Author: Linda Wagner

On April 27th, 2023 Heidi Wier and Ryan Addabbo were presenters on a California MBA Mortgage Quality and Compliance Committee (MQAC) webinar about using HMDA data to benefit a lender’s business beyond customary performance analytics for compliance and regulatory risks. During this webinar, the attendees learned all the prospective opportunities with what you can do with your HMDA data compared to a few years ago.

On March 22nd, 2023 Sara McGinnis, CRCM, CAMS, CAFP, and Wendy McMillan, CIA, CRMA, presented a webinar on flood insurance compliance and a summary of the Interagency Flood Q&As for the Central Florida Compliance Association (CFCA). Other resources on flood insurance include an article authored by Sara on this topic, published in ABA Bank Compliance, and the ABA’s Reference Guide to Flood Compliance, First Edition.

CrossCheck Compliance was, once again, a sponsor of the California MBA’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference which took place in December 2022. This conference focused on the trends and hot issues in litigation & regulatory compliance for the residential lending community. The panels featured some of the nation’s leading industry experts including Todd Krell and Monika L. McCarthy. Todd moderated and spoke on the Non-QM Compliance panel which discussed how the loan origination and due diligence processes differ from Agency requirements. Monika moderated the General Counsel Roundtable.

On December 14th, 2022 Heidi Wier, Managing Director, participated on a panel with Diana Ringer, Master CMB, AMP, Chief Compliance Officer, Ruoff Mortgage; and Fedor Kamensky, Member, Weiner Brodsky Kider PC; which presented a webinar for the MBA on Ensuring HMDA Data Integrity and Common Reporting Issues. Implementing a strong, comprehensive HMDA compliance program will help ensure the accuracy of your HMDA data, and in turn, should ensure the data portrays an accurate picture of your fair lending performance. All webinars are complimentary for MBA members and available on the MBA’s website. If you missed the webinar, please log in to the MBA’s website to access the recorded webinar.

AFSA held its 2022 annual meeting October 23-26 at The Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida. At the Operations and Regulatory Compliance Committee meeting, Mike Forester participated on a panel with Michael Gordon, Partner at Ballard Spahr LLP. They discussed Hot Topics in Auto Finance.

The Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA) held its Annual Conference on November 17th, 2022 at Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Sara McGinnis was one of the presenters. Her topic was Flood and new Interagency FAQs.

The Utah Bankers Association (UBA) held its 2022 Compliance Conference October 25-27 in Park City, UT. On Thursday, October 27th, Monika McCarthy presented, Fair Lending Trends.

The Utah Bankers Association (UBA) held its 2022 Compliance Conference – The Pulse of Compliance – October 25-27 in Park City, UT. On Wednesday, October 26th, 2022 Monika McCarthy moderated a UDAAP panel. The panelists included Robert Marx, VP Compliance, WebBank; Rich Friess, VP Compliance Officer, The Bank of Commerce; and Niki Christensen, Chief Compliance Officer, Central Bank. The American Bankers Association Professional Certifications has approved The Pulse of Compliance 2022 for: 15.25 CRCM, 4.25 CERP, 3 CAFP credits. This was a hybrid event.

On October 20 and 21, 2022 the Conference on Consumer Finance Law (CCFL) held their Consumer Financial Services Conference at the Renaissance Dallas in Plano, TX. On Day One, Monika McCarthy moderated a panel which included Daniel Johnson from CrossCheck Compliance LLC, L. Jean Noonan from Hudson Cook, LLP, Tricia de Leon, Holland & Knight LLP and Devin House from Toyota Financial Services. The panel’s topic was Trends in Auto Fair Lending.

Monika McCarthy was a panelist at the RegTech Track session, Surveying the Regulatory Landscape and Future of RegTech, during the MBA’s Regulatory Compliance Conference which took place September 18-20, 2022 in Washington, DC. This session highlighted a variety of challenges and how RegTech can help solve them and stay ahead of pending changes. The other panelists included Chris Hilliard, Chief Operating Officer and Founder, Winnow Solutions, LLC; Amy Azorandia, SVP Mortgage Compliance/Systems, First Trust Bank; and Tara Healy, Chief Compliance Officer, Cherry Creek Mortgage Co., Inc.

