Ensuring Quality Originations

In the Winter 2019 issue of ACUMA PIPELINE, Todd Krell, managing director, provides insights for credit unions to the question - Is It Time to Review Your Quality  Assurance Program and Your Quality Control Plan?

ABA Compliance School

On April 1 in Tucson, AZ, Karen Cullen, director in CrossCheck's Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending practices, will be a panelist at the ABA's Spring 2019 Intermediate Compliance School. The panel will address Compliance Hot Topics.

Florida Bankers Association 34th Annual Consumer Compliance Seminar

In Orlando, FL on April 5, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, will present "Banking Ethics, Governance & Risk Mitigation Best Practices".

Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) National Servicing Conference

On Wednesday, February 27th, Jim Shankle, managing director, participated on a panel, Quality Control for Major Operational Risk Areas, at the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Servicing Conference. The panel identified the top operational risk areas for servicers and recommended how to ensure adequate quality control. These risk areas include vendor management, customer handling and response, ancillary fees, loss mitigation and more. The panel also recommended ways to organize QC and oversight at a time when servicing costs are being scrutinized.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Real Estate Compliance School

On March 11th, Jim Treacy, director, and Heidi Wier, managing director, taught Regulation Z, TRID and Ability to Repay. On March 15th Heidi Wier is also teaching HMDA.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Residential Mortgage Lending School.

On February 19th, Heidi Wier, managing director, taught the following topics: Regulation Z, Fair Lending, HMDA, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, SAFE Act and Flood, among other topics.

Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association (IMBA) Risk Assessment Committee HMDA webinar

On Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019, IMBA's Risk Management Committee in conjunction with Neighborhood Loans and CrossCheck Compliance, offered a complimentary webinar:

HMDA: Submit with Confidence, Keys to Successful Data Integrity

The presenters included:

Karen Cullen, Director, CrossCheck Compliance
Heidi Wier, Managing Director, CrossCheck Compliance

Moderator:
Nathan Britsch, Executive VP, Compliance, Neighborhood Loans

California Mortgage Bankers Association - HMDA Webinar

On Thursday, January 24th Heidi Wier, managing director, and Karen Cullen, director, presented a webinar for the California MBA's Mortgage Quality and Compliance Committee entitled HMDA: Submit with Confidence, Keys to Successful Data Integrity. Participants learned ways to finalize their LAR submissions and handle last minute integrity issues all while not falling behind with 2019 data.

Two Days to Perform M&A Due Diligence: What Should Compliance Focus On?

Mergers and acquisitions ("M&As") continue to increase, and compliance personnel play an important role in the process. In the November-December 2018 issue of ABA Bank Compliance, Heidi Wier, managing director, addresses what compliance should focus on if you only have two days to perform a due diligence review. A strong roadmap that covers as many high-risk areas as possible is imperative to protect your institution from overpaying, costly regulatory delays, or even fines and penalties after the fact.

Silver Linings Playbook: Compliance Edition

In the January 2019 issue of Wisconsin Banker, Heidi Wier, managing director, was interviewed by the author of this article which discussed strategies for turning compliance into a competitive advantage. Among the topics that Heidi addressed were the importance of demonstrating to customers that the bank has a culture of compliance, performing an annual risk assessment to help identify where to focus resources, establishing an effective regulatory change management system in addition to the bank's compliance management system and understanding where the regulators are likely to be focused.

Fair Lending for Commercial Loans: Within the Sight Lines of the Regulators

In the November-December 2018 issue of Western Banker, Karen Cullen, Director, Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending addresses the challenges of doing a fair lending review of commercial lending.

The Future is Digital Mortgages - Are You Choosing Your Fintech Partner Wisely?

In the Winter issue of California Mortgage Finance News, Monika L. McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, and Liza Warner, managing director, discuss the considerations lenders face in choosing a fintech solution partner, including the partner's understanding of the applicable compliance regulations and associated risks.

A Strong Risk Assessment Can Lower Audit Costs and Improve Audit Effectiveness

In the November issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine, Heidi Wier discusses how a risk assessment is the basis of an efficient and cost-effective internal audit plan. Learn how to identify inherent risk and consider the adequacy of internal controls to define residual risk and then create the audit plan.

Operationalizing UDAAP: Building a Strong Foundation to Control Risk

In the September/October issue of Western Banker, Heidi Wier and Karen Cullen discuss the challenges of operationalizing and controlling UDAAP risk. In part, the challenge stems from the lack of implementing regulations. More so, the real challenge is the broad applicability of UDAAP throughout the organization and across the customer experience.

