Mortgage
Consent Orders & Mortgage Compliance
Articles by: Richey May, Jul 30, 2020
When a mortgage company struggles with a compliance issue for an extended period of time, they may be issued a consent order by a regulatory agency, such as the CFPB or California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation. Usually, the mortgage company will have received 2 or 3 warnings before a consent order is issued. Mortgage leaders typically rely on their trusted legal counsel or designated law firm to help them understand what steps to take next.
Consent orders can be stressful for mortgage company leaders, as the requirements are published online and may result in reputational damage, especially if the compliance issue is related to customer, vendor or employee data compromise.
Mortgage companies are usually given 30 days to find a qualified auditor.
The requirements of the specific consent order may differ depending on the agency, but typically this auditor must be an independent 3rd party and a licensed CPA firm. We frequently work with law firms to provide the necessary services and ensure the mortgage company leaders understand the deadlines and requirements.
Mortgage compliance issues can be complex and interrelated.
Usually, a company on the receiving end of a consent order has already attempted to solve the issue internally, but their team lacks the correct policies, procedures or tools to consistently execute a solution. Our team of auditors and mortgage industry experts have deep industry experience, enabling us to better understand the interrelated nature of mortgage compliance issues and carry out the audit within the required deadlines.
Consent Orders are often similar across companies.
Regulatory agencies may oversee multiple areas of compliance and may be responsible for enforcing dozens of pieces of legislation. If the agencies notice a trend, they may monitor it more closely across the market. Therefore, the bulk of consent orders are for the same issues prevalent to multiple companies.
Ongoing compliance should also be in focus.
Many mortgage companies outsource their compliance monitoring. This helps take advantage of industry expertise, collective knowledge and related services from a trusted partner. Once the consent order audit is complete, our team can work with the client to improve overall compliance with services like cybersecurity, internal audit, GRCP and more.
Law firms and mortgage leaders dealing with a consent order may contact us with any questions. We’re happy to help you get back on track so you can focus on your business.