On August 11, 2022 Tracey Levandoski, CRCM was a speaker at the National Association of Industrial Bankers (NAIB) and Utah Association of Financial Services (UAFS) convention in Park City, UT. Her presentation focused on Third-Party Relationships and include the following topics: Highlights of FIL-44-2008: Guidance for Managing Third-Party Risk, Summary of FIL-50-2021: Proposed Interagency Guidance on Third-Party Relationships: Risk Management, Fourth Party Management, and Preparing for the Proposed Guidance.

On July 11, 2022 CrossCheck Compliance experts Heidi Wier, Managing Director, Sara McGinnis, Director and Wendy McMillan, Manager, presented the second part of the Effective Internal Audit Function webinar series for the Mortgage Bankers Association. Julie Humphrey, EVP, Internal Audit, Fay Servicing, was also a presenter and provided the lender perspective. Building on themes in part one, in part two, Beyond the Basics, we discussed how effective internal audit programs evolve over time. What does it mean to have an effective internal audit function including corporate governance? How should the risk assessment process work and how does it impact the audit plan? What are the challenges of implementing an audit function? These are just some of the common questions facing mortgage bankers. Participants learned about practical, sustainable internal audit programs from experts who possess industry recognized internal audit credentials and a lender faced with these same questions.

On June 9, 2022 Liza Warner presented a webinar for the CFCA on Fair Lending Risks in Originations, Servicing & Small Business.

On June 8th, 2022 Heidi Wier and Jim Treacy presented a webinar for the MBA. This webinar was part one of a two part series. The first webinar focused on the fundamentals of an effective internal audit function. The presenters explored the best practices for structuring an internal audit function as well as how to develop and implement a risk-based internal audit plan. Part Two, Beyond the Basics, will be presented on July 11. MBA webinars are complimentary to MBA members.

On May 19, 2022 Daniel Johnson presented Trends in Fair Lending for the Oklahoma Bankers Association’s 2022 Convention. This session highlighted the key actions and activities important for each bank to have in place to ensure its teams are treating customers fairly and equitably. Daniel discussed key controls and monitoring over indirect automotive lending, mortgage servicing and small business lending.

On Friday May 6, 2022 Liza Warner was a presenter on the Fair and Responsible Lending and Fair Servicing Panel for the Chicagoland Compliance Association. This was a hybrid event with both in-person and virtual access. Fair lending encompasses the entire lending cycle including servicing. Liza discussed servicing activities that financial entities should be addressing within their fair lending compliance management program.

Sara McGinnis spoke at the 35th Annual Florida Bankers Association’s Consumer Compliance Seminar which ran from April 13 – April 15, 2022 in Orlando, Florida. Sara’s topic for the General Session on Friday, April 15 was “Beyond the Basics – Meeting Board and Regulatory Expectations for all Types of Audits”. FBA applied for 20 CRCM credits for the seminar. CrossCheck was also an exhibitor at this event.

On April 7, 2022, Heidi Wier spoke at the Fourth Annual WMBA Mortgage Bootcamp. She gave an overview of the mortgage regulations you need to know as a mortgage lender and the regulator impact on the lending environment.

On March 24th, 2022 Daniel Johnson participated in a California MBA Mortgage Quality and Compliance Committee fair lending webinar. The webinar covered pricing exceptions, underwriting exceptions, and marketing. Along with Daniel, the speakers also included Marty Allred, Chief Compliance Officer, American Pacific Mortgage, and Paula Leber, VP of Compliance and Licensing, CMG Financial. The three panelists had an interactive discussion which provided practical guidance on these important topics. The recorded webinar is available on the California MBA’s YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufbBaPon-Hk

The Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA) held its 4th Annual Mortgage Symposium on November 8th and 9th at the Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West hotel. This year, the focus was on redefining company culture, including employee engagement and motivation, communicating change, training, and diversity & inclusion. Debbi Roberts was a facilitator for a discussion on Mentorship with Impact, moderated by Kristin Clardy Martin.

