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  • Special Alert: CFPB Proposes Amendments to 2015 HMDA Rule

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 13, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a proposal to amend the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) rule. The changes are primarily for the purpose of clarifying data collection and reporting requirements, and most of the clarifications and revisions would take effect in January 2018. Comments on the CFPB’s proposal are due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.

    The CFPB describes the changes as being non-substantive in nature, noting that the proposal is meant to provide “clarifications, technical corrections, or minor changes.” While we describe the more significant proposed amendments below in greater detail, highlights of the proposal include:

    • Clarification of the definitions of “automated underwriting system,” “closed-end mortgage loan” (specifically, extension of credit), “dwelling” (specifically, multifamily residential structures and communities), “home improvement loan,” and “home purchase loan” (specifically, construction and permanent financing)
    • Permission for institutions to report “not applicable” for loan purpose and the loan originator’s Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry ID when reporting certain purchased loans originated before Regulation Z’s loan originator rules took effect
    • Clarification of the exclusions for temporary financing and construction loans, commercial or business purpose loans, financial institutions that do not meet the loan-volume threshold, and new funds in advance of consolidation with New York State consolidation, extension, and modification agreements (CEMA)
    • Provision of a safe harbor for bona-fide errors related to incorrect census tract reporting if the institution properly uses the geocoding tool published on the CFPB website


    Click here to read full special alert

    ***

    If you have questions about the amendments or other related issues, visit our Consumer Financial Protection Bureau practice for more information, or contact a Buckley Sandler attorney with whom you have worked in the past.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB HMDA Federal Register Mortgages Special Alerts

  • CFPB Proposes Amendment to Regulation C to Clarify HMDA Rule

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 13, the CFPB announced the release of its proposal to amend Regulation C (12 CFR Part 1003), the regulation that implemented the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and requires lenders to collect, report and disclose data on home loan applications, originations, and purchases of mortgage loans. On October 15, 2015, the Bureau updated the HMDA reporting requirements to expand the data collection scope, while simultaneously streamlining certain existing requirements (see Special Alert: CFPB Adopts Significant Expansion of HMDA Reporting Requirements). According to the Bureau’s press release, the 2017 proposed amendment is intended to “help financial institutions comply with the 2015 HMDA Final Rule by clarifying the information they are required to collect and report about their mortgage lending.” Specifically, the regulation, as amended, will establish “transition rules” for both “loan purpose” and the “unique identifier” for the loan originator. The transition rules will also allow financial institutions to report “not applicable” for these two data points. Furthermore, the proposal will make additional amendments to clarify certain key terms, such as “temporary financing” and “automated underwriting system,” and create a new reporting exception for certain transactions associated with New York State agreements. Comments on the proposal will be due within 30 days of its publication in the Federal Register.

    Additional information and materials covering the new HMDA Rule (amending Regulation C) can also be found in Buckley Sandler’s HMDA Resource Center.  And, as recently covered by InfoBytes, the CFPB has also made available two webinars and various "Quick Reference" guides that help explain the HMDA.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Lending HMDA Regulation C CFPB

  • Fed/CFPB OIG Releases Strategic Plan 2017-2020

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 11, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Fed and the CFPB published its Strategic Plan 2017–2020, providing an overview of the OIG’s organizational objectives for the next four years, as well as the indicators it will use to measure its performance as the “trusted oversight organization” of the Fed and the CFPB. According to a “Message From the Inspector General,” the Strategic Plan, is “the culmination of an extensive process that included a thorough functional assessment and organizational review of the OIG,” as well as an “extensive rebranding initiative.” The plan notes, among other things, that in order to “effectively engage all [its] stakeholders,” it is important that the OIG “successfully communicate [its] mission,” and “timely and effectively communicate [its] results.”

