Will Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act compliance costs decrease for the industry in 2012? That’s the assertion of Ernst Publishing Co. The results are based on a study of users of the firm’s Smart Query II recording fee and tax calculator.

“The industry is now comfortable with the technologies used to provide real estate recording fee and tax information,” says Gregory Teal, president and CEO of Ernst Publishing. “As more lenders take advantage of guaranteed fee quotes, fewer mistakes will occur and lenders will lose less money to noncompliance.”

Ernst’s Smart Query II provides guaranteed fee quotes for RESPA’s Blocks 4-8. The firm has been providing this information to the industry since 1989.

The company estimates that the industry loses $500 million to inaccurate quotes for real estate recordings each year. The federal government has become more aggressive in targeting lenders who fail to comply with federal regulations. The new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is now online and accepting consumer complaints, leading more lenders to push for more accurate information earlier in the process.

“With guaranteed quotes, lenders need never worry about non-compliance in these areas again,” Teal says. “For that reason, and others, we expect to see fewer lenders paying non-compliance fees in the year ahead.”

 

 

http://www.thetitlereport.com/TTR/articles/28514.aspx