On October 26th, 2021 Tracey Levandoski presented a webinar for the Suncoast Bankers Compliance Association (SBCA). The topic of this webinar was Avoiding UDAAP Pitfalls: Recognizing Risk in Marketing and Advertising. Attendees learned the UDAAP considerations related to the target audience, qualifying conditions, support for claims, testimonials, language and disclosures. This webinar also covered marketing’s impact on compliance management and the risk of using third-party service providers. The webinar was open to members of SBCA.

The Utah Bankers Association hosted its Fall Compliance Conference – Unmasked from October 19-21 in Park City, Utah. This was a hybrid event. Participants chose whether to attend either in person or via Zoom. On Tuesday October 19th, Tracey Levandoski presented one session on UDAAP and one on Fair Lending for Commercial Loans.

The American Bankers Association approved the conference for 2.5 CAFP, CERP, 14 CRCM credit. As compliance expectations continue to soar, keeping up with the latest regulatory changes and compliance issues can be more than a full-time job. The Annual UBA Fall Compliance Conference offered compliance professionals in-depth, content-rich discussions that address critically important topics. This year’s conference featured a wide variety of general and breakout sessions—led by industry experts and regulators—designed to help compliance professionals stay current with and function confidently in the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

October 20 to October 22, the Georgia Bankers Association hosted its annual Compliance Conference at the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort in St. Simons, GA. On October 21, Jim Treacy presented Online Account Opening Compliance. This event covered the full spectrum of compliance topics and provided participants the opportunity to network, share best practices and learn from nationally known experts.

On September 29, 2021 Bradley Teplin and Liza Warner presented a webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA) – Best Practices for Monitoring Servicing Performance. This webinar helped participants be better prepared to address common regulatory and investor concerns, improve consumer complaint management, and differentiate between the unique roles of quality assurance and quality control in managing loan servicing. The recorded webinar is available on the ABA’s website.

On September 23, 2021 as part of the American Bar Association Business Law Section Annual Meeting, Monika McCarthy participated on a panel – Fair Servicing Spotlight and CARES Act Challenges. This panel discussed best practices to avoid fair servicing risks, predictions for fair servicing supervision and enforcement activity, and priorities of consumer advocates in the fair servicing space. The other panelists included Kevin McQuail, Ocwen Financial Corporation, Chetna Vora, Citadel Servicing Corporation, and Tori Shinohara, Mayer Brown.

On Tuesday September 14th, 2021 Monika McCarthy participated on a panel at the MBA’s Regulatory Compliance Conference. The panel’s topic was Working with Your Vendors to Solve Common Compliance Challenges. Attendees learned best practices for engaging with vendors to solve common compliance challenges based on scenarios presented by industry practitioners.

On August 25th, 2021 Jocali Nakao, CRCM and CAMS, and Tracey Levandoski, CRCM, presented a webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA). The topic of the webinar was Compliance Management for First-Line Operations. Called the first line of defense, the bank’s frontline and back-office operations together own compliance risk for the products it sells and services. The first line should maintain an effective system to identify, assess, and mitigate the bank’s compliance risk while making sure customers receive fair and responsible products and services. Attendees learned best practices for integrating the first line into an institution’s overall compliance framework and gained a deeper understanding of how to: document controls, assess risk, develop monitoring templates, and track issues through resolution within the first line. CERP, CRCM and CPE credits are available. Registration continues to be available to the recorded webinar on the ABA’s website.

On August 19, 2021 Liza Warner presented a webinar on Fair Lending Risks in Originations, Servicing and Small Business for the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA). The current administration and the CFPB are both focused on equity and inclusion which extends to lending activities. Banks have always been expected to provide lending related services in a fair and responsible manner and the expectations are receiving even more heightened attention in today’s environment. This webinar touched on the fair lending risks that a bank needs to be aware of and needs to monitor to meet its fair lending policy and mandate and to ensure it understands its performance and can explain it to regulators and other interested parties. Liza reviewed risks and potential solutions within loan origination and servicing activities including consideration of the consumer protections extended as a result of COVID-19. She also reviewed fair lending strategies related to small business lending.

