There are several national training services for professional training. These kinds of training firms usually offer mortgage training. Their classes likely include the training required to become licensed. This will cover RESPA. Most states and/or trade organizations require a certain amount of continuing education as well. RESPA training may be customized for mortgage banking, mortgage brokering, processing and underwriting.
RESPA covers a litany of federally required disclosures. Not all disclosures are required for all loans. For example, refinance loans require a three-day right of recision disclosure that does not apply to purchase loans. Adjustable rate mortgages, called ARMS, require specific disclosures, as do any mortgages with prepayment penalties. These rules, while fully intended to protect the consumer, can be a bit overwhelming. However, if a loan is disclosed properly, all the vital information about the loan is provided to the consumer in a timely manner --- even if it's buried in less important minutia. Among the most important disclosures are the good faith estimate, or GFE, and the HUD-1, the actual fees paid.
The GFE is an estimate of all the costs associated with a mortgage. They are referred to as settlement costs, not "fees," because not all of the items listed on a GFE are costs associated with mortgage financing. Some of the costs are associated with the purchase, such as the Realtor's commission, while others are associated with ownership of the house, such as prepaid taxes and insurance. The GFE gathers all the settlement costs in a single, important document. There should not be any fees incurred in the transaction that the consumer doesn't see on the GFE unless he ordered an independent home inspection. The GFE is a promise to make a good-faith effort to list fees as close as possible to the actual costs. At the end of the transaction, the final settlement papers include a HUD-1 with the actual fees. They should be very close. RESPA training doesn't just teach lenders how to comply, it also helps lenders understand how to project GFEs accurately.
You can think of a HUD-1 as a lender's report card. The customer should be able to compare the estimate with the HUD-1 and see they are very close. HUD-1s are formatted differently than GFEs, but contain the same information. Given, a GFE is not an absolute promise. In fact, many of the fees are predicated on the accuracy of information that comes from the buyer. If the two documents don't align closely, there should be a reason. Simply put, the GFE is the estimate and the HUD-1 is the actual bill. Unlike most other transactions, there is a large volume of accompanying paperwork --- much of which can obscure the most critical information. Regardless of whether disclosures serve to clarify or confuse customers, they must be sent out properly within correct timelines. Lenders who fail to comply with RESPA rules can be sanctioned, and buyers are not well served by adding poor disclosure practices to an already complex process.