The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are the agency that is charged with writing and enforcing regulations in the Financial Arena to protect the public. They have developed many helpful tips, borrowing guides, and in my opinion have done a great job in many areas including assessing fines, guiding borrowers, and watching over the field.
One new interactive tool on their website is a “Mortgage Rate Checker”. It is supposed to be a shortcut to researching loans rates in your area. http://www.consumerfinance.gov/owning-a-home/check-rates/
You enter your estimated FICO Credit Score, where you are located, desired loan amount, and loan term. The rate checker then displays the local daily rate quotes collected from banks and credit unions by its data vendor; Informa Research Services, Inc. is headquartered in beautiful downtown Calabasas.
Comments: CFPB’s checker does not display APR. Loan Brokers know that they must display this figure even though most people do not understand it. You have your interest rate, then you calculate the cost of getting the loan and annualize it as a percentage rate and add it to the quoted interest. Almost all borrowers when reading the TILA Disclosure showing APR say, “It is more than you quoted”. Penalties for not disclosing are substantial.
CFPB does not do it and according to Ken Harney of the Washington Post Writers Group, they show no signs of yielding to critics.
