The CFPB has issued a final rule postponing the effective date for all provisions of the TILA-RESPA Final Rule and Amendments to October 3, 2015.  The final rule also includes certain technical amendments to reflect the new effective date.  The provisions of the final rule related to the delay in the effective date, are effective immediately upon publication in the Federal Register in order to move the effective date for TILA-RESPA Final Rule and Amendments from Saturday, August 1, 2015 to Saturday, October 3, 2015.  The Federal Register that contains the finalized rule is scheduled to be published on July 24, 2015.

The final rule also makes two technical changes to the TILA-RESPA Final Rule that were not in the proposed rule.  Specifically, the final rule amends § 1026.38(i)(8)(ii) and (iii)(A) to include, in the amount disclosed as “Final” for Adjustments and Other Credits, the amount disclosed under § 1026.38(j)(1)(iii) for certain personal property sales in order to conform the calculation of Adjustments and Other Credits on the Closing Disclosure and Loan Estimate.  The final rule also attempts to conform the disclosure of the borrower’s cash to close in the Calculating Cash to Close and the Summaries of Transactions tables on the Closing Disclosure by amending § 1026.38(j)(1)(iv) to include, in the amount disclosed as Closing Costs Paid at Closing, lender credits disclosed under § 1026.38(h)(3).  According to the preamble, these “technical corrections are in line with existing industry expectations and informal Bureau guidance.”

As we previously reported, due to an administrative error the CFPB committed under the Congressional Review Act, the TILA-RESPA Final Rule would have been delayed by two weeks until August 15, 2015.  According to Director Cordray, the CFPB believes that the additional time provided by the new October 3, 2015 effective date will “better accommodate the interests of the many consumers and providers whose families will be busy with the transition to the new school year.”  In addition, the preamble also notes that the CFPB noticed “delays in the delivery of system had left some creditors with limited time to fully test all of their systems and system components to ensure that each system works with the others in an effective manner.”

Finally, the preamble to the final rule repeats the CFPB’s vow that it will not institute either a formal grace period or a dual compliance period as requested by many in the industry and Congress. However, the preamble states that, as expressed in Director Cordray’s letter to members of Congress on June 3, 2015, the CFPB’s “oversight of the implementation of the Rule will be sensitive to the progress made by those entities that have squarely focused on making good-faith efforts to come into compliance with the rule on time.”