What is RESPA?
Reviewed by Raman Yakkala · Updated 2026-09-11
RESPA is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. It governs how settlement costs are disclosed to borrowers, restricts referral arrangements between settlement service providers, and sets obligations for mortgage servicers.
What RESPA covers
Three areas matter most in origination. Settlement cost disclosure, so a borrower can see what they are paying for and to whom. Referral and kickback restrictions, which prohibit paying for the referral of settlement service business. Servicing disclosure, covering how a loan will be serviced and what happens if servicing transfers.
RESPA and TRID
RESPA disclosure requirements were folded into the TRID framework for most closed-end mortgage loans. RESPA still stands on its own for referral restrictions and servicing obligations, which TRID does not replace.
Why it matters in a loan file
RESPA exposure usually comes from process rather than intent. A disclosure that went out late, an arrangement that was never documented, or a servicing notice that nobody can prove was delivered.
How CliQloan handles it
Disclosure Hub records every disclosure creation, update and acknowledgement to an immutable log, so delivery can be evidenced rather than asserted.
Where this shows up in the loan file
RESPA governs settlement service disclosures and the rules around referrals and fee splitting. In a live file that means the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure content, the affiliated business arrangement disclosure where one applies, and the servicing transfer notice. It also constrains what can be exchanged for a referral, which is a relationship question rather than a document question.
What goes wrong when this is tracked manually
Document timing is the visible half. The invisible half is evidence. When a file is examined, the question is not whether the disclosure existed but whether it can be shown to have been delivered, to whom, and when. Email threads and shared drives are poor evidence. A file that was compliant in practice can still fail an audit because nothing recorded it.