Why consumer protection regulation is necessary — but often useless 

The TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule was conceived as part of the CFPB’s noble goal of giving consumers information about their total loan costs before they signed documents that bound them in a 30-year contract. But for all the good intentions behind this rule, it’s just not practical. Like me, most homeowners are shopping lenders before they even know their property address, so what they are comparing are pre-qualifications or pre-approvals, not loan estimates.