Residential Mortgages

Welcome to Lawshelf’s video-course on residential mortgages. This course covers the concepts, documents and regulations that are important to transactions wherein land is used to secure a purchase loan. It discusses disclosures, document execution, closing procedure, consumer protection laws, default and foreclosure. This is an intermediate-level course and it is recommended that the viewer take LawShelf’s course entitled “Real Estate Transactions” before this one.

The course begins with the mortgage application process, including steps buyers should take to prepare themselves for the mortgage application process. We’ll also look at common mortgage features, including those of various types of mortgages, such as fixed-rate, adjustable-rate and balloon-payment mortgages. We’ll also look at second mortgages and home equity loans.

Our next module looks at closings and mortgage execution. We’ll introduce you to the forms common to mortgage closings and their purposes. We will also discuss the importance of recording mortgage deeds and the consequences of failing to do so in a timely manner.

Module 3 discusses consumer protection laws, especially the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. We will look at these and other laws and discuss their impacts on the mortgage process. We will also focus on credit reporting, anti-discrimination and collections laws and their impacts on mortgages.

Module 4 discusses subprime mortgages and the subprime mortgage crisis that (at least in part) led to the Great Recession of 2009. We will look at the causes of this crisis and legislative attempts to prevent its repetition.

Our final module discusses what happens when borrowers default on their mortgages. We will discuss collection efforts short of foreclosure and the foreclosure process, including a discussion of defenses against mortgage foreclosure, some of which are established or aided by federal legislation such as the Truth in Lending Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

After having completed this course, you will have a better understanding of the mortgage process, from the planning and application stage all the way through foreclosure.

Best of luck and we welcome your feedback.