HUD rejects slowing RESPA implementation

Oct. 16, 2009 – The Department of Housing and Urban Development has no intention of delaying the implementation of new Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act requirements that are set to take effect Jan. 1 despite concerns lodged by NAFCU and other financial organizations.

In response to an Oct. 12 letter from various financial groups that called for a delay in RESPA’s implementation, HUD’s Federal Housing Commissioner David Stevens said that HUD is “acutely aware of the procedural concerns, timing constraints and ancillary costs attributable to the implementation of these new regulatory requirements and the issues they raise for your members.”

Stevens said that, throughout the rulemaking process, HUD has reached out numerous times to help smooth a transition to these new levels of consumer protection. HUD has hosted a series of roundtables in anticipation of the rulemaking as far back as 2005.

“Restoring consumer confidence in the marketplace is essential to moving the economy forward and to accomplish that goal we must provide increasingly firm consumer protection,” he wrote. “Toward that end, it is imperative that this rule be fully operational on schedule.”

He also said HUD intends to respond “expeditiously” to any unanswered questions that financial organizations still may have about the new requirements.

On Wednesday, NAFCU and several other financial trades sent a joint letter to the House Financial Services Committee in support of an amendment requiring a one-year delay in implementation of the RESPA rule. The amendment was proposed by Rep. Judy Biggert, R-Ill.