California Mortgage Bankers Association (California MBA)

At the California MBA Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference in Newport Beach California, December 3 – 4, 2018, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, moderated the General Counsel Roundtable with the following panelists: Je Yon Jung, AmWest Funding Corp., Tom Noto, Stearns Lending, Lauren Ingersoll, Inspire Home Loans, and Ken Block, New American Funding.

HMDA Data - Trust but Verify

On December 4th from 1:30 to 3:30 Central Time, Heidi Wier presented a webinar through Total Training Solutions and CU Webinars.com on the methods credit unions can use to ensure that their HMDA data is accurate. This webinar was beneficial for anyone who has responsibility for HMDA data integrity or analyzing the information to help manage fair lending risk, including senior management, compliance officers, attorneys and auditors.

Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association (IMBA) Year-end Mortgage Market Update

On December 4th in Chicago, the IMBA presented an economic and mortgage market overview. Chris Ortigara, director, who chairs the IMBA Secondary Marketing Committee, moderated a panel which included Peter J. Taglia, senior VP, FTN Financial Capital Assets Corporation; Paul Lueken, CEO, Draper & Kramer Mortgage; Jeremy Collett, executive director, Capital Markets, Guaranteed Rate; and Sergio Murer, regional sales executive, Correspondent Lending, Wells Fargo Funding.

Chicagoland Compliance Association

HMDA: Get Answers to Your Most Pressing Questions! On December 7th in Chicago, IL, industry experts and front-line subject matter experts provided an update on HMDA related topics. Karen Cullen, director, Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending, spoke on HMDA Data Integrity: Importance of Systemic and Logic Reviews.

Western Bankers Association

On November 29th at 9:00 pacific time, Heidi Wier and Jim Treacy presented a webinar program entitled Overdraft Programs, Compliance Best Practices. Attendees of this webinar learned the regulatory ‘requirements’ relating to overdraft programs as well as the regulatory ‘guidance’ and best practices on the topic.

HMDA Data Integrity - Leveraging Technology to Ensure Your HMDA Data Is Accurate

On December 11th at 9:00 PT Heidi Wier presented a webinar for the Western Bankers Association on HMDA Data Integrity. Participants will learn how to manage HMDA risk, how leveraging technology can help increase the accuracy of HMDA data, and how to test for issues before the regulators do to avoid resubmissions.

Chicago Bar Association

On November 14th, Liza Warner, managing director, presented Preparing for Internal and External Fair Lending Audits as part of a panel on Fair Lending Enforcements, Audits, and New Frontiers to the Financial Institutions Committee. The panel included Illinois Assistant Attorney General Vijay Raghavan and John Mussman, Rimon P.C., Partner.

Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association (WIMBA)

November 13-14 in Delafield, Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association hosted a new one-and-a-half day seminar was designed for mortgage professionals of all levels of experience who to increase their knowledge of the business and grow sales potential. On Day Two, November 14th, Karen Cullen, CRCM, director in the regulatory compliance and fair & responsible lending practices, presented Mortgage Lending Compliance - an overview of the top mortgage regulations you need to know as a mortgage lender.

Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association (IMBA) Regulatory Update

On November 1st in Oakbrook, Illinois, Tracey Levandoski, CRCM, and a manager in the regulatory compliance and internal audit practices, presented on risk assessment at the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association Regulatory Update.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Compliance Forum

Karen Cullen, CRCM, and director in the regulatory compliance and fair & responsible lending practices, presented HMDA Rule Changes at three sessions of the WBA's Compliance Forum - 10/30 in Stevens Point, 10/31 in the Wisconsin Dells and 11/1 in Pewaukee. With HMDA submission right around the corner, it is a good time to review regulatory expectations.

Conference on Consumer Finance Law (CCFL)

This conference on consumer financial services law took place on November 5 and 6 at the Texas A&M School of Law in Fort Worth, Texas. Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, moderated a panel on ethics for financial services lawyers with panelists Sabrina Neff, Husch Blackwell and Sanford Shatz, McGlinchey Stafford. 12 hours CLE credit of MCLE, including 1 hour of ethics, will be provided to attendees.

