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MORTGAGE, REGULATIONS
5 CFPB facts agents
must know
This bureau can help simplify and ease the process of
homebuying for clients
b y Nabil Captan
May 28, 2015
Real estate agents often are not sure where to direct their
clients for genuine help when an inaccurate adverse credit
report clouds a real estate transaction.
New homebuyers are frustrated by their limited ability to
challenge inaccuracies on their credit report. A negative entry
could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in
interest cost and, at times, cruel mortgage loan denial.
Now, real estate agents can be assured that an engaging
government entity called the CFPB will offer their clients all
of the help they need to find a speedy resolution to inaccurate
credit reporting — for free.
1. What’s the CFPB?
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is the
product of the Dodd­Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act of 2010. The bureau is the first
government agency that exclusively focuses on protecting
consumers of financial products or services.
The CFPB takes complaints related to credit reporting, debt
collection, mortgages, bank services, private student loans
and much more. Consumers can call the CFPB directly with
their complaints and can also contact the bureau with
questions about any financial concept, product and service.
2. The bureau gathers and investigates a complaint and gets
swift response — for real.
It’s like telling your mom on you. No creditor wants to hear
from the CFPB or wants to be negatively added to the
bureau’s public consumer complaint database that’s been
collected since 2011.
The CFPB received approximately 176,700 consumer
complaints from July 2011 through June 2013. The bureau
screened complaints and forwarded them to the appropriate
company via a secure Web portal. The companies answered
96 percent of the complaints sent to them. It’s magical.
Consumers who have submitted complaints to the bureau can
log onto the CFPB’s website or call a toll­free number to
receive status updates, provide additional information, and
review responses provided to the consumer by the company
involved.
3. The bureau’s new forms will affect future closings.
The CFPB is more than a complaint center. The bureau helps
homebuyers understand many complex financial products
and services in a simple and clear manner.
For example, the Know Before You Owe program brought
new mandatory forms created by the bureau with the hope of
adding clarity to the mortgage process for consumers. Find
those forms here.
The new forms will take effect Aug. 1, 2015. Lenders will be
using new loan estimate and closing disclosure forms to
replace current forms including the Good Faith Estimate
(GFE), a form required today under the Real Estate
Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and the initial
disclosure required under the Truth­in­Lending Act (TILA).
4. The CFPB helps you grow your business — for free.
Many millennials have jobs now. However, they have the
burden of student loans, which is keeping them from
homeownership.
The bureau has developed impeccable resources and useful
tools to answer specific questions and in­depth information
on how to consolidate federal student loans and extend
repayments, as well as how the income­based repayment plan
caps monthly federal student loan payments at 10 percent of
discretionary income and much more.
5. The Bureau Consumer Response contact information:
Online: consumerfinance.gov/complaint
Telephone: Toll­free number: (855) 411­CFPB (2372)
Español: (855) 411­CFPB (2372)
TTY/TDD: (855) 729­CFPB (2372)
Fax number: (855) 237­2392
Hours of operation: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. EST
Mail: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
P.O. Box 4503 Iowa City, Iowa 52244
This is valuable information about the CFPB that could help
unmuddy the waters as your clients try to navigate financing
and buying a home.
Nabil Captan is the founder and CEO of Captan and
Company. You can follow him on Twitter @nabilcaptan1 or
on LinkedIn.
Email Nabil Captan.