If you have a hard time making sense of everything included in your monthly mortgage statement, you now have a chance to help get that changed. Earlier this week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that they are seeking public input on a draft monthly mortgage statement designed to make it easier for homeowners to understand their loans and help avoid any extra costs or fees.
According to CFPB Director, Richard Corday:
“This draft statement shows consumers the breakdown of their mortgage payments – what money goes to the loan principal, interest, and fees…This information will help consumers stay on top of their mortgage costs and hold their mortgage servicers accountable for fixing errors that crop up. Given the widespread mortgage servicing problems we’ve seen over the past few years, consumers need clear disclosures they can count on.”
The draft, pictured below, is also available via CFPB’s website.
Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, most borrowers must receive periodic statements with specific information about their account, most typically typically from their mortgage servicers. According to CFPB. statements must include information regarding:
- the principal loan amount
- the current interest rate
- the date on which the interest rate may next reset
- a description of any late payment and penalty fees
- information about housing counselors
- a telephone number and email address that may be used to contact the mortgage servicer
Currently the CFPB is testing out a prototype monthly statement with consumers to make it as user-friendly and useful as possible. In a press release posted on their website, the CFPB explained:
“In order to broaden the input it receives as it develops a standard statement, the CFPB is also posting the prototype online to solicit general feedback from consumers, industry stakeholders, and other interested parties. The public will have further opportunity to provide comment on a version of the draft standard form when CFPB proposes a rule on it later this year. The development and publication of a consumer tested and publicly-vetted monthly statement will benefit consumers and facilitate compliance by mortgage servicers and creditors.”
The prototype is scheduled to become available for public comment sometime this summer.
For more information about the draft statement and how to comment, visit: http://www.consumerfinance.gov/a-model-form-for-mortgage-statements/
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