MBA Webinar - Effective Audit Function: Beyond the Basics

This webinar, presented on September 27, is now available for purchase on the MBA's website. The presenters discussed how effective internal audit programs evolve over time. While previous MBA internal audit webinars focused on basic elements of the program, this webinar provided more advanced information. The panel, moderated by Chris Ortigara CMB®, included CrossCheck presenters, Jim Shankle and Heidi Wier, who are credentialed internal auditors with several years of experience auditing mortgage entities. Additionally, a lender provided their company’s two year perspective from initial design of their audit program to their current post-MORA state.

Western Bankers Regulatory Compliance Conference

On Thursday, October 4th, CrossCheck at this conference Heidi Wier, managing director, presented on HMDA Data Integrity Review - Methods for Ensuring HMDA Data Accuracy and Liza Warner, managing director, presented on Compliance Risk Assessment.

Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA)

On October 4th, at the CCA's annual conference, Jim Shankle participated on a panel, Mortgage Servicing Rules for Servicers. The panel also included Solomon Maman, Partner, Noonan Lieberman. Sharon Michnuk, Head of Consumer Risk/Risk Management, CIBC Bank was the moderator.

Fair Lending for Commercial Lenders

On October 10th at 9:00 pacific time, Karen Cullen, director in the Regulatory Compliance and Fair Lending practices, presented a webinar for the Western Bankers on the subject of Fair Lending for Commercial Lenders. In this webinar, participants gained a better understanding of fair lending regulations, learned how to develop a risk assessment and controls, and learned how to prepare for an exam.

Mitigating Fraud Risk Through the Loan Life Cycle

In the August 2018 issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine, Todd Krell, managing director, and Tim McWay, director, address how a fraud prevention program that encompasses the entire loan life cycle can help mortgage lenders mitigate fraud risk. In particular, the authors remind lenders that the processing, underwriting, and pre-funding quality assurances stages of the loan life cycle remain the front lines of preventing the most common fraud schemes. With industry data indicating that fraud is once again increasing, this is a timely and informative article.

Appraisal Considerations of the EGRRCPA

In the Compliance Action newsletter, Mollie Sudhoff, manager in the Regulatory Compliance practice, discusses The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act ("EGRRCPA"). Frequently referred to as "S2155" by the industry, this law has been hailed by many as "relief" from certain terms of the Dodd Frank Act. In this article, Mollie addresses what compliance officers need to understand about the new law's appraisal requirements.

Leveraging Technology to Improve the Accuracy of HMDA Data

Ensuring the accuracy of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data has always been a challenge. Even with the changes from the recently enacted Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act that exempts small volume depository institutions and credit unions from certain reporting requirements, the challenges for 2018 will be even greater. In the July issue of Housing Wire, Heidi Wier, managing director, describes how leveraging technology to perform systemic data integrity reviews can help manage risk.

Best Practices for the Consumer Complaint Management Program

Liza Warner discusses best practices for the consumer complaint management program in this article published in ABA Bank Compliance. Learn more about how banks can more effectively meet their strategic business objectives and manage regulatory risk.

The ABA announced in the September-October 2018 issue that Liza had won the prestigious APEX writing award for this article in the How-to-Writing category. We appreciate the ABA’s submission of this article to APEX.

Are You Leaving Money on the Table?

In a special supplement to the May/June issue of Illinois Banker called 2018 Banking Trends: Management & Operations, Heidi Wier, managing director, and Kelli Schoon-Saxsma, manager, discuss how a lack of focus or dedication of resources toward Regulation E and claims processing could lead to unintended errors, or even 'over compliance', which may increase operating losses and leave money on the table.

State Attorneys General Ramping Up - Are You Ready?

In the summer issue of California Mortgage Finance news, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, addresses how state regulators are ramping up their supervision and enforcement in areas where the CFPB is pulling back. Is your organization ready?

Controlling the Narrative: Now is the Time to Understand Your Data

In the June issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine, Karen Cullen, director in in the Regulatory Compliance and Fair Lending practices, address the key elements every institution needs to consider in understanding how data relates to their business. Karen also presented on this topic recently at the MBA Legal Issues conference.

MBA Regulatory Compliance Conference

On Sunday September 16th, Mike Forester, managing director, participated on the Anti-Money Laundering, Know Your Customer and Fraud panel at the MBA's Regulatory Compliance Conference in Washington D.C. This panel was part of the Emerging Compliance Risk Track.

