In this week’s Mortgage Minutes series, Tripp Johnson, a licensed mortgage originator with Academy Mortgage, shares an important change announced in a recent industry conference that home buyers need to know.

The main discussion point during the conference was the new Integrated Mortgage Disclosures. This will go into effect this August and will affect not only the home buyers, but also the builders and real estate agents and their closings. The Integrated Mortgage Disclosure takes the current HUD-1 Disclosure, otherwise known as the Settlement Statement, and the Truth-in-Lending Statement, otherwise known as TILA, and combines them together. This makes the system more user-friendly for consumers; however, there is a time frame. This disclosure must be provided within 72 hours prior to the closing.

What does this mean for the buyer? It is going to be important for buyers to start doing research before choosing a lender and asking questions. Some good questions to ask include:

• “Where do they process my information?”
• “Where does the underwriting process take place?”
• “Do they make their own decisions?”

If you do not research a lender, you risk missing your closing date if the lender does not provide ample time for the documents to be reviewed.

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