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  • FFIEC releases 2019 HMDA reporting guide

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On March 25, the CFPB announced that the Federal Financial Institutions Examinations Council (FFIEC) issued the 2019 edition of the “Guide to HMDA Reporting: Getting It Right!,” which reflects the amendments made to HMDA by the May 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act and the August 2018 interpretive and procedural rule issued by the CFPB. (Covered by InfoBytes here.) The guide includes (i) a summary of responsibilities and requirements; (ii) directions for assembling the necessary tools; and (iii) instructions for reporting HMDA data.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB FFIEC HMDA EGRRCPA

  • OCC identifies key data fields for HMDA reporters

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On March 7, the OCC released Bulletin 2019-12, which identifies the key HMDA data fields for full and partial reporters. Specifically, the Bulletin highlights the 37 key data fields for banks required to report all of the data set forth in the CFPB’s October 2015 and August 2017 HMDA amendments, as well as, the 21 key data fields required for banks that qualify for the partial HMDA exemption pursuant to the May 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. According to the Bulletin, OCC examiners will focus on the identified key data fields during transaction testing pursuant to HMDA for data collected on or after January 1, 2018. The Bulletin rescinds OCC Bulletin 2017-41, “Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: Interagency Key Fields.”

    As previously covered by InfoBytes, in December 2018, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the OCC issued joint guidance regarding the same key data fields that Federal Reserve examiners would use to evaluate the accuracy of HMDA data collected since January 1, 2018.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Issues OCC HMDA CFPB FDIC Federal Reserve EGRRCPA Mortgages

  • CFPB releases semi-annual report to Congress

    Federal Issues

    On February 12, the CFPB issued its semi-annual report to Congress covering the Bureau’s work from April 1, 2018, through September 30, 2018. The report, which is required by the Dodd-Frank Act, addresses issues including problems faced by consumers with regard to consumer financial products or services; significant rules and orders adopted by the Bureau; and various supervisory and enforcement actions taken by the Bureau when acting Director Mick Mulvaney was still in office. The report is the first to be released under Kathy Kraninger, who was confirmed as Director in December 2018. In her opening letter, Kraninger emphasized that during her tenure the Bureau will “vigorously and even-handedly enforce the law,” and will make sure the financial marketplace “is innovating in ways that enhance consumer choice.” Among other things, the report focuses on credit invisibility and mortgage shopping as two significant problems faced by consumers, noting that credit invisibility among adults tends to be concentrated in rural and highly urban areas and, based on recent studies, more than 75 percent of borrowers report applying for a mortgage with only one lender.

    The report also includes an analysis of the efforts of the Bureau to fulfill its fair lending mission. The report highlights the most frequently cited violations of Regulation B (ECOA) and Regulation C (HMDA) in fair lending exams during the reporting period and emphasizes that during the reporting period the Bureau did not initiate or complete any fair lending public enforcement actions or refer any matters to the DOJ with regard to discrimination.

    Federal Issues CFPB Supervision Enforcement Fair Lending Mortgages Regulation B Regulation C ECOA HMDA Dodd-Frank

  • CFPB publishes 2019 reportable HMDA data reference chart

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On January 31, the CFPB published a new reference chart titled “Reportable HMDA Data: A Regulatory and Reporting Overview Reference Chart for Data Collected in 2019.” The chart is designed to be used as a reference tool for required data points to be collected, recorded, and reported under Regulation C, as amended by HMDA rules issued October 15, 2015, and August 24, 2017, as well as section 104(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (implemented and clarified by the 2018 HMDA Rule, which was previously covered by InfoBytes here.) The Bureau noted that this chart does not provide HMDA loan/application register data fields or enumerations, and further emphasized that the chart “does not itself establish any binding obligations” and is not intended to be viewed as a “substitute for the regulation or its official commentary.”

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB HMDA EGRRCPA

  • CFPB releases final policy on HMDA data disclosure

    Federal Issues

    On December 21, the CFPB announced final policy guidance covering the loan-level HMDA data the Bureau intends to make publicly available in 2019. The proposed policy was issued in September 2017 (covered by InfoBytes here) and, after reviewing public comments, the Bureau agreed to modify certain data disclosures to address concerns regarding consumers’ privacy. The final policy now excludes from public disclosure (i) the loan identifier; (ii) application and action taken dates; (iii) the property address; (iv) the applicants’ credit scores; (v) the mortgage originator’s NMLS identifier; and (vi) the results generated by the automated underwriting system. The Bureau will also exclude free-form text fields which report data such as the applicant’s race or ethnicity. The Bureau further announced that it will publish data for (i) the applicants’ ages; (ii) the loan amount; and (iii) the number of units in the dwelling as ranges rather than specific values.

    The announcement states that the Bureau intends to initiate in a separate notice-and-comment rulemaking in 2019 to incorporate any modifications of HMDA data into the text of Regulation C and will use the rulemaking to consider what HMDA data will be disclosed in future years. Additionally, the CFPB reiterated its intention to engage in a rulemaking to reconsider aspects of the 2015 HMDA rule, which was originally announced in December 2017 (covered by InfoBytes here).

    Federal Issues CFPB Mortgages HMDA Disclosures

  • CFPB releases annual adjustments to HMDA, TILA, and FCRA; agencies release CRA asset-size threshold adjustments

    Federal Issues

    On December 31, the CFPB published final rules adjusting both the asset-size thresholds under HMDA (Regulation C) and TILA (Regulation Z), and the maximum amount consumer reporting agencies may charge consumers for providing the consumer the consumer’s credit file under FCRA. All rules take effect on January 1, 2019.

