As a consequence of the financial crisis, we are undergoing wholesale change in the regulatory environment of real estate finance. The changes are coming hard and fast and continuously, making it difficult to establish and manage new business processes. How do you keep up?
There’s no single answer to this question. We have clients who take it on themselves to keep abreast of regulatory changes because they want full control over their regulatory compliance. Other lenders want to outsource the management of change and turn to third parties to keep them up to date.
Wherever you fall in the spectrum, you will probably welcome any tools that ease the burden of staying current. And such tools are cropping up. For example, Wolters Kluwer has just launched “The Reg Z Center“, a free online resource which provides an overview of the changes affecting loans covered by Regulation Z, the effective dates for changes and suggested solutions for implementing changes.
Being a for-profit entity, the company does promote its compliance solutions on the site. But this is in keeping with the ‘Web 2.0’ business model, whereby useful information is provided for free, interaction among interested parties is encouraged (via a forum, blog, or discussion group), and a long-term relationship is cultivated while simultaneously establishing credibility.
The Reg Z Center joins the company’s other similar resource centers for Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) Act “red flags” and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA).