Law Letters

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" for rescission and...

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 full text and...

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 $4.50 per...

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 can be found here.  This new notice reflects...

The Texas voters approved the Texas Constitutional amendment affecting home equity loans, which will impact all credit unions making home equity loans in Texas.  These changes will become effective January 1, 2018. The full text of the changes can be found here. A...

The CFPB published their Summer 2017 Supervisory Highlights in September, which included a list of common TRID mistakes made by lenders.  The full publication can be found here.   The CFPB examiners found the following common TRID mistakes: Fees increased between Loan...

Special Note Regarding Hurricane Harvey: Many of our Credit Union clients have witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and are now helping their members restore some semblance of normalcy.   It is a daunting task but Credit Unions have historically been the...

A joint resolution has passed both houses of the Texas Legislature to amend Texas’ Home Equity law. Because Texas’ Home Equity law is contained in the Texas Constitution, any proposed changes must be implemented through Constitutional amendments approved by Texas’...

A well-prepared Power of Attorney can be a convenient way to close a mortgage loan when a borrower/buyer cannot attend the closing.  It can also create additional risks for the Lender, so it is vitally important that Lenders carefully examine each proposed Power of...