RESPA reform is almost upon us. As you are no doubt aware, HUD has overhauled Regulation X, which implements the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, to radically revise the format of and the procedures connected with the residential mortgage lending industry's most prominent disclosures: the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and HUD Settlement Statement (HUD-1). These changes to Regulation X are the most significant in more than a decade and, more importantly, will dramatically impact the way in which mortgage lenders and brokers do business, including the fees they are permitted to charge and when they can charge them. With the January 1, 2010 mandatory compliance date fast approaching, lenders and brokers need to prepare now if they want 2010 to be a Happy New Year!

Please join the Reed Smith Financial Industry Group for a teleseminar on Tuesday, September 29 at Noon (EDT), featuring partners Arthur B. Axelson, Leonard A. Bernstein and Robert M. Jaworski. They will focus solely on the new GFE and HUD-1, and discuss:

• How the new GFE and HUD-1/1A disclosure forms differ from the ones you've been using all these years
• How consumers are expected to "shop" for mortgage loans under the new RESPA rule
• What are the new fee tolerances and how will they affect operations
• Which fees can be itemized and which ones must be aggregated
• When must GFEs be issued and under what "changed circumstances" may they be revised
• What is "average cost pricing"

You are invited to participate via teleconference.  Please contact Ashley Scott to register for the teleseminar.