InfoBytes Blog
CFPB settles with bank for HMDA filing errors
On October 27, the CFPB announced a settlement with a national bank, resolving allegations that the bank reported inaccurate HMDA data for 2016 and 2017 mortgage transactions. According to the consent order, the bank allegedly violated HMDA, Regulation C, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act by failing to report accurate data among the 7,000 mortgage applications reported in 2016 and 2017. Specifically, the Bureau alleged that the submissions contained “significant errors,” with an internal audit of the 2016 filing identifying a 40 percent error rate and the Bureau’s review of the 2017 filing identifying a 16 percent error rate. The Bureau asserted that the 2016 errors were caused by “a lack of appropriate staff, insufficient staff training, and ineffective quality control,” while the 2017 errors were “directly related to weaknesses in [the bank]’s compliance-management system (CMS).” In 2013, the bank entered into a consent order with the Bureau for similar issues; thus, the Bureau concluded the 2016 and 2017 errors were “intentional and not bona fide” as the bank allegedly failed to maintain a “CMS with procedures reasonably adapted to avoid” the errors since the previous order.
The consent order requires the bank to, among other things, pay a $200,000 civil money penalty and develop a HMDA compliance-management system that includes policies, procedures, and an internal audit program that regularly tests the HMDA data integrity.