May 2, 2018


In This Issue:

  • CFPB fixes TRID “black hole,” amends Know Before You Owe
  • Mulvaney’s CFPB Considers Moving Staff to the Basement, or Dallas
  • Analysis: In Texas Elections, There's Power in Small Numbers
  • Midland Takes Top Spot as Hottest Housing Market
  • Fitch: Does Blockchain Represent a Paradigm Shift for Insurance?

CFPB fixes TRID “black hole,” amends Know Before You Owe

Housingwire | April 26, 2018
The CFPB announced it finalized an amendment to its Know Before You Owe rule, also called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule, that addresses when mortgage lenders with a valid justification can pass on increased closing costs to consumers and disclose them on a Closing Disclosure.

After the rule went into effect on Oct. 3, 2015, there were initial hiccups and headaches centered on how long loans would take to close, potentially causing a lot of problems for consumers who are strapped for time. Now, however, a lot of these have passed.
 
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Mulvaney’s CFPB Considers Moving Staff to the Basement, or Dallas

Bloomberg | May 1, 2018
Mick Mulvaney says he’s legally barred from shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a regulator he once called a “sick” joke.

But the agency’s acting director could move dozens of employees to the basement of its Washington headquarters. And he might try to relocate other staff members to Dallas.

Such options are being proposed by his top aides as Mulvaney seeks to cut spending at the Republican-loathed watchdog by tens of millions of dollars, according to an internal cost-savings analysis that was obtained by Bloomberg News. Another budget-trimming idea: making employees share desks.

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Analysis: In Texas Elections, There's Power in Small Numbers

Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune | April 27, 2018
In the last presidential election — normally the high-water mark for turnout in any state — 9.0 million Texans voted, out of the 15.1 million who were registered to vote at that time. That’s just a touch under 60 percent.
 
You already know that voter turnout in Texas is, according to a recent report, worse than almost any place else. “Almost” means Hawaii. And if turnout is bad in big and noisy elections for president, imagine the numbers just ahead in the 34 party primary election runoffs on May 22 — or worse, in the just-called June 30 special election to replace Corpus Christi Republican Blake Farenthold in Congress.
 
The statewide average for 2016 masks wide variations between places with decent turnout and places where turnout is truly awful.
 
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Be sure to vote in the upcoming primary runoff election:
Early Voting: May 14-18
Runoff Election: May 22

Information from Texas Secretary of State re: Early Voting

Midland Takes Top Spot as Hottest Housing Market

Realtor Mag | April 27, 2018
California does not dominate realtor.com®’s hottest housing markets list for this month—the first time in years. Each month, realtor.com® ranks the top metro areas where homes sell the fastest and where home buyers are searching the most for listings at its site.
 
California has continually dominated the rankings. In March, the Golden State had 11 of the top 20 markets. But in April, that number shrank to just six. It’s the lowest number of California cities to make the rankings since 2013, the year realtor.com® began doing its monthly “hot market” tracking lists. 
 
This month, San Francisco dropped from its number-one spot to number three, as Midland, Texas, jumped from number five to the top spot in the rankings.
 
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Fitch: Does Blockchain Represent a Paradigm Shift for Insurance?

ALTA | April 26, 2018
In a report titled “Blockchain and Insurance - The Trust Machine,” Fitch Ratings views blockchain as a potential game-changing technology for the insurance industry over the long term.

Fitch concludes that blockchain offers several benefits, but says that it does not see it affecting insurer ratings over the short to intermediate term because the technology remains unproven, and greater clarity around its advantages and risks will be revealed over the next three to five years.

Blockchain, also known as distributed ledger technology, is used in a decentralized fashion to digitally record and verify a wide range and volume of information relating to commercial transactions. Blockchain's transparency, security and information storage capacity have recently attracted other industries to explore opportunities to leverage this technology.
 
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