Yesterday, we sent a law letter announcing Governor Abbott’s suspension of the in-person requirement for traditional notarizations.  We have received a number of inquiries as to whether this order suspends the requirement that home improvement loans or home equity loans…

On April 27, 2020, Governor Abbott temporarily suspended the requirement that a notary be physically present for a notarization under Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code §121.006(c)(1).  Traditional in-person notarizations and online notarizations are still available.  This action by Governor Abbott…

The Texas Joint Financial Regulatory Agencies published guidance this morning on home equity lending during the Coronavirus pandemic.  A link to the publication can be found here. Here is a summary of the guidance: One year seasoning requirement – An…

Regulators have signaled that financial institutions should transition away from using the London Interbank Offering Rate (“LIBOR”) lending benchmark as it will be phased out by the end of 2021. If your office offers adjustable rate mortgages and uses the…

The 2019 Texas Legislative Session was relatively quiet for Residential Mortgage Lending, in stark contrast to the 2017 Legislative Session where Texas lenders saw substantial changes to Home Equity Lending, Powers of Attorney, Remote Notarization and other significant legislation. We…

In March, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a revised Form 4506-T, “Request for Transcript of Tax Return”. The new format protects tax payer data by partially masking personally identifiable information. Effective immediately, this revised Form must be used to…

The country will observe a National Day of Mourning on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, honoring the life of 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush. Question:  How will the National Day of Mourning impact the counting of “business days”…

The Texas Finance Commission has updated Chapter 153 of the Texas Administrative Code to reflect the changes to the Texas Home Equity Lending Laws that took effect in January of 2018.  The updated interpretations become effective March 29, 2018.  The…

The Texas Department of Insurance recently issued an order regarding a change to the Title Guaranty Fee.  Beginning January 1, 2018, the name of fee will be the Guaranty Assessment Recoupment Charge (GARC).  The fee will increase from $3.00 per policy to…

We wanted to alert you to an issue relating to Home Equity loans scheduled to be closed after January 1, 2018.  As you know, there will be a new 12-day Home Equity Disclosure beginning January 1, 2018.  The new disclosure…