On Friday July 16, 2021 at the NICA July meeting, Tracey Levandoski presented – Developing a Fintech Compliance Roadmap. This presentation focused on the factors bank management should consider in selecting a fintech lending partner, and then after making the selection, how the bank can help their fintech strategic partners develop a compliance roadmap and compliance infrastructure that meets the regulator’s requirements as well as the bank’s expectations under its third-party risk management program.

Liza Warner participated on three panels at the American Bankers Association’s Regulatory Compliance Conference which was held June 22-24. These panels are: 1) Fair and Responsible Lending Risks for Mortgages Part 1: Product Design, Marketing and Originations, 2) Fair and Responsible Lending Risks for Mortgages Part 2: Fair Servicing and Debt Collections, and 3) Small Business Lending: Addressing Needs Today and Tomorrow. The panel recordings are available on demand for those who registered for the conference.

At the June 17th, 2021 meeting of the Central Florida Compliance Association (CFCA), Heidi Wier presented a webinar entitled, HMDA: Keys to Successful Data Integrity.

On June 10, 2021 Tracey Levandoski presented a webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA) entitled Avoiding UDAAP Pitfalls: Recognizing and Addressing Risk in Marketing and Advertising. Enforcement actions for UDAAP violations are likely to increase, and UDAAP risk should be on the minds of every bank’s marketing manager. Supervisory highlights from the CFPB include references to misleading advertisements of bonus offers on deposit accounts, misleading representation about the ability to apply for a loan online, and false representations that no credit check will be conducted on loan applicants. When examiners review the bank’s UDAAP risk as part of compliance examinations, you will need to explain to examiners, with supporting documentation, how UDAAP risk has been mitigated.  Now is the time to review the bank’s marketing and advertising plans, including policies and procedures, with an eye to potential UDAAP pitfalls. If you missed it the first time, the recording of this webinar is available for purchase on the ABA’s website.

On June 9, 2021  Tracey Levandoski presented a webinar for the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA). Her presentation focused on the factors bank management should consider in selecting a fintech lending partner, and then after making the selection, how the bank can help their fintech strategic partners develop a compliance roadmap and compliance infrastructure that meets the regulator’s requirements as well as the bank’s expectations under its third-party risk management program. Tracey described the areas of caution, potential detours, roadwork ahead and speed bumps to reinforce the concepts that the development of a compliance roadmap is a journey that needs to be mapped out and at times adjusted for changes in conditions and unforeseen events.

On May 20, 2021, Heidi Wier and Jim Treacy presented The Compliance/Audit Partnership webinar for the American Bankers Association (ABA). During this webinar, The Compliance-Audit Partnership, participants learned how auditors can collaborate with compliance officers to fully understand the bank’s compliance risk and develop an audit plan to best address that risk while maintaining independence as the third line of defense. CERP 1.25, CRCM 1.25 was available. The recording of this webinar can be purchased through the ABA.

In March 2021, Jim Treacy taught TRID and ATR/QM for the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s Real Estate Compliance School.

In March 2021 Heidi Wier presented a Compliance Bootcamp for the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association.

In March 2021, Heidi Wier taught HMDA for the Wisconsin Bankers Association’s (WBA) Real Estate Compliance School. Heidi has been a long-standing teacher for the WBA.

On January 20, 2021 Heidi Wier presented a webinar for the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA) – HMDA: Submit with Confidence, Keys to Successful Data Integrity. Heidi discussed strategies for validating HMDA data prior to submission and ways to keep your HMDA data accurate going forward. The agenda included the following topics: verifying your data, performing final reviews, understanding key data fields, regulatory expectations, building a process with sustainable integrity, data integrity testing, and understanding outliers, red flags analyses, and performance analyses.

