A February survey conducted by Callahan& Associates revealed more than 96% of credit unionexecutives experienced mortgage closing delays over the past sixmonths. Respondents reported the average number of days to closewas 42, up from the ideal average closing goal of 31 days.

The survey evaluated the impact of TRID onmore than 200 credit unions from 46 states. A small portion ofexecutives reported no delay in closing at 3.9%, while more thanhalf reported an additional five or more days were added to theirmortgage closing times.

The four main reasons for the closing delays included new lenderworkflows between the title company and members, as well as arefinement of procedural processes for 51.5% of respondents. Morethan 26% reported compliance as the primary reason for delays.

Further, 16.2% said closing delays were due to their mortgageloan origination and core processing systems not being fullyequipped to handle necessary updates, and 6.1% said the delaysresulted from members being unable to provide necessarydocumentation and other information in a timely manner.

Nearly 80% said they were able to deliver disclosures quicklywithout any issues, while slightly more than 20% said they deliverclosure disclosures three days before the mortgage closing. Thesurvey said the delivery delay could be the result of severalvariables, including settlement collaboration, system and memberdelays, as well as extra precautions being taken to avoid TRIDviolations.

Portfolios and the secondary market played significant roles inthe origination process for most respondents. The vast majority –83.3% – of respondents said they originate loans to hold in theirportfolio. But more than half – 66.9% – also actively originate forsale to government-sponsored enterprises. A minority ofrespondents – 11.3% – said they solely originated for sales toGSEs.