Northern Illinois Compliance Association (NICA) Annual Workshop

On September 14th, NICA, in partnership with the Illinois Bankers Association (IBA), held an informative one-day workshop. Karen Cullen, CRCM, and a director with CrossCheck Compliance, presented HMDA Follow Up (Tips and Tricks and What We Have Learned). Do you know the integrity of your HMDA data? This interactive session included a discussion of how banks are implementing the 2018 data rules, interpreting how the rules affect your institution and ways to develop consistent reporting methods. Also discussed were ways to use logic systemic scrubs to find errors in your data that sample testing won't catch.

American Bar Association Annual Business Law Section Meeting

On Thursday, September 13th, Monika L. McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, moderated a general counsel roundtable. This dynamic panel from banking, mortgage, and fintech companies discussed current risks they face and mitigate, their expectations and requirements for outside counsel, and best practices for in-house counsel.

HMDA Data - Trust but Verify

On August 21st from 1:30 to 3:30 Central Time, Heidi Wier presented a webinar on the methods lenders can use to ensure that their HMDA data is accurate. This webinar would be beneficial for anyone who has responsibility for HMDA data integrity or analyzing the information to help manage fair lending risk, including senior management, compliance officers, attorneys and auditors.

California Mortgage Bankers Association (California MBA) 23rd Annual Mortgage Technology and Loan Servicing Conference

Jim Shankle, managing director, moderated a servicing compliance panel on Tuesday, August 7th at the California MBA's Mortgage Technology and Loan Servicing Conference in San Diego.

Understanding and Controlling UDAAP Compliance Risk

On August 2nd, Karen Cullen and Heidi Wier presented a webinar for the Western Bankers Association on the topic of UDAAP compliance risk. In this webinar, participants learned the best practices for incorporating UDAAP into a compliance management program, how to develop a UDAAP risk assessment and measure UDAAP risk, and how applying customer service can help operationalize UDAAP.

Northern Illinois Compliance Association Meeting

On July 20th, Karen Cullen, director in the Regulatory Compliance and Fair Lending practices presented on Fair Lending: Strong Compliance Management and Understanding/Controlling Risk. This meeting was held at Giovanni's in Rockford, Illinois.

Annual Consumer Financial Services Conference (CCFL)

At the Conference on Consumer Finance Law, held in Chicago, Illinois at Loyola University, Chicago School of Law May 31-June 1, 2018, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, moderated a panel on Cybersecurity.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Lending Boot Camp

Heidi Wier, managing director, presented on Lending Compliance at the WBA's Lending Boot Camp which was held in Madison, Wisconsin May 15-17, 2018. Her topics included fair lending, HMDA, Regulation Z, Regulation X, flood insurance, SAFE Act, Regulation B, FACTA, FCRA and UDAAP.

Financial Institutions Conference (FIC)

On Tuesday, May 8, 2018, at the Sheraton Milwaukee Brookfield Hotel, Jim Treacy presented a regulatory compliance update. Jim is a CPA and a director in CrossCheck's regulatory compliance and internal audit practices. His presentation included a discussion of the current regulatory environment and recent regulatory changes impacting banks, including the July 2017 updates to the TRID requirements, Bank Secrecy Act - Beneficial Ownership, mortgage servicing and HMDA.

Texas Mortgage Bankers Association 102nd Annual Convention

On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country, Todd Krell, managing director, moderated a panel on fraud for the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. During this session, the panel addressed the potential for the increase of fraud with the growth of electronic document processes.

MBA Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference

On Monday, April 30, 2018, at the MBA Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference in Los Angeles, California, Karen Cullen, director in CrossCheck's compliance and fair & responsible lending practices was on a panel entitled Controlling the Narrative: Using Internal Data for Better Market Penetration.

Florida Bankers Association Consumer Compliance Seminar

Mollie Sudhoff, a manager in CrossCheck's regulatory compliance and internal audit practices moderated three sessions at the 33rd Annual Consumer Compliance Seminar, April 11-13, 2018 in Orlando, Florida. The first session was the Regulator Panel: Current Examination & Enforcement Focus, Findings & Expectations". The second was the "Florida Attorney Panel Potpourri: ADA, Collections, Florida TCPA, Litigation Update". The third was a "Compliance Officer Discussion Panel".

Staffing Up for CMS

In this article, seen in the March-April issue of ABA Bank Compliance, Liza Warner, managing director, discusses how financial institutions of all sizes must continue to evolve their compliance teams to set the culture of compliance throughout the organization, resulting in a more effective Compliance Management System (CMS).

