 [HR 4173]
July 21, 2010
DODD–FRANK WALL STREET REFORM AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT
An Act To promote the financial stability of the United States by improving accountability and transparency in the financial system, to end “too big to fail”, to protect the American taxpayer by ending bailouts, to protect consumers from abusive financial services practices, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SEC. 1463. REAL ESTATE SETTLEMENT PROCEDURES ACT OF 1974 AMENDMENTS.
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(a) SERVICER PROHIBITIONS.—Section 6 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the end the following new subsections:
“(k) SERVICER PROHIBITIONS.—
“(1) IN GENERAL.—A servicer of a federally related mortgage shall not—
“(A) obtain force-placed hazard insurance unless there is a reasonable basis to believe the borrower has failed to comply with the loan contract’s requirements to maintain property insurance;
“(B) charge fees for responding to valid qualified written requests (as defined in regulations which the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection shall prescribe) under this section;
“(C) fail to take timely action to respond to a borrower’s requests to correct errors relating to allocation of payments, final balances for purposes of paying off the loan, or avoiding foreclosure, or other standard servicer’s duties;
“(D) fail to respond within 10 business days to a request from a borrower to provide the identity, address, and other relevant contact information about the owner or assignee of the loan; or
“(E) fail to comply with any other obligation found by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, by regulation, to be appropriate to carry out the consumer protection purposes of this Act.
“(2) FORCE–PLACED INSURANCE DEFINED.—For purposes of this subsection and subsections (l) and (m), the term ‘force-placed insurance’ means hazard insurance coverage obtained by a servicer of a federally related mortgage when the borrower has failed to maintain or renew hazard insurance on such property as required of the borrower under the terms of the mortgage.
“(l) REQUIREMENTS FOR FORCE–PLACED INSURANCE.—A servicer of a federally related mortgage shall not be construed as having a reasonable basis for obtaining force-placed insurance unless the requirements of this subsection have been met.
“(1) WRITTEN NOTICES TO BORROWER.—A servicer may not impose any charge on any borrower for force-placed insurance with respect to any property securing a federally related mortgage unless—
“(A) the servicer has sent, by first–class mail, a written notice to the borrower containing—
“(i) a reminder of the borrower’s obligation to maintain hazard insurance on the property securing the federally related mortgage;
“(ii) a statement that the servicer does not have evidence of insurance coverage of such property;
“(iii) a clear and conspicuous statement of the procedures by which the borrower may demonstrate that the borrower already has insurance coverage; and
“(iv) a statement that the servicer may obtain such coverage at the borrower’s expense if the borrower does not provide such demonstration of the borrower’s existing coverage in a timely manner;
“(B) the servicer has sent, by first-class mail, a second written notice, at least 30 days after the mailing of the notice under subparagraph (A) that contains all the information described in each clause of such subparagraph; and
“(C) the servicer has not received from the borrower any demonstration of hazard insurance coverage for the property securing the mortgage by the end of the 15–day period beginning on the date the notice under subparagraph (B) was sent by the servicer.
“(2) SUFFICIENCY OF DEMONSTRATION.—A servicer of a federally related mortgage shall accept any reasonable form of written confirmation from a borrower of existing insurance coverage, which shall include the existing insurance policy number along with the identity of, and contact information for, the insurance company or agent, or as otherwise required by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
“(3) TERMINATION OF FORCE–PLACED INSURANCE.—Within 15 days of the receipt by a servicer of confirmation of a borrower’s existing insurance coverage, the servicer shall—
“(A) terminate the force-placed insurance; and
“(B) refund to the consumer all force-placed insurance premiums paid by the borrower during any period during which the borrower’s insurance coverage and the force-placed insurance coverage were each in effect, and any related fees charged to the consumer’s account with respect to the force-placed insurance during such period.
“(4) CLARIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO FLOOD DISASTER PROTECTION ACT.—No provision of this section shall be construed as prohibiting a servicer from providing simultaneous or concurrent notice of a lack of flood insurance pursuant to section 102(e) of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973.
“(m) LIMITATIONS ON FORCE–PLACED INSURANCE CHARGES.—All charges, apart from charges subject to State regulation as the business of insurance, related to force-placed insurance imposed on the borrower by or through the servicer shall be bona fide and reasonable.”.
(b) INCREASE IN PENALTY AMOUNTS.—Section 6(f) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(f)) is amended—
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(1) in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)(B), by striking “$1,000” each place such term appears and inserting “$2,000”; and
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(2) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking “$500,000” and inserting “$1,000,000”.
(c) DECREASE IN RESPONSE TIMES.—Section 6(e) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(e)) is amended—
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(1) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking “20 days” and inserting “5 days”;
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(2) in paragraph (2), by striking “60 days” and inserting “30 days”; and
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(3) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
“(4) LIMITED EXTENSION OF RESPONSE. —The 30–day period described in paragraph (2) may be extended for not more than 15 days if, before the end of such 30–day period, the servicer notifies the borrower of the extension and the reasons for the delay in responding.“.
<< 12 USCA § 2605 >>
(d) PROMPT REFUND OF ESCROW ACCOUNTS UPON PAYOFF.—Section 6(g) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (12 U.S.C. 2605(g)) is amended by adding at the end the following new sentence: “Any balance in any such account that is within the servicer’s control at the time the loan is paid off shall be promptly returned to the borrower within 20 business days or credited to a similar account for a new mortgage loan to the borrower with the same lender.”