ALTA-News Room Archive
HUD to Increase RESPA Compliance
Enforcement Activity
June 24, 2010
Officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development warned it will soon
step up enforcement of the new RESPA rules.
“We are pivoting to increasing enforcement activity and we expect to see a bit more activity
in the future,” Andrew Fay, compliance specialist for the Office of RESPA, said during a
webinar hosted by RamQuest.
Reiterating what HUD has said in the past, Fay offered four tips to title and settlement
agents on how to deal with inaccurate or confusing instructions from lenders.
Fay said title and settlement agents should communicate with the lender in writing,
educating the lender as to the statute and the FAQs from HUD.
Title and settlement agents should document their files with their questions/comments and
the lender’s responses. They should then follow the lender’s written instructions as long as
it is not fraudulent.
When lenders continue to misinterpret the rules, HUD urges title and settlement agents to
contact HUD. The department said it is adamant about protecting the identity of anyone who
reports compliance violations.
To file a complaint with HUD, title and settlement agents may call 1-202-708-0502 or send
complaints/comments to:
Director, Office of RESPA and Interstate Land Sales US Department of Housing and Urban
Development
Room 9154
451 7th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20410
Complaints also may be e-mailed to HUD at hsg-respa@hud.gov. HUD reminds title and
settlement agents to remember, as a general rule of thumb, to not put anything in the e-mail
you don’t want to see on the front page of your local newspaper.
During the Virginia Land Title Association’s Annual Convention, Teresa Payne, associate
deputy assistant secretary of Regulatory Affairs and Manufactured Housing for HUD, said
that enforcement of the new RESPA rule is accomplished by HUD referring significant
problems to the attorney general’s office, and/or to various state regulators. They would in
turn look more closely at lenders, settlement agents, title agents and any other parties to the
transaction that warrant closer inspection. Additionally, according to Payne, letters of
violation may be placed in a lender’s file. Investors in the secondary market generally will
not buy paper from any lender with any such letter or letters of violation, or they require the
originating lender to buy back the note. Specific penalties are not spelled out in Section 4
and 5 of RESPA, but practical remedies are very effective in encouraging compliance,
Payne said.
