The CFPB has posted on its website a list of rural and underserved counties for calendar year 2011. The CFPB had already posted lists of such counties for calendar years 2012 and 2013.
As initially adopted, the CFPB’s final rule requiring creditors to establish escrow accounts for certain first-lien higher-priced mortgage loans contained an exemption for certain small creditors that operated predominantly in “rural” or “underserved” counties in the preceding calendar year. The CFPB subsequently broadened the exemption to include such creditors that operated predominantly in rural or underserved counties in any of the previous three calendar years.
The broader exemption means that creditors will be able to qualify for the exemption in 2014 if they operated predominantly in rural or underserved counties in calendar years 2011, 2012, or 2013 (and meet the other criteria for eligibility).