The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is looking to propose a rule to standardize monthly mortgage statements to make them easier for customers to understand.
[IMAGE]The CFPB recently released an early draft of a statement and is seeking feedback.
""This draft statement shows consumers the breakdown of their mortgage payments â€" what money goes to the loan principal, interest, and fees,"" CFPB director Richard Cordray said in a statement. ""This information will help consumers stay on top of their mortgage costs and hold their mortgage servicers accountable for fixing errors that crop up.""
[COLUMN_BREAK]The draft is available ""online"":http://www.consumerfinance.gov/a-model-form-for-mortgage-statements/, and opinions on the draft can be shared by emailing [email protected].
Under section 1420 of the Dodd-Frank Act, statements must include certain information including:
* Principal loan amount
* Current interest rate
* Date on the interest rate may next reset
* Description of any late payment fees and any prepayment fee
* Information about housing counselors
* Phone number and email address for borrower to obtain information about the mortgage
* Other information the CFPB may prescribe in regulation
""Most servicers have spent years customizing the mortgage statements they send to their customers,"" Ghazale Johnston, senior executive of ""Accenture Credit Services"":http://www.accenture.com/us-en/Pages/service-banking-credit-services.aspx, said in an email. ""Moving to a new set of statement standards may require them to make a significant investment in changing their core systems.""
Once a refined prototype is available, the CFPB said in statement that it will propose a rule to specify what needs to be on statements, but creditors, assignees, and servicers will have some flexibility to tweak the form after final publication of the rule and form.