CFPB Amends Regulation C on Home Mortgage Disclosures

In the EGRRCP Act, Congress added partial exemptions from the HMDA requirements that exempt certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions from reporting some but not all HMDA data for certain transactions. The final rule also extends, for two years, a temporary adjustment to Regulation C institutional and transactional coverage threshold for open-end lines of credit. Moreover, in August 2018, CFPB had issued an interpretive and procedural rule to implement and clarify the EGRRCP Act amendments to HMDA. This final rule incorporates into Regulation C the interpretations and procedures in the rule, with minor adjustments, by adding new § 1003.3(d) relating to the partial exemptions and making various amendments to the data compilation requirements in § 1003.4. 

Additionally, CFPB intends to address in a separate final rule the changes it proposed to the permanent coverage thresholds for open-end lines of credit and closed-end mortgage loans; CFPB expects to issues this separate final rule in 2020. In the interim, extending the current temporary increase in the open-end coverage threshold for an additional two years will allow CFPB to fully consider the appropriate level for the permanent open-end coverage threshold for data collected beginning January 01, 2022, after reviewing additional comments relating to that aspect of the proposal. Such an extension will ensure that any institutions that are covered under the new permanent open-end coverage threshold have until January 01, 2022 to comply.

Regulation C requires financial institutions to report HMDA data. HMDA requires certain depository institutions and for-profit nondepository institutions to report data about originations and purchases of mortgage loans as well as mortgage loan applications that do not result in originations (for example, applications that are denied or withdrawn). The purposes of HMDA are to provide the public with loan data that can be used to:

• Help determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities
• Assist public officials in distributing public-sector investment to attract private investment to areas where it is needed
• Assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing anti-discrimination statutes

Related Link: Federal Register Notice

Effective Date: January 01, 2020 (with exceptions)

Keywords: Americas, US, Banking, HMDA, EGRRCP Act, Reporting, Regulation C, Disclosures, Home Mortgage Disclosures, CFPB