Avoiding Surprises - Servicing Quality Assurance and Quality Control Monitoring Systems can be Management's Best Friend

This article was the cover story for the February 2018 issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine. In the article, the co-author's Jim Shankle, managing director, and Bill Tyner, consultant, address why loan servicers should establish internal monitoring systems to provide ongoing feedback on critical servicing components.

Preparing for the Unexpected - Housing Wire

In this article in the December 2017/January  2018 issue of Housing Wire, Jim Jorgensen, president, CEO and founder of CrossCheck Compliance, discusses how lenders can get in front of major risks through an enterprise risk management framework.

Hot Tips for Regulatory/Compliance Pros - California Mortgage Finance News (CMFN)

This article is the latest in a series dealing with the issues facing the real estate finance industry. Each issue CMBA experts are asked for their thoughts on the issues at hand. In this issue of CMFN, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, participated in a roundtable discussion related to eMortgages, the utilization of technology to improve compliance efforts, and the biggest state compliance/regulatory challenges lenders/servicers will face in 2018.

The Mortgage Servicing Rule - Are You Prepared?

Jim Shankle and Liza Warner, managing directors in CrossCheck's compliance/audit practice discuss the challenges faced by servicers in implementing the 2016 Servicing Rule. This article was originally seen as the cover story of the September-October 2017 issue of ABA Bank Compliance.

What Is Your Time Worth?

In Mortgage Compliance Magazine, Todd Krell, managing director, Consumer Loan Review, discusses how organizations can have a more effective quality assurance program and achieve their cost-benefit objectives by factoring in both timing as well as pricing in the selection of a vendor.

Why Mortgage Companies Should Embrace Internal Audit

April, 2016 by Heidi Wier and Liza Warner.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Real Estate Compliance School

Heidi Wier, managing director, and Jim Treacy, director, taught at the WBA's Real Estate Compliance School held March 13-15, 2018. Their topics included Regulation Z and HMDA, the 2018 requirements and early lessons learned.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Residential Lending School

Heidi Wier, managing director, taught compliance for residential mortgage lenders at the WBA's Mortgage Lending School on February 20, 2018. The topics she covered included ECOA (Regulation B), TILA/RESPA (Regulation Z), Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgages, Fair Lending, HMDA (Regulation C) and the SAFE Act. Students gained the knowledge they need to be successful in this complex and highly competitive field.

California MBA Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference 2017

Monika McCarthy, managing director and general gounsel, moderated the General Counsel Roundtable at this conference which was held on December 4 and 5 in Irvine, California.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Compliance Forum

Heidi Wier, managing director, presented HMDA - The Recent Finalized Amendments. The Forum was held October 31, November 1 and November 2 at different locations in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) - Deposit Compliance Alumni Update Seminar

On November 8th, Jim Treacy, director, addressed the Regulation CC changes. This seminar was geared specifically towards compliance officers.

Wisconsin Bankers Association (WBA) Real Estate Compliance School

Heidi Wier, managing director, and Jim Treacy, director, taught a class on Reg Z and TRID, and Heidi also taught a class on HMDA, at the WBA's Real Estate Compliance School on September 27th and 28th at the Wintergreen Resort & Conference Center in the Wisconsin Dells. This school was designed to provide attendees with a strong foundation on federal and state real estate lending laws.

Compliance Essentials/CMCP Interactive Session: Common Help Desk and Operational Questions for Compliance Officers

On Sunday September 17th at the MBA's Regulatory Compliance Conference, Monika McCarthy, managing director & general counsel, spoke, along with H. Burton Embry, executive vice president & chief compliance officer, Primary Residential Mortgage, Inc. This interactive session provided participants an opportunity to solve compliance problems and identify the tools and methods for solutions.

Northern Illinois Compliance Association Workshop

Jim Treacy, director, presented Final TRID and Mortgage Servicing Clarifications on Friday, September 8th at the NICA workshop. Jim "clarified" the clarifications and technical amendments on the final TRID rule issued by the CFPB July 7th. He also discussed the impact of the final rules issued by the CFPB on August 4, 2016 amending certain mortgage servicing rules.

California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA) Western States Loan Servicing and Technology Conference

Jim Shankle, managing director in the Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit practices, spoke on the servicing compliance panel at this conference which took place August 6-8th in San Diego, CA. Servicing related articles can be found in the Related Resources section of Regulatory Compliance. Also see the article entitled The Mortgage Servicing Rule - Are You Prepared?