Though the delay no doubt gave the industry a collective moment to catch its breath, the relief is short-lived: the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rules are still coming. But all the anxious anticipation may come to nothing; industry insiders say they think the transition will be easier than expected.

Now scheduled to take effect on Oct. 3, all loans made after that date will have to be TRID-compliant.

Eric Asman is a loan officer with Fairway Independent Mortgages in Marlborough. His company has produced materials to help coach real estate agents through the changes to minimize problems.

“The changes are going to affect Realtors because they’re going to have to coach homebuyers,” Asman said. “They can’t go changing things at the eleventh hour and expect to close on time. All this is to make things better for the consumer, which is what we should all be shooting for.”

Asman said he thinks the changes are all for the better and he doesn’t expect any long-term difficulties with implementing the new rules.

“The changes that came from the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010 were much bigger,” Asman said. “It was difficult, but we got through it. This will be smoother.”

The new rules are intended to simplify the loan process and protect homebuyers, giving homebuyers more information, sooner, to try to avoid overwhelming them at the closing table.

Once the new rules take effect, the initial disclosure forms – currently the good faith estimate and Truth-In-Lending statement – will be combined into a new document called a loan estimate (LE). The LE must be delivered to the homebuyer or placed in the mail within three business days of application.

In addition, the forms currently known as the final Truth-In-Lending statement and the HUD-1 settlement statement will be referred to as the closing disclosure (CD). The CD must be provided to the buyer at least three days before closing so the buyer has time to review and understand them. Any significant last-minute changes to the terms of the deal may trigger a three-day postponement of the closing date.

While it doesn’t happen often, occasionally a significant defect in a home – such as a failed water heater – is discovered during the buyer’s final walk-through, which is often scheduled just hours before the closing. If the cost of repairing the problem is significant enough that it changes the terms of the deal, under the new rules, it will delay the closing at least three days.

David Stenberg is the Boston-area manager for Hammond Real Estate. Stenberg said most agents will take their cues from the attorneys representing the banks to minimize disruptions in the process. He said that it may take a while before brokers are comfortable with the new rules, but he agrees that it will be a relatively smooth transition.

“In the scheme of things, maybe we’ll have to do our walkthrough three days before closing,” Stenberg said. “There’s going to be more preparation and more work in advance of the closing, and that will be adjustment. Sometimes these things sound complicated, but they usually come off without a great deal of confusion.”

‘A Nightmare Scenario’

Rona Fischman owns 4Buyers Real Estate in Cambridge. Fischman said the changes are “a mixed bag” and may cause a few headaches in the early days of implementation, but she thinks that the more organized agents will be able to plan ahead and work with lenders and attorneys to avoid unnecessary delays.

“One thing is just fabulous is the good faith estimate and paperwork at closing are in the same format. I love that,” Fischman said. “Having a three-day wait period before the appraisal is going to slow things down a little, but we’ll absorb that and get used to it. If you’re not planning ahead, you’re not doing your service.”

Fischman said the biggest potential for problems will be the domino effect if a closing is delayed at the last minute and the seller is relying on the proceeds from the sale of their property to purchase another property, and the owner of that property is also relying on the sale to buy their next property.

“That would be the nightmare scenario,” Fischman said, “and it will happen.”

David Datz is a real estate attorney with offices in Boston and Cape Cod. He said his office has trained some real estate agents and attorneys on the new changes and will be doing more as the implementation date approaches. He said he is also writing a welcome letter that he will send to agents that will explain what they have to do and when they have to do it.

Datz said his office includes language in their purchase and sale agreements that protects buyers from defaulting in the case of a domino effect that isn’t their fault, but delay scenarios like that are possible and sometimes unavoidable.

“If you do this work long enough, you’ll see it all, but it’s like gambling in Vegas,” Datz said. “If you want to maximize your chances for success, you gamble safely and thoughtfully and you make sure that the odds are more in your favor than not. That’s all we can do, because nothing in the world is guaranteed 100 percent, but it helps to work with good Realtors and mortgage brokers.”