On January 12, 2021 at the California Mortgage Bankers Association’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference, Monika McCarthy moderated a General Counsel Roundtable. The other general counsel panelists included Ann Savage-Davis, Mountain West Financial, Inc., Lauren Ingersoll, Inspire Home Loans, Inc., Marc Ely, Paramount Residential Mortgage Group, Inc. and Philip Schild, Homebridge Financial Services, Inc. This year’s event included remarks from some of the top policy makers, including Manual P. Alvarez, Commissioner, California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation; Brian P. Brooks, Acting Comptroller of the Currency, and Kyle Thomas, VP, State Examination Systems (SES), Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).

At the MBA’s 2020 Regulatory Compliance Conference, Monika McCarthy co-presented with Laura LaRaia, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation. Their presentation, Reviewing Processes for Compliance Professionals, was part of the CMCP Track and provided guidance on advertising and marketing compliance.

At the Utah Bankers Virtual Compliance Conference, Liza Warner moderated the Compliance Officers Roundtable. The panel discussed hot topics that compliance officers are facing. Overall the conference offered a mixture of general and breakout sessions designed to help compliance professionals stay current with and function confidently in the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

Tracey Levandoski presented at the Utah Bankers Compliance virtual conference at one of the breakout sessions on Tuesday October 27, 2020. Tracey’s topic was Developing a Fintech Compliance Roadmap. Her presentation focused on the factors bank management should consider in selecting a fintech lending partner, and then after making the selection, how the bank can help their fintech strategic partners develop a compliance roadmap and compliance infrastructure that meets the regulators’ requirements as well as the bank’s expectations under its third-party risk management program.

On September 22nd, 2020 Todd Krell participated on a quality control panel for ACUMA’s Annual Conference. The theme, “Celebrating Credit Union Mortgage Heroes”, was dedicated to all the front-line financial workers who play a vital role in making it possible to put people in homes every day, especially during the pandemic. Panelists included Todd Krell, Managing Director at Cross Check Compliance, Duane Gilkison, Director of Credit Risk at Fannie Mae, and Michael Christians, attorney and VP of Risk Management at myCU Mortgage in Dayton OH, a mortgage CUSO serving credit unions across the nation. The panel was moderated by Russell Francom, the Mortgage Compliance and QC Manager at Mountain America Credit Union in Salt Lake City, UT.

On July 17, 2020 Tracey Levandoski and Jim Treacy presented a webinar for the Northern California Compliance Association (NICA) about TRID, including TRID challenges, common regulatory findings and recent TRID updates.

A part of the ABA’s Risk and Compliance Virtual Conference, July 28-30, 2020 Karen Cullen participated in an on-demand webinar regarding how servicers can manage the risk of fair lending and UDAAP concerns as they navigate through the COVID-19 national emergency and its aftermath – Fair Servicing During the COVID-19 Emergency and Beyond. Karen was joined by Greg Schwager, Senior Counsel, PNC Bank. The panel was moderated by Kitty Ryan, Vice President, Senior Counsel, Fair and Responsible Banking, Regulatory Compliance and Policy, American Bankers Association.  You can also read about fair servicing in an article Karen co-authored for ABA Bank Compliance.

On July 15, 2020 Todd Krell was a Special Guest in a subprime auto market webinar offered by the Davis & Gilbert Insolvency, Creditors’ Rights & Financial Products practice group. The focus of this webinar was on how subprime RMBS serves as a roadmap for future subprime auto ABS litigation. Davis & Gilbert speakers included Joseph Cioffi, Chair of the practice, and Seiji Newman, Partner.

Check out the latest episode of the California MBA’s Connect podcast program. Monika McCarthy spoke with Dustin Hobbs, about her journey in the mortgage industry, how the new forbearance requirements have impacted lenders and servicers, what to look out for in the legal/regulatory space, and much more!

On June 18th, 2020 Tracey Levandoski, CRCM, and Jim Treacy, CPA and Certified BSA Officer, presented a webinar for the Central Florida Compliance Association (CFCA). Both Tracey and Jim have deep compliance backgrounds in the financial services industry.  

