Mortgage Banking

The American mortgage banking industry is one of the pillars of our nation’s economy and a model for international housing finance.  Buckley Kolar is a leading provider of legal services to the mortgage banking industry, with clients including mortgage lenders, mortgage brokers, mortgage insurers, broker-dealers, consumer finance companies, home builders, document preparation firms, and mortgage industry trade associations.  Our attorneys are recognized experts on a panoply of laws affecting this industry, including the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (“RESPA”), the Truth in Lending Act (“TILA”), Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (“HOEPA”), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”), Fair Housing Act (“FHA”), Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”), Homeowners Protection Act (“HPA”), Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and Fair Debt Collections Practices Act (“FDCPA”).

Some examples of our recent work include the following:

• Providing regulatory counseling on “predatory lending,” “predatory servicing,” anti-money laundering and OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control) compliance, pre-emption issues, privacy and security issues, and the electronic delivery of commercial and residential loans

• Evaluating loan practices and portfolios for disparate pricing and treatment of protected classes of borrowers to assess fair lending compliance

• Opining on issues related to the origination, servicing and sale of mortgage loans including disclosures, federal loan requirements (specifically Veteran's Affairs and Federal Housing Administration requirements), origination and servicing fees and allowable loan terms

• Assisting in drafting mortgage lending-related legislation

• Drafting multi-state and state-specific mortgage loan documents and disclosure forms in English and in Spanish

• Securing federal and state approvals and licenses, including approvals for corporate structure, change of control, change of management, and change of location

• Drafting comment letters on proposed regulations

• Helping clients implement policies to comply with recently enacted federal and state laws

• Participating in an advisory capacity in proceedings of the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulations

• Writing weekly newsletters, monthly magazine, and treatises on mortgage banking and mortgage brokering which are widely distributed and cited in the industry.