IDS Gives The Gift of Utah

Have you ever thought about what is unique about your state? Well here at IDS, we've had the opportunity to research Utah based companies and reflect on what is special and unique here that we can share with our clients. IDS is proud to be stationed here with many other talented companies and individual talent.

Some of the many companies we recognize as local to Utah are OGIO, Franklin & Covey, Skullcandy, SkyWest Airlines, and Cafe Rio. And it's not only the companies that make Utah unique, Utah's landscape alone has attracted many visitors; from hiking in the red arches of Moab, to the Salt Flats of the Great Salt Lake, the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Skiing in the Rockies, and the Kennecott Copper Mine, Utah has much to offer for both scenery and new experiences.

With great pride for our beautiful state, we've decided to share a taste of Utah with some of our clients in the form of a gift basket or two.

What we've included in the baskets are all Utah-made products:

Business Bag:

OGIO bag

ESTERO Utah Magazine

Forever Strong movie

Skullcandy headphones

Polygamy Porter Tees

SLC pin

Utah Rocks key chain

IDS pen, water bottle, chap-stick 

Food Products:

Honey Bee Stackers & Hot Damn Dills from the Yee-Haw Pickle Co.

Fry sauce from Arctic Circle

Jam from Cornaby's

Wasatch & Squatters locally brewed 

beer

Utah Salt

Salt Water Taffy from the Trolley Taffy Station (featured on the Food Network and Travel Channel)

Utah Truffles

Apple Beer from Apple Beer

We had so much fun putting together these baskets and exploring Utah gift ideas that we came up with a few others that could be included in a Utah basket:

• David Archuleta's CD, Utah's own American Idol, 2nd place
• Utah band Imagine Dragons's CD 
• Utah honey, we're known as the beehive state
• Ski-related gifts
• Kennecott and Great Salt Lake related gifts

CFPB's New 2013 Mortgage Rule Implementation Page

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has developed a page that consolidates all of the 2013 mortgage rules to assist with the process of implementation. The IDS Compliance Team highly recommends utilizing CFPB's new resource page to prepare for the upcoming implementations in the industry. CFPB stated in relation to their new page:

"Our goal with this page is to provide access to our mortgage-related implementation resources through a single page that makes the rule content more accessible for a broad array of industry constituents, especially smaller businesses with limited legal and compliance staff."

The CFPB will continuously be updating the Regulatory Implementation page when additional resources become available. There is also an option to receive e-mail updates that you can sign up for on that page if you are interested in staying up-to-date. Resources that are included on this page are:

• Mortgage rules at a glance
• Small entity compliance guides
• Videos
• Quick reference charts
• 2013 rural or underserved counties list
• Other helpful materials

This page contains an overview of rules, and while they are great for familiarizing yourself with the rules, they are not a substitute for the underlying rules, says CFPB. 

Implementation Page: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/regulatory-implementation/

IDS's Response to June Regulations

Now that the Final Rule for the Escrow Requirements under the Truth-in-Lending Act (Reg Z) has become effective, have you run into any issues understanding the changes IDS has undergone in order to respond to this new rule? Well Just to clarify the action our company has taken in regards to this rule, I've decided to include an excerpt from IDS's Implementation Plans:

I.    Implementation Plan for the Final Rule for the Escrow Requirements under the Truth-in-Lending Act (Regulation Z)

Implementation: IDS is implementing a setting/variable that identifies creditors that are exempt from this rule. Exempted creditors are those that meet ALL of the following requirements: (1) during the preceding calendar year, the creditor extended more than 50% of its total covered transactions, secured by a first lien, on properties that are located in counties designated either “rural” or “underserved” by the CFPB; (2) during the preceding calendar year, the creditor and its affiliates together originated 500 or fewer covered transactions, secured by a first lien; (3) as of the end of the preceding calendar year, the creditor had total assets of less than two billion dollars (adjusted yearly); and (4) neither the creditor nor its affiliate maintains an escrow account for any extension of consumer credit secured by real property or a dwelling that the creditor or its affiliate currently services, other than (i) escrow accounts established for first-lien higher-priced mortgage loans on or after April 1, 2010, and before June 1, 2013 or (ii) escrow accounts established after consummation as an accommodation to distressed consumers to assist such consumers in avoiding default or foreclosure.

The anticipated escrow audit will pass if all the exemptions are met and if the transaction does NOT have a “forward financing commitment.”

IDS is making sure that (1) its HPML audit fails on Jumbo Loans only if it breaks the new Jumbo threshold (2.5%) and (2) HELOCs and investment properties are exempt from the HPML Test.

IDS is also making sure that the following transactions do not require escrows: (1) a transaction secured by shares in a cooperative; (2) a transaction to finance the initial construction of a dwelling (construction-only escrows are still required on the permanent financing portion of a construction-perm loan); (3) a temporary or “bridge” loan with a term of twelve months or less; (4) a reverse mortgage; and (5) transactions involving investment properties.

Though this implementation plan has already been, well, implemented, maybe this brings some clarity as to how IDS deals with regulation changes. We will have IDS's full implementation plan document available by July 1, 2013 for clients to view in the message section of the start screen after clients have logged in to their IDS accounts. For any questions or concerns regarding these changes contact the IDS Compliance team at 800-554-1872.  

Rising Mortgage Interest Rates

The rise and fall of mortgage interest rates is no surprise to the everyday lender. What may be surprising or interesting are some statistics that USA Today mentions in their article "30-year mortgage rate hits 3.81%, a 1-year high." According to this article:

• The average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages jumped this last week to their highest levels in a year
• Freddie Mac says the average rate for the 30-year loan rose to 3.81%, up from 3.59% the week before
• The 15-year loan rose almost 3% to 2.98%

It was also interesting to see that the industry lows were reached both under a year ago:

• The 3.31% rate in November was the lowest interest rate for the 30-year fixed since 1971
• The record low for the 15-year fixed was reached early May this year at a rate of 2.56%

From these statistics it is easy to see that rates fluctuate constantly, and while they may have risen quite a bit in the past few weeks, they are still no greater than 0.5% above the all-time lows.

Source: USA Today: 30-year mortgage rate hits 3.81%, a 1-year high