June is National Homeownership Month. This presidential decree is meant to commemorate how homeownership enhances our lives, contributes to thriving communities, and builds personal wealth. As these sentiments are also part of Sente’s purpose, I fully support the spirit of this month. It is also a good opportunity to educate my clients and business partners on a BIG change coming soon to the home-buying process.

This fall, the way the entire mortgage industry does business will change in the form of a new requirement – the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule (also known as the “Know before you Owe” mortgage disclosure rule). This mandate requires consolidation of the forms homebuyers receive when applying for and closing on their mortgage. The new forms make it easier to locate key information such as interest rate, monthly payments, and costs to close the loan. They also make it easier for consumers to compare mortgages.

All loan apps received after the implementation date will need to use these new forms and follow new timing rules. Here are a few things to know:

• The Loan Estimate (LE) document replaces the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and the initial Truth-in-Lending (TIL) disclosure.
• The Closing Disclosure (CD) document replaces the HUD-1 and final Truth-in-Lending disclosure.
• Buyers will now have three days to review their final documents before closing.

For experienced homebuyers and our industry colleagues, this change will take some getting used to. Know that all of us at Sente have been planning for a smooth transition. As soon as the final implementation date is announced, we’ll post it here.