CSBS Announces Mortgage Supervision Accreditation Program

Posted by RealEstateRama

September 5, 2008

Washington, D.C. - September 5, 2008 - (RealEstateRama) — The Conference of State Bank Supervisors announced today the formal launching of an accreditation program through which state banking departments will be certified as conforming to the highest standards of mortgage supervision and regulation.

In announcing the program, Neil Milner, president and CEO of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, said the new accreditation acknowledges the fact that the states are the front-line regulators of mortgage lenders.

“We believe that this new CSBS designation will demonstrate in the most concrete fashion that state banking departments are worthy of the responsibilities placed on them by recently enacted state and federal legislation, including the provisions noted in Title V of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008,” Milner said.

The goal of the CSBS Mortgage Accreditation program is to encourage state mortgage regulatory agencies to enhance their capability to promote excellence in mortgage regulation with a minimum of regulatory burden and cost, and to assist them in achieving that capability.

Specific goals of the Program include:

To provide guidance and assistance to state mortgage regulators through self-evaluation and self-improvement.
To provide independent evidence of the capability of an accredited state mortgage regulator, in view of the interstate mortgage provider environment.
To assist each agency by providing documentation that may help it to obtain the resources necessary to assure the effectiveness of state mortgage regulation.
To strengthen the mortgage regulation system by demonstrating to Congress, the federal regulatory agencies, other state regulatory agencies and the public, the high level of capability of each accredited state mortgage regulator.

The Mortgage Accreditation program involves a comprehensive review of the critical elements that assure a banking department’s ability to discharge its mortgage supervisory responsibilities.

First, the department undergoes a self-evaluation process based on criteria established by the CSBS Performance Standards Committee (PSC).

Second, the agency submits a request for accreditation review to the PSC, which assembles a Review Team to evaluate and score the same self-evaluation questionnaire followed by a thorough on-site review of the agency’s policies, procedures and work product (e.g., examination reports, enforcement actions, and correspondence).

Third, the findings are then reviewed by an Audit Team to conduct an interview with the head of the agency to discuss the Team’s findings.

Finally, the Review Team and Audit Team submit their findings in written reports to the Performance Standards Committee which makes a final decision on accreditation. If the PSC members vote to accredit the agency, the PSC Chairman officially notifies the agency that it is accredited.

Besides the Mortgage Accreditation Program, the Conference of State Bank Supervisors also sponsors a comprehensive state banking department performance Accreditation Program, which was developed in the early 1980s to recognize and enhance overall excellence in state regulation. To date, 47 states have attained this designation.

Details about the Mortgage Accreditation program may be found on the CSBS Web site.

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The Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) is the nationwide organization for state banking, representing the bank regulators of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and approximately 6,100 state-chartered financial institutions. CSBS also is responsible for improving the quality of state bank supervision by providing department performance evaluation and accreditation programs and supervisory education/training programs for state banking department personnel.

Information Contact:

Georgia High, Vice President, Accreditation and Certification, “>, (202) 329-7188