12 U.S.C. § 2601 : US Code - Section 2601: Congressional findings and purpose

Search 12 U.S.C. § 2601 : US Code - Section 2601: Congressional findings and purpose

(a) The Congress finds that significant reforms in the real
estate settlement process are needed to insure that consumers
throughout the Nation are provided with greater and more timely
information on the nature and costs of the settlement process and
are protected from unnecessarily high settlement charges caused by
certain abusive practices that have developed in some areas of the
country. The Congress also finds that it has been over two years
since the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the
Administrator of Veterans' Affairs submitted their joint report to
the Congress on "Mortgage Settlement Costs" and that the time has
come for the recommendations for Federal legislative action made in
that report to be implemented.
(b) It is the purpose of this chapter to effect certain changes
in the settlement process for residential real estate that will
result -
(1) in more effective advance disclosure to home buyers and
sellers of settlement costs;
(2) in the elimination of kickbacks or referral fees that tend
to increase unnecessarily the costs of certain settlement
services;
(3) in a reduction in the amounts home buyers are required to
place in escrow accounts established to insure the payment of
real estate taxes and insurance; and
(4) in significant reform and modernization of local
recordkeeping of land title information.