On June 3rd, 2020 Debbi Roberts participated on a panel discussing initial considerations for the small dollar lending businesses as consumers re-enter the world. The issues discussed include qualifying consumers who were recently unemployed or underemployed, addressing forthcoming consumer bankruptcies and having policies and procedures in place for the future. The other panelists included Jeremy Pope of Pope/Partners LLC, Blake Sims of Hudson Cook, LLP and Justin Hoise, also of Hudson Cook, LLP. This webinar was presented in conjunction with the Financial Service Centers of America (FISCA).

On February 19, 2020 Karen Cullen of CrossCheck Compliance LLC and Richard Horn of Garris Horn PLLC led a  one-hour webinar regarding the CFPB’s fair lending focus on redlining and marketing discrimination claims. The CFPB has noted in recent public reports that its fair lending efforts in the mortgage industry are focused on redlining and marketing discrimination. This webinar covered what a redlining or marketing discrimination claim looks like under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Housing Act, past cases by the CFPB and DOJ, and potential steps you can take to evaluate and mitigate your risk.

On January 30, 2020 MBA Education and CrossCheck Compliance held part one of the Internal Audit webinar series. MBA webinars are complimentary to MBA members. The continuing regulatory focus by the CFPB, the GSEs, and other investors has driven the need for mortgage companies to enhance their corporate governance structures by implementing effective internal audit functions. This function should not be confused with pre-funding and post-closing quality control reviews. It is a separate function and substantially more expansive, including all aspects of your organization. Meeting regulatory expectations is not the only reason to implement an internal audit function; there are other benefits of making this investment including a better understanding of your operational and compliance risks, improvement of the control environment, opportunities for operational enhancements, and the potential for increased efficiencies and/or reduction of risks which could result in cost savings. This webinar explored the best practices for structuring an internal audit function as well as how to develop and implement an internal audit plan.

On February 13, 2020, MBA Education and CrossCheck Compliance held part two of the Internal Audit webinar series. Building on themes in part one, we discussed how effective internal audit programs evolve over time. What does it mean to have an effective internal audit function? What is the best structure for your internal audit function? Where does the function report in the organization? How should the risk assessment process work and how does it impact the audit plan? These are just some of the common questions facing mortgage bankers. Participants learned about practical, sustainable internal audit programs from experts who possess industry recognized internal audit credentials and a lender faced with these same questions.

On December 6th, 2019 the Chicagoland Compliance Association (CCA) held an event at Northern Trust. The event included Legislative and HMDA Updates and a discussion of Complaint Management How-To’s. Karen Cullen presented How to Prepare Your HMDA Submission. Liza Warner, along with Donald Piattoni, Business Analytics Lead, PNC Bank, spoke about classifying complaints and key metrics of a Complaint Management System. Ms. Warner had previously authored an article for ABA Bank Compliance on the same topic.

On Monday, October 21, 2019 Heidi Wier was a co-presenter with Allen Denson, Partner of Hudson Cook, LLP, at the FISCA Money Trends Conference in Miami, FL. Their topic was entitled: The CFPB Examination Process and Critical Compliance Issues. This workshop provided attendees with the fundamentals of compliance management systems, examination preparations, and post-examination processes.

November 5-6, 2019 RegList held their Fall 2019 Compliance event in Huntington Beach, CA. The two full days of content included presentations on timely and impactful topics, as well as opportunities to work alongside fellow RegListers to share knowledge and network. On Day Two, Monika McCarthy presented with Rich Horn, Managing Member, Garris Horn, on CFPB’s Focus on Fair Lending.

On October 25th, 2019, the IMBA held its Mortgage Market Update event at the Wintrust Mortgage office in Rosemont, IL. Topics included an economic forecast, updates from Fannie Mae, a non-QM product discussion, and the impact of MI risk-based pricing on secondary and origination. Chris Ortigara moderated the non-QM panel.

On October 15th, 2019 in Rosemont, IL, Chris Ortigara  participated in the Arch MI Executive Roundtable. At this complimentary panel luncheon for Chicago-area mortgage executives, Chris addressed new regulatory requirements facing lenders. Other panelists included Bernard Nossuli, iEmergent Chief Operating Officer, Brett O’Daniell, HomeTraq Co-Founder and Laura Kay Sheely, Arch MI Account Manager. Sheely co-hosted the event with Account Manager, Faith Henderson.

