Cypress Software Systems today announced that it will offer consulting services, as well as enhanced versions of its Mark IV automated loan software and Mark IV Mortgage Module, to help financial institutions quickly achieve compliance ahead of the Oct. 1 Regulation Z - Truth In Lending Act deadline.
The regulation focuses on the new Average Prime Offer Rate (APOR), which will replace the Federal Reserve's Treasury Rate to determine rate spreads for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) reporting and identify new Higher-Price Mortgage Loans (HPML) based on a regulatory-defined threshold for first and subordinate liens.
Once an HPML is identified, new underwriting requirements are needed to ensure the borrower's ability or capacity to repay the loan, including:
(1) Verification of income based on written documentation,
(2) Consideration of mortgage-related obligations in the repayment capacity analysis, and
(3) Forecasting the highest payment within the first seven years of an adjustable rate loan into the repayment capacity analysis.
Updates to Mark IV and the Mark IV Mortgage Module are designed to present these changes in a user-friendly, intuitive interface that helps loan officers easily and automatically manage loans from application entry, through underwriting and decisioning.
"Regulatory compliance will dominate the thoughts of many lenders in the months to come," said Stephen G. Sargent, president and CEO of Cypress Software Systems. "At Cypress, our goal is to offer financial institutions with the consulting services and technology needed to meet regulatory deadlines in a smooth, efficient manner."
Cypress' Mark IV is a software platform that automates the consumer loan application and decisioning process, and helps institutions with risk management issues. With Mark IV, service associates electronically input application information while interviewing customers. The software then quickly retrieves credit reports, efficiently analyzes the capacity for repayment, and deploys the institution's loan policies. The result is a quality loan decision that meets all federal requirements, provides the highest levels of risk management available in the industry and ensures consistency within the loan portfolio.