    Under HMDA, institutions with assets below certain dollar thresholds are exempt from the collection and reporting requirements. The final rule increases the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions from $45 million to $46 million, thereby exempting institutions with assets of $46 million or less as of December 31, 2018, from collecting and reporting HMDA data in 2019.

    TILA exempts certain entities from the requirement to establish escrow accounts when originating higher-priced mortgage loans (HPMLs), including entities with assets below the asset-size threshold established by the CFPB. The final rule increases this asset-size exemption threshold from $2.112 billion to $2.167 billion, thereby exempting creditors with assets of $2.167 billion or less as of December 31, 2018, from the requirement to establish escrow accounts for HPMLs in 2019.

    Lastly, the FCRA permits consumer reporting agencies to impose a reasonable charge on a consumer when disclosing the consumer’s credit file in certain circumstances. Where the annual adjustment to this maximum charge had historically been announced via regulatory notice, the Bureau is now codifying the maximum charge in Regulation V. For 2019, the Bureau increased the maximum amount consumer reporting agencies may charge for making a file disclosure to a consumer from $12.00 to $12.50.

    Separately, on December 20, the Federal Reserve Board, the OCC, and the FDIC (collectively, the “Agencies”) jointly announced the adjusted asset-size thresholds used to define “small” and “intermediate small” banks and savings associations under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Effective January 1, 2019, a “small” bank or savings association will be defined as an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the past two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.284 billion. An “intermediate small” bank or savings association will be defined as an institution with assets of at least $321 million as of December 31 of both of the past two calendar years, but less than $1.284 billion in assets as of December 31 of either of the past two calendar years. The Agencies published the annual adjustments in the Federal Register on December 27.

    Federal Issues CFPB TILA HMDA FCRA Federal Reserve OCC FDIC CRA Consumer Reporting Agency

  • Agencies issue guidance on 37 key data fields for HMDA examinations

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On December 7, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, and the OCC issued guidance regarding the HMDA key data fields that Federal Reserve examiners use to evaluate the accuracy of HMDA data collected since January 1 pursuant to the CFPB’s October 2015 and August 2017 amendments and the May 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) exemptions (all of which have been previously covered by InfoBytes here, here, and here).

    The guidance cites to the October 2017 list of 37 key data fields identified by the agencies and notes that “[o]nce examiners have selected a random sample of entries from an institution’s HMDA Loan Application Register (HMDA LAR) and have received the corresponding loan files, they would verify the accuracy of the applicable HMDA key data fields in the entries in the HMDA LAR sample(s) against information in the loan files.” Additionally, for institutions eligible for the partial exemption granted by the Act, and covered by the Bureau’s August interpretive and procedural rule (InfoBytes coverage here), the guidance notes that these institutions are responsible for collecting, recording, and reporting only 21 of the 37 designated HMDA key data fields, as the exemption covers the other 16 fields.

    The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council members are currently developing a set of revised interagency HMDA examination procedures regarding HMDA requirements relating to data collected from January 1, 2018 onward.

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance Federal Reserve FDIC OCC HMDA FFIEC EGRRCPA Examination

  • CFPB releases beta version of HMDA Platform

    Federal Issues

    On December 10, the CFPB announced the beta release of the new HMDA Platform. The beta version enables financial institutions to become familiar with the platform and permits entities to establish log-in credentials, upload sample files, validate data, and confirm their submissions of test data. Entities can test and retest throughout the beta period, and any test data will be removed from the system when the 2018 filing period opens on January 1, 2019. The announcement reminds institutions that in order to use the beta version of the HMDA Platform as well as to file HMDA data collected in 2018, financial institutions must have a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) and that LEI must be recognized by the HMDA Platform in order to create a new account or test data with an existing account.

    Federal Issues HMDA CFPB Mortgages

  • CFPB’s latest fair lending report focuses on promoting fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit

    Federal Issues

    On December 4, the CFPB issued its sixth fair lending report to Congress, which outlines the Bureau’s efforts in 2017. According to the report, in 2017, the Bureau continued to focus on promoting fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit, highlighting several fair lending priorities such as redlining, mortgage and student loan servicing, and small business lending. The report also addresses the Bureau’s risk-based prioritization approach to supervisory examinations and enforcement activity relating to underwriting, pricing, steering, servicing, and HMDA data integrity. Specifically, the report covers fair lending supervision and enforcement activities, guidance and rulemaking, and interagency coordination efforts, including (i) taking enforcement actions against a bank for alleged credit card lending discrimination, and a mortgage lender that allegedly failed to accurately report consumer application and loan data; (ii) issuing its first no-action letter to a company that uses alternative, non-traditional data and modeling techniques “to make credit and pricing decisions to support innovation and enable people with limited credit history, among others, to obtain credit or obtain credit on better terms”; (iii) collaborating with other federal banking regulators to issue, among other things, the “HMDA Examiner Transaction Testing Guidelines,” which present uniform guidelines for examiners when evaluating whether covered mortgage lenders are reporting accurate data; and (iv) communicating fair lending information to the public through various platforms. Notably, the report is silent regarding plans for upcoming fair lending activities in 2019, unlike previous reports that included future actions. (See InfoBytes coverage on the 2016 report here.)

    Federal Issues CFPB Fair Lending Redlining ECOA HMDA

  • CFPB updates HMDA Small Entity Compliance Guide

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance

    On October 30, the CFPB released an updated HMDA Small Entity Compliance Guide to reflect Section 104(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (the Act) and the 2018 HMDA interpretive and procedural rule. As previously covered by InfoBytes, on August 31, the CFPB issued an interpretive and procedural rule to implement Section 104(a) of the Act, which amends section 304(i) of HMDA by adding partial exemptions from some of HMDA’s reporting requirements for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions. 

    Agency Rule-Making & Guidance CFPB HMDA EGRRCPA

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