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance OIG Federal Reserve CFPB

  • FDIC Releases Third Volume in its Affordable Mortgage Lending Guide

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 6, the FDIC released the third volume of its Affordable Mortgage Lending Guide (Guide). The Guide is designed to help community bankers understand and compare various affordable mortgage-related programs, as well as their Community Reinvestment implications. This third installment of the Guide provides an overview of Federal Home Loan Bank programs designed to support single-family home purchases, such as down payment and closing cost assistance—many of which can be used in conjunction with other federal and state housing finance agency and government-sponsored enterprise programs. The Guide also provides alternatives for selling mortgages on the secondary market. As previously reported in InfoBytes, the first and second volumes in the series were published last year.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FDIC Mortgages Affordable Housing Fair Lending Lending

  • FDIC Q4 2016 Quarterly Banking Profile Reveals Community Bank Deposits, Office Count Both Up; OCC Reports Uptick in Mortgage Performance through End of 2016

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    Earlier this week, the FDIC released the latest issue of both its Quarterly Banking Profile and the FDIC Quarterly Report–a “comprehensive summary of the most current financial results for the banking industry” that is published quarterly by the FDIC’s Division of Insurance and Research. According to its latest Report, community banks—which represent 92 percent of insured institutions—reported net income of $5.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, a 10.5% increase over 2015. According to the Report, “the increase was driven by higher net interest income and noninterest income, which was partly offset by higher loan-loss provisions and noninterest expense.” The Report also reveals an 8.3 percent 12-month growth rate in loan balances at community banks. The Report notes further that “community banks accounted for 43 percent of small loans to businesses.” Notably, the FDIC observed that, although deposits across the banking industry grew, the number of non-community bank offices actually shrank. By contrast, however, the number of community banks increased during 2016.

    Also this week, the OCC announced the release of its  “OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Fourth Quarter 2016,” its quarterly report based on performance data from seven national bank servicers, including over a third of all outstanding U.S. residential mortgages. As explained in the OCC’s Q4 2016 Report, foreclosure activity declined and mortgage performance continued to improve through the fourth quarter of 2016, with 94.7 percent of mortgages current and performing at the end of 2016, compared with 94.1 percent a year earlier. Servicers initiated 45,495 new foreclosures in the fourth quarter, a decrease of 5.1 percent from previous quarter and a decrease of 28.2 percent year-over-year. Notably, the number of mortgage modifications—most involving a reduction in borrower monthly payments—similarly reflected a substantial 9.3 percent decrease from the previous quarter. The OCC also notes, among other things, that the percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages dropped to 2.3 percent of the portfolio, down from 2.7 percent reported in the fourth quarter a year earlier.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance FDIC Community Banks OCC Mortgages

  • CFPB Proposes Amendment to Regulation B to Harmonize Regulation B with Other Mortgage Lending Regulations

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On March 24, the CFPB announced the release of its proposal to amend Regulation B (12 CFR Part 1002), which implements the ECOA, a federal civil rights law that protects applicants from discrimination by lenders. According to the Bureau, the proposed amendment is intended to “provide additional flexibility for mortgage lenders concerning the collection of consumer demographic information.” Specifically, the regulation, as amended, would allow lenders to use the updated Uniform Residential Loan Application form adopted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2016, rather than the 2004 version currently included in Regulation B, along with additional changes that would permit lenders to employ more uniform practices.

    As explained in a March 24 CFPB blog post, a core justification for the proposed change is consistency and clarity with respect to other Bureau rules. While ECOA and Regulation B generally prohibit creditors from asking loan applicants about their race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, or gender, in some cases, such as mortgage loans, other regulations (i.e., Regulation C and the HMDA) require creditors to specifically ask for some of the very same information – including, for instance, race and ethnicity. To address this issue, the proposed amendments would allow institutions not subject to HMDA reporting requirements to choose on an “application-by-application basis” between two approaches to collecting personal demographic data from applicants: either the more limited, aggregate race and ethnicity categories required by Regulation B, or the disaggregated and more expansive categories required for HMDA-reporting institutions under revisions to Regulation C effective in 2018. The new rule would also create a safe harbor allowing for the collection (in certain circumstances) of data previously barred by Regulation B, establish consistent race and ethnicity categories that could be used in complying with both Regulation B and C.

