WASHINGTON—The CFPB has reopened the comment period on its proposal to raise the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act's (HMDA) transactional and institutional reporting thresholds. Separately, it has published a final rule related to Reg Z.
Comments are now being accepted through Oct. 15 to allow the public to review the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council's national loan level data set and the CFPB's review of that data – which are expected to be released later this summer – and provide additional comments on the proposal.
In June, NAFCU submitted comments on the threshold proposal prior to the initial comment deadline, the trade association noted. The association offered support for increasing the thresholds and also offered specific suggestions to provide more relief to credit unions. NAFCU noted that "HMDA reporting for credit unions has a disproportionate cost impact because these institutions often lack the scale, sophistication, and bargaining power to easily implement fully-automated reporting systems."
The Bureau also recently extended the comment period on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) related to data collection and reporting requirements under HMDA.
Credit unions and other covered institutions reported their first set of HMDA data in March. The CFPB extended the ANPR's comment period by three months – also to Oct. 15 – to allow time to review the submitted data.
Final Rule on Reg Z
Separately, the CFPB has published a final rule revising dollar amounts for certain regulations falling under Regulation Z that implement the CARD Act, HOEPA and the ability-to-repay/qualified mortgage provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act. All adjustments will be effective Jan. 1, 2020.
The CFPB is required to annually adjust certain threshold amounts within various rules based on the percentage change in the consumer price index. Specifically, for open-end consumer credit plans under the Truth in Lending Act, the threshold that triggers requirements to disclose minimum interest charges will stay the same at $1 in 2020.
For open-end consumer credit plans under the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure (CARD) Act amendments to TILA, credit unions should note that the penalty fees will increase by $1 in 2020: $29 for the safe harbor for a first violation penalty fee and $40 for the safe harbor for a subsequent violation penalty fee, NAFCU said.
For Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) loans, the adjusted total loan amount threshold for high-cost mortgages in 2020 will be $21,980, up from 2019's $21,549. The adjusted points and fees dollar trigger is also increasing from the current $1,077 to $1,099.
The Details
NAFCU noted that for purposes of determining whether a covered transaction is a qualified mortgage, the total points and fees charged may not exceed the threshold set for the size of the loan under the rule:
- For a loan amount of $109,898 or more, 3% of the total loan amount
- For a loan amount of greater than or equal to $65,939 but less than $109,898, $3,297
- For a loan amount of greater than or equal to $21,980 but less than $65,939, 5% of the total loan
- For a loan amount of greater than or equal to $13,737 but less than $21,980, $1,099
- For a loan amount of less than $13,737, 8% of the total loan amount