The one-year anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) is swiftly approaching, and government officials, lawyers and media outlets are all anxiously tracking the progress of regulations being formulated to implement the required changes.

So far, 28 deadlines for the drafting of new regulations have been missed. Of the 385 new rules to be written, only 24 have been completed.

It has become undeniable that many on Wall Street (and in Congress) are using highly-paid, aggressive lobbyists to resist the changes demanded by Dodd-Frank. As a result of the delays, most of the new safeguards may not become effective until after the next election — giving newly-elected officials (supported by lenders) an opportunity to stop them altogether.

Regulators overseeing the transition process of the overhaul are struggling to discern whether the requests to slow the process down are genuinely in the interest of the consumer or just excuses for delay conjured up by those with only an interest in their own pocketbooks.

first tuesday take: Dodd-Frank is going to take longer to implement than expected. We anticipated lenders (and choice members of Congress) would do whatever they could to slow or kill the process. For them, lending is all about how much money can be taken from the consumer. Lenders are part of the rentier society that makes money simply by having money, versus the American homeowners who must contribute their skills to society and “rent” the money they need from the rentiers.

Among the many changes, (Dodd-Frank) strictly defines a qualified residential mortgage (QRM) as a Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)-controlled loan (for personal purposes, not business-related) which is not a Section 32, high-cost RESPA loan typical of equity loans and private money non-business loans. Tighter parameters will be placed on a borrower’s ability to obtain a mortgage not in the QRM category. [For more information regarding the Dodd-Frank changes, see the October 2010 first tuesday Legislative Watch, TILA circa 2010; consumer protection enhancement; for more information about the QRM, see the May 2011 first tuesday article, How much medicine can the sick housing market stomach?]

These tighter lending standards and increased consumer protection measures mean less business for lenders who made a killing during the Millennium Boom originating subprime loans and adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs).

Furthermore, the legislation prevents mortgage loan brokers (MLBs) from being compensated through yield spread premiums, or undisclosed kickbacks in an effort to remove MLB incentives for originating mortgages homebuyers can’t afford to repay. This is a good thing, which many MLBs remaining in the business acknowledge. Those who participated in the carnage have mostly lost their licenses or let them expire. [For more information regarding kickbacks, see the October 2010 first tuesday article, How to make money as an endorsed, registered, law-abiding RESPA mortgage loan broker.]

It is crucial for regulators to remember the purpose of these changes is to protect the mortgage borrowers. Further delay of the changes leaves homeowners and homebuyers vulnerable to the game played and (thus far) always won by lenders.

Re: “Financial overhaul is mired in detail and dissent” from the NY Times