    Comments on the proposal will be due within 30 days of its publication in the Federal Register.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB Regulation B ECOA Mortgage Lenders HMDA

  • OCC to Host Workshops for Community Bank Directors in April

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On April 25 and 26, the OCC will be hosting two workshops for directors of national community banks and federal savings associations supervised by the OCC. The April 25 workshop will cover “Risk Governance,” including both practical information to help directors effectively measure and manage risks, and insight into the OCC’s approach to risk-based supervision and major risks in the financial industry. The April 26 workshop will focus specifically on credit risk within a loan portfolio, including how to stay informed of changes in credit risk, identifying trends, recognizing problems, the roles of the board and management, and how to effect change.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance OCC Risk Management

  • OCC Announces February 2017 Enforcement Actions

    Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security

    On March 17, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a list of administrative enforcement actions taken against banks and bank officers in February. Several of the reported actions included payment of civil money penalties (CMPs) for, among other things, violations of the Federal Trade Commission Act, Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) deficiencies, and unsafe or unsound practices by institution-affiliated parties for breaches of fiduciary duty. Among the actions containing CMPs a Tennessee bank fined $1 million for deficiencies related to billing practices with regard to an identity protection product consumers paid for but never received, and a California bank fined $1 million for continuous non-compliance with a 2010 Consent Order for BSA deficiencies including “inadequate risk assessment process[es], inadequate system of internal controls, inadequate suspicious activity monitoring and reporting process[es], inadequate customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence programs, ” as well as having a “BSA/AML independent audit [that] failed to identify . . . significant internal control weaknesses.”

    Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security Agency Rule-Making & Guidance OCC Enforcement

  • Department of Education Withdraws Student Loan Guidance; Bipartisan Legislation Introduced to Require APR Disclosure on Federal Student Loans

    Lending

    On March 16, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) Acting Assistant Secretary Lynn B. Mahaffie notified relevant agencies that the Department is withdrawing statements of policy and guidance regarding repayment agreements and liability for collection costs on Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) loans as previously stated in its July 10, 2015 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) GEN 15-14. GEN 15-14 barred a "guaranty agency from charging collection costs to a defaulted borrower who (i) responds within 60 days to the initial notice sent by the guaranty agency after it pays a default claim and acquires the loan from the lender; (ii) enters into a repayment agreement, including a rehabilitation agreement; and (iii) honors that agreement.” The Department emphasized that the "position set forth in the DCL would have benefited from public input on the issues discussed in the DCL,” and as a result, the Department has withdrawn the DCL and will not require compliance without the opportunity for the public to provide comments.

    Earlier in the month, Representatives Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Luke Messer (R-IN), and David Scott (D-GA) reintroduced the Transparency in Student Lending Act (H.R. 1283)—bipartisan legislation requiring the disclosure of the annual percentage rate on federal loans issued by the Department of Education. In 2008 the Truth in Lending Act disclosure requirements were applied to private loans, but not to federal student loans—an omission that does a “gross disservice” to borrowers according to Hultgren. “The Department of Education is the largest consumer lender in the United States, and should provide the most transparent and helpful information to borrowers. Helping borrowers understand their debt obligations is an important first step to ensuring they are able to make their payments, and also helps prevent taxpayers from being on the hook for delinquent borrowers,” noted Hultgren.

    Lending Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Student Lending Department of Education TILA

  • FFIEC Releases Joint Report to Congress on Reducing Regulatory Burdens

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On March 21, member agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced the release of their Joint Report to Congress: Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act (the Report), which details their review of rules affecting financial institutions and the effect of regulations on smaller institutions. The review—required by the Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act to be conducted at least once every ten years—included the participation of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the National Credit Union Administration, and included the consideration of more than 230 written and 130 oral comments from financial institutions, trade associations, and consumer and community groups, as well as numerous comments obtained at outreach meetings.

    The members of the FFIEC described several joint initiatives, including actions taken to:

    • Simplify regulatory capital rules for community banks and savings associations;
    • Streamline reports of condition and income (Call Reports);
    • Increase the appraisal threshold for commercial real estate loans; and
    • Expand the number of institutions eligible for less frequent examination cycles.

    In addition, the Report also described actions taken by each agency to “update rules, eliminate unnecessary requirements, and streamline supervisory procedures.”

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Issues FFIEC Congress Prudential Regulators

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