CONCLUSIÓN: ENTRE LA OPORTUNIDAD PERDIDA Y LA VITALIDAD DE UN

1. Submission of Complaints. Complaints concerning the conduct of TAMB members shall be

submitted in writing on the Complaint Form provided by TAMB and published on its website and available through TAMB’s fax on demand. Complaints submitted anonymously will not be entertained. The Complaint should be submitted to the TAMB office at 502 E. 11th St., Suite 400, Austin, TX 78701. The TAMB office shall make an appropriate record of receiving the complaint and forward the complaint and accompanying materials to the Chairman of the Ethics, Grievance & Arbitration Committee.

2. Handling by the Ethics, Grievance & Arbitration Committee. The Chairman of the

Committee shall review all complaint materials and make the following preliminary determinations:

• The subject of the complaint is a member of TAMB.

• The conduct complained of warrant TAMB’s interest in pursuing a resolution of

complaint or some other action.

• The subject of the complaint is a licensed broker or loan office under the Texas Mortgage Broker Act.

• The conduct complained of, if proven, warrants action by the Savings & Loan Commissioner’s office under the Texas Mortgage Broker Act.

Should the Chairman make a positive determination as to (c), then a copy of the complaint shall be forwarded to the TAMB General Counsel, who shall make the final determination concerning referral to the Commissioner’s office. In each case the complainant shall be advised of his/her option to submit the complaint directly to the Commissioner’s Office. NOTE: It is current Policy of the Commissioner’s Office to forward the written complain in its original form to the party complained of and the author of the complaint is thus revealed.

A copy of any complaint filed against a licensed loan officer shall be forwarded to the sponsoring licensed broker.

Should the Chairman determine that the conduct complained of does not warrant TAMB’s interest, and then the complainant shall be so advised that the conduct or dispute is not one that TAMB normally entertains. In this regard TAMB will not likely entertain jurisdiction of contract disputes between brokers and loan officers or broker companies and their net branches except in unusual cases. The complainant, will, however, be advised of their right to the full Board make such a determination. Upon consideration, the Board may pursue investigation of any such complaint by whatever means it considers appropriate. Should the Chairman determine that the party complained of is exempt under the Texas Mortgage Brokers Act, then the Chairman will forward the complaint, or advise the complainant to forward the complaint to the state or federal agency that may have jurisdiction of same including, but not limited to, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the State Attorney General’s office, the Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner, etc. The Chairman shall confer with TAMB’s general counsel concerning all such referrals.

Code of Ethics

3. Complaint Determination. The Committee shall make no finding with respect to a complaint,

or recommend disciplinary action to the Board, without first giving the person, or persons, complained of an opportunity to respond to the allegations. The Chairman may enlist the support of committee members, board members or local chapter presidents in gathering information on pending complaints. After the parties complained of have had a reasonable opportunity to respond to the complainant’s allegations, the Chairman shall make finding as to the truth of the allegations, submit a report of the findings to the Board with or without a recommendation for Board action. The Board in its discretion, shall, accept the findings, request additional information, or conduct its own hearing, giving the parties reasonable notice and opportunity to be heard. Should the Board accept the findings of the Chairman, the Board shall, in accordance with law and the Bylaws of the Association take such disciplinary action as it deems appropriate. Action shall be taken by majority vote of the Board.

Special Financing

CHAPTER 7 - SPECIAL FINANCING

TEXAS HOME EQUITY LOANS

Homesteads in Texas have been protected from forced sale since 1839. That’s just three years after the fall of the Alamo and this was still the Republic of Texas! House Joint Resolution 31 (HJR 31), the legislation enabling home equity loans in Texas, was passed by the 75th _{Legislature and was adopted by} Texas voters on November 4, 1997 – its provisions becoming law on January 1, 1998. Home equity lending is somewhat of a new concept in Texas. The long struggle to bring about the enabling legislation was won in part by concessions made to protect homeowners. But before we discuss these important features unique to home equity loans in Texas, it is important to clarify two separate issues concerning Texas homestead. Many people confuse the homestead protection against forced sale and the homestead

exemption, or reduction, in property taxes offered by some local taxing authorities. Though both issues deal with Texas homesteads, they are two separate concepts and should not be confused with each other. So, let’s see what makes Texas Home equity loans unique.

When borrowing against the equity in your Texas homestead, the total debt secured by that homestead

cannot exceed 80% of the value at the time the equity loan is closed. Certain fees enumerated by state law cannot exceed 3% of the vale.

There is no personal recourse on Texas home equity loans, i.e. the lender cannot pursue a deficiency judgment in the event of a foreclosure of a homestead.

The transaction must be voluntaryand requires the written consent of each property owner and each property owner’s spouse.

Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs), previously not permitted, were approved by Texas voters in a constitutional amendment election in September, 2003.

No additional collateral can be required – including the requirement for a co-signer. There can be no prepayment penalty charged on a Texas home equity loan.

Home equity loans are limited to a maximum of one at a time and one year must pass before the same property can be used for another home equity loan.

Once a home equity loan is closed on a Texas homestead, any subsequent refinance of that loan will also be considered a home equity loan.

There can be no balloon payments or negative amortization on a Texas home equity loan.

There can be no cross default, meaning that the lender cannot demand repayment of a Texas home equity loan because the borrower has defaulted on another loan or obligation unrelated to the homestead.

Special Financing

Texas home equity loans require a 12 day cooling off period between the date of application and the date of closing. Note that federal law requires a separate 3 day right of rescission between the date of closing and the date the loan is funded.

The lender must provide the borrower a written home equity disclosure at 12 days before the loan is closed.