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ICYMI: Additional Threshold Adjustments Announced by the CFPB

michaelchristians • January 26, 2019

On December 20, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published two final rules adjusting certain thresholds under both Regulation C and Regulation Z.

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act / Regulation C

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”) has a multi-part coverage test for determining those institutions required to collect and report HMDA data. One element of this multi-part test is the asset size of the institution. The CFPB is required to adjust this amount annually based on any change to the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (“CPI-W”).

The CFPB’s final rule increases this asset threshold from $45 million in 2018 to $46 million in 2019. As a result, financial institutions with assets of $46 million or less as of December 31, 2018 will not be required to collect or report HMDA data for calendar year 2019.

Truth in Lending Act / Regulation Z

Section 1026.35 of Regulation Z discusses the additional compliance requirements associated with making a higher-priced mortgage loan (“HPML”). One of these additional requirements is that the financial institution must open an escrow account for the payment of property taxes and insurance in connection with an HPML secured by a first lien.

Certain small creditors are exempt from this mandatory escrow requirement. To be eligible for the exemption, the small creditor must:

  • Have originated at least one covered transaction in either a rural or underserved area in the preceding calendar year;
  • Together with any affiliates, originated 2,000 or fewer covered transactions secured by a first lien; and
  • As of the preceding December 31st, had total assets (together with any affiliates) below a certain threshold.

This threshold is also adjusted annually by the CFPB based on any change to the CPI-W. For 2019, a small creditor with total assets (together with any affiliates) of less than $2.167 billion as of December 31, 2018 will be eligible for the exemption so long as the other requirements identified above are met. This is up from $2.112 billion the previous year.

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