Regulatory Updates

CFPB: Final Rule Issued to Help Mortgage Servicers Communicate with Certain Borrowers Facing Bankruptcy

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) today issued a final rule to help mortgage servicers communicate with certain borrowers facing bankruptcy. The final rule gives mortgage servicers more latitude in providing periodic statements to consumers entering or exiting bankruptcy, as required by the Bureau’s 2016 mortgage servicing rule. The Truth in Lending Act requires mortgage…

FHFA: Proposed Rule Amending Federal Home Loan Banks’ Affordable Housing Program Regulation Issued

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is seeking comments on proposed amendments to its regulation on the Federal Home Loan Banks’ (FHLBanks) Affordable Housing Program (AHP). The proposed amendments would authorize the FHLBanks to redesign their project selection systems and create special targeted funds, which would allow the FHLBanks more flexibility to align their AHP…

HUD: Wholesale Review of Manufactured Housing Rules Announced

Public comment sought in effort to identify regulations that stifle affordable housing and job creation The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced a top-to-bottom review of its manufactured housing rules as part of a broader effort to identify regulations that may be ineffective, overly burdensome, or excessively costly given the critical…

CFPB: Changes Finalized to Prepaid Account Rules

Changes Provide More Flexibility and Extend Effective Date to April 2019 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) announced today that it has finalized updates to its 2016 prepaid rule. The Bureau’s 2016 prepaid rule put in place requirements for treatment of funds on lost or stolen cards, error resolution and investigation, upfront fee disclosures, access…

Interagency Guidance: 2018 Annual CRA Asset-Size Threshold Adjustments Released

FDIC Release Federal Reserve Release OCC Release The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank, and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The annual adjustments are required by the CRA rules. Financial institutions…

CFPB: Public Statement on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Compliance

Bureau Does Not Intend to Assess Penalties for Errors in Data Collected in 2018, and Plans to Reconsider Aspects of Mortgage Data Rule The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today issued a public statement announcing that the Bureau does not intend to require data resubmission unless data errors are material or assess penalties with respect…

Federal Reserve: Regulation C Repealed and Public Comment Sought on Proposed Revisions to Regulation M

The Federal Reserve Board on Monday announced the repeal of one regulation and the revision of a second to reflect the transfer of certain consumer protection rulewriting authority to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The Board is publishing a final rule to repeal Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure), which has been superseded by final…

Joint Release: Agencies Amend CRA Regulations to Conform to HMDA Regulation Changes and Remove References to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program

The federal bank regulatory agencies have amended their respective Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations primarily to conform to changes made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Since 1995, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and…

CFPB: Identification of Language Preference on the Uniform Residential Loan Application

The Bureau issued an official approval of the final redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA), which will include a question about mortgage applicants’ language preference starting as early as July 2019. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)  directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to add this question to the URLA, which is a form that…

Joint Release: Agencies Announce Threshold for Smaller Loan Exemption from Appraisal Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced that the threshold for exempting loans from special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans during 2018 will increase from $25,500 to $26,000. The threshold amount will be effective January 1,…