WASHINGTON–The Senate announced plans