The new Fed rule affecting loan officer compensation, supposed to go into effect today, will be delayed until April 5, when an appeals court will hold a hearing on the matter.

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) had filed suit in U.S. District Court in order to get an immediate injunction preventing the rule from going forward. Earlier this week, District Court Judge Beryl Howell had denied that motion. NAMB filed an immediate appeal, and the U.S. Appeals Court has ruled that the new regulations must not go into effect until it can hold a hearing on the matter next week.

The April 5 stay is purely "administrative", and intended only to "give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the motions for emergency relief and should not be construed in any as a ruling on the merits of those motions," according to the order.

Pending the appeallate court ruling, wholesale lenders are continuing to offer compensation plans under the old system, brokers say. "I’ve had five of my investors already contact me," to say they’d be continuing to operate under old compensation plans," said Rich Bettencourt, manager of Mortgage Assistance Co. in Danvers.

"We won a major victory yesterday," he said.