Mortgages

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The CFPB has published its 2019 final lists of Rural and Rural or Underserved Counties on its website. The CFPB has previously posted lists of such counties for calendar years 2011-2018. The CFPB has also updated the rural and underserved areas website tool for 2019.

The lists and tool are relevant to exemptions from certain regulatory requirements of the Truth in Lending Act, including the following CFPB mortgage rules:

  • Escrows Rule, which requires a creditor to establish an escrow account for certain first-lien higher-priced mortgage loans (HPMLs), but exempts HPMLs consummated during a calendar year (or next-to-last calendar year for loans where the application was received before April 1 of the current calendar year) if the creditor extended a first-lien covered transaction in the preceding calendar year secured by a property located in a rural-or-underserved area, and meets certain additional conditions.
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Last month, after more than three years of urging by the industry to provide written guidance, the CFPB issued four FAQs on its TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule.  In this week’s podcast, we take a close look at the FAQs and what they tell creditors, particularly its guidance on when a corrected Closing Disclosure and new three-day waiting period are required (with a caution for those selling to investors) and the safe harbor for using a model form.… Continue Reading

Federal financial institution regulators recently issued a joint final rule to implement provisions of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (the “Act”) that require regulated financial institutions to accept private flood insurance policies. The regulators are the Farm Credit Administration, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve Board, National Credit Union Administration, and Comptroller of the Currency.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently issued A Regulatory and Reporting Overview Reference Chart for HMDA Data Collected in 2019. As previously reported, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act created an exemption from the reporting of the new HMDA data categories for smaller mortgage loan volume depository institutions and credit unions.… Continue Reading

Last week, the CFPB issued a Complaint Snapshot analyzing mortgage complaint data from November 1, 2016 to October 31, 2018. The report indicates an overall reduction in complaint volume for mortgage products over the time period analyzed.

Mortgage complaints declined by 15%, comparing the 3-month average of complaints from August to October 2017 with the 3-month average from August to October 2018.… Continue Reading

For years, the mortgage industry has urged the CFPB to issue informal written guidance on the TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) Rule, as well as other rules.  The CFPB resisted, providing most guidance in the form of actual rules, webinars or oral statements.  The industry believed that it would be a cold day in Hades if the CFPB ever issued guidance similar to the FAQs that the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued to provide guidance on the 2010 Good Faith Estimate rule. … Continue Reading

On January 10, the CFPB published a report containing the results of its assessment of the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule (“ATR/QM Rule”) issued in 2013. The assessment was conducted pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, which requires the Bureau to review each significant rule it issues and evaluate whether the rule is effective in achieving its intended objectives, and the purposes and objectives of Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, or whether it is having unintended consequences.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, in September 2017 the CFPB proposed policy guidance regarding what application-level Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data would be disclosed to the public based on the significant expansion to the HMDA data reporting items that the CFPB adopted in October 2015. Calendar year 2018 was the first year that reporting institutions collected data under the expanded requirements, and that data must be reported to the government by March 1, 2019.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, late in 2018 the CFPB announced the availability of a beta version of a Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data platform for companies to test the filing of 2018 data. The CFPB has now announced that the beta testing period is closed and the HMDA data platform is open for the filing of 2018 data.… Continue Reading

As previously reported, in early December 2018 Congress passed another short-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program that was scheduled to expire on December 21, 2018. On December 21, the US House of Representatives agreed to a bill adopted by the US Senate in November 2018 to extend the Program until May 31, 2019, and President Trump signed the extension on December 21.… Continue Reading