Polley Courses: ‘What Lurks Beneath; and Standard Forms Update’

What Lurks Beneath

The federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) was signed into law more than 40 years ago. Its primary goal: to ensure home buyers received professional, ethically delivered services in obtaining a mortgage, and then to ensure they successfully closed on the purchase of their portion of the American Dream.

RESPA has been revised many times during that period, to address both changing economic circumstances and to plug legal loopholes that could have been exploited by unethical parties. It can be safely said, however, that the latest revisions to RESPA and the mortgage sourcing and settlement process – called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure, or TRID, and scheduled by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to take effect during October 2015 – are the broadest and deepest changes ever to this legislation.

Pennsylvania real estate sales and broker licensees MUST alter or abandon many of their past settlement practices as they deal with home buyer clients. The bureau program includes new Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure documents. It demands strict adherence to deadlines and time requirements in the delivery of information to buyers and lenders. It creates new penalties for, and promises aggressive enforcement against, licensees who fail to fully represent or protect buyers as the process proceeds.

Our presentation advises licensees on what experts say they should consider as best practices to ensure compliance with RESPA and the bureau’s program. It offers guidance on avoiding traps and pitfalls that represent potential RESPA violations. It provides a checklist of actions meant to ensure the home buyer client’s settlement experience is easily understood, and moves as pleasantly and quickly as possible.

Standard Forms Update

The Agreement of Sale forms revised by the Pennsylvania Association of REALTORS (PAR) are just the tip of the forms iceberg.

Go beyond the standard agreement. You’ll find not only a host of forms covering every conceivable contractual need in the profession, but recent changes to frequently used forms as well. Moreover, there are common mistakes in using some forms that have occurred with almost every agent during his or her relationship with a client.

Participants will learn tips, tricks and shortcuts in form usage; how and why to choose one form over another; and how using the right form can likely save an agent’s commission, yield a happier client, and generate repeat business.

Course State Approval: Continuing education for Pennsylvania real estate broker and salesperson license renewal.

This is a one-day, 7-hour, live classroom course consisting of two state-approved topics. No post-course exam is given. It is approved by, and meets 7 hours of continuing education requirements set by, the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission. It can be combined with other courses to fulfill all 14 hours of continuing education required by the Commission for a real estate salesperson’s or broker’s biennial license renewal during the 2014-2016 cycle that ends at midnight on May 31, 2016.

Price: $75

Student Material: This course may be accompanied by in-class materials distributed by Polley Associates.

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