On November 7th, 2019 Jim Shankle presented a webinar entitled – Avoiding Surprises in Mortgage Servicing. As banks face competitive challenges and increased regulatory and investor scrutiny, establishing internal monitoring systems to provide ongoing feedback on critical servicing components should be an integral part of the management structure for all loan servicers. Preventing surprises that can result in significant operational, regulatory, reputational, and financial burdens, if not detected on a timely basis is just as critical. In this webinar, attendees learned about the challenges servicers have had managing and implementing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules, especially related to servicing transfers. While the business reasons for transferring servicing are justified, the responsibility for compliance with servicing rules cannot be delegated if servicing activities are out-sourced to a third party. In addition to implementing the rules, regulatory and investor quality control requirements for the ongoing monitoring of servicing activities were addressed.

The 2019 annual UBA Fall Compliance Conference, named Compliance Superhero Conference, taking place in Park City, Utah October 23-25, offered compliance professionals in-depth, content-rich discussions that addressed critically important topics. Tracey Levandoski, director in CrossCheck’s Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit practices, was one of the featured speakers. Tracey presented: CMS Auditors: Superheros or Your Bank Nemesis? Her presentation focused on how to make the most of your bank’s CMS Audits.

November 12-13, 2019 WMBA held its Second Annual Mortgage Bootcamp. Designed for those who work in the mortgage industry, this highly recommended one-and-a half day seminar walked attendees through the mortgage loan cycle and everything they needed to know to be a stronger mortgage professional. On Day Two, Heidi Wier, managing director in CrossCheck’s Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit practices, presented Mortgage Lending Compliance.  Her presentation was an overview of the top mortgage lending regulations the attendees need to know as a mortgage lender.

On November 6, 2019 Karen Cullen presented a fair lending webinar for the MBA entitled: Checking the Effectiveness of Your Fair Lending Program. As of October 1, MBA webinars are complimentary to MBA members. History has taught us that the regulatory landscape is ever evolving, and strong compliance programs are able to adjust to changes when necessary. Yet the path to ensuring fair lending compliance is not always an easy one. In this webinar, Karen addressed the principles and program elements of an effective and sustainable fair lending program and the roles each line of defense (business line, compliance management, and internal audit) plays in identifying and mitigating fair lending risk.

On October 30, 2019 Heidi Wier and Karen Cullen presented a webinar for the MBA entitled: What Your HMDA Data Says About Your Fair Lending Performance. As of October 1, MBA webinars are complimentary to MBA members. In this webinar, Heidi and Karen addressed how to implement an ongoing monitoring process to ensure the integrity of your HMDA data, and then how to analyze the data to determine your fair lending performance before a regulator walks in the door. They compared alternative data integrity options, explained the different types of performance analytic tools you can use to determine fair lending risk, and offered suggestions on how you can most effectively communicate the results of the analysis to your board.

On September 26th, 2019 Karen Cullen, director in CrossCheck’s Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending practices, presented at the CFCA’s annual meeting, held in Orlando, FL. Karen’s presentation covered how to perform a Health Check of Your Fair Lending Program – Connecting Risk Assessment and Performance Analysis.

On October 1st, 2019 Jim Shankle and Chris Ortigara presented a webinar entitled Monitoring Mortgage Servicing and Avoiding Surprises. As mortgage servicers face competitive challenges and increased regulatory and investor scrutiny, management must rely on internal systems to provide ongoing feedback on critical servicing components. Establishing internal monitoring systems should be an integral part of the management structure for all mortgage servicers. Preventing surprises that can result in significant operational, regulatory, reputational, and financial burdens, if not detected on a timely basis is just as critical.

On Tuesday August 27th, 2019 at the WBA conference in Huntington Beach, CA, Jim Shankle, managing director, Regulatory Compliance and Internal Audit, spoke on the topic: Avoiding Surprises in Mortgage Servicing. His presentation included the challenges that mortgage servicers have had regarding compliance with CFPB servicing rules, servicing transfers, regulatory and investor quality control requirements, and monitoring of servicing.

On Wednesday, August 7th, 2019,  Monika McCarthy participated in the American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education (ALI CLE) webcast/telephone seminar on Enterprise Risk Management for Attorneys: A How-To on Mitigating Risk. Participants learned how they can have a positive impact on their client’s risk management practices. This practical webcast benefited business attorneys, corporate counsel, in-house counsel, insurance attorneys, as well as general practitioners and business professionals.

On July 31, 2019 Karen Cullen, director in the Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending practices, presented a webinar entitled, Health Check of Your Fair Lending Program: Connecting Risk Assessment and Performance Analysis for the Western Bankers Association. In this webinar, participants discovered how risk assessment drives the priority of performance analysis and, in turn, how performance analysis should factor in determining control effectiveness and overall residual risk. Effectively connecting these two components enable the institution to successfully navigate the challenging environment of fair lending compliance.

On July 19, 2019 fair lending expert, Karen Cullen spoke at NICA’s July meeting. Her presentation, Health Check: Fair Lending, addressed how to understand your fair lending risk and right size your compliance.

On July 10th, 2019 Jim Treacy presented a webinar entitled, Overdraft Programs, Compliance Best Practices. Jim is a CPA and a Certified BSA Officer with over 20 years of operational, financial and compliance experience in the financial services industry.

On July 26, 2019 Karen Cullen, director in the Regulatory Compliance and Fair & Responsible Lending practices, spoke about what’s next in fair lending. Her presentation covered AI and the fair lending risk associated with using models; even when one thinks there is no discretion in decision.

Tracey Levandoski presented What You Need to Know as a Mortgage Lender at the Iowa Mortgage Association Boot Camp held May 16-17, 2019.

On Monday May 6th, 2019, Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, participated on a panel at the MBA’s Legal Issues and Regulatory Compliance Conference. This panel was part of the Applied Compliance Track and specifically addresses UDAAP Compliance. The other panelists included Anthony (Tony) Alexis, partner at Goodwin; Michelle Rogers, partner at Buckley LLP; and Stephanie Robinson, partner at Mayer Brown LLP. There was also be a roundtable Q&A session which explored this topic in more detail.

In Orlando, FL on April 5, 2019 Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, presented “Banking Ethics, Governance & Risk Mitigation Best Practices”.

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

On March 11th, 2019 Jim Treacy, director, and Heidi Wier, managing director, taught Regulation Z, TRID and Ability to Repay. On March 15th Heidi Wier taught HMDA.

On Wednesday, February 27th, 2019 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.

On February 19th, 2019 Heidi Wier, managing director, taught the following topics: Regulation Z, Fair Lending, HMDA, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, SAFE Act and Flood, among other topics.

On Thursday, February 7th, 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 at CrossCheck Compliance and Heidi Wier and Managing Director at CrossCheck Compliance, moderated by Nathan Britsch, Executive VP, Compliance at Neighborhood Loans.

On Thursday, January 24th, 2019 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.

On December 7th, 2018 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.

On December 4th, 2018 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.

On December 4th, 2018 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.

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.

On November 29th, 2018, 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.

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.

On December 11th, 2018 Heidi Wier presented a webinar for the Western Bankers Association on HMDA Data Integrity – Leveraging Technology to Ensure Your HMDA Data Is Accurate. Participants learned 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

On August 21st Heidi Wier presented a webinar on the methods lenders can use to ensure that their HMDA data is accurate. This webinar was beneficial for anyone with responsibility for HMDA data integrity or analyzing the information to help manage fair lending risk, including senior management, compliance officers, attorneys and auditors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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’s 102nd Annual Convention. During this session, the panel addressed the potential for the increase of fraud with the growth of electronic document processes.

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.

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”.

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.

Monika McCarthy, managing director and general counsel, moderated the General Counsel Roundtable at this conference which was held on December 4-5, 2017 in Irvine, California.

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

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.

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.

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. in a session titled “Compliance Essentials/CMCP: Common Help Desk and Operational Questions for Compliance Officers.” This interactive session provided participants an opportunity to solve compliance problems and identify the tools and methods for solutions.

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.

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.