The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released final mortgage rules that restrict loan originator compensation methods and increase the level of service loan servicers must provide to borrowers. However, due to the way credit unions already do business, trade associations say neither rule will have a major impact on the industry.

NAFCU President/CEO Fred Becker even questioned the need to include credit unions at all in the new rules. In a statement, Becker said that while he appreciated the CFPB's servicing rule exemption for those servicing fewer than 5,000 transactions, he was nonetheless concerned about the regulatory costs of the rule “given that credit unions have been and continue to operate using solid, traditional lending practices and are second to none in servicing their members' mortgages.”

Under the servicing rules, borrowers must receive information regarding options available to avoid foreclosure. The practice of dual tracking, in which a servicer proceeds with foreclosure while simultaneously working with the borrower to avoid it, will also be prohibited. The rule also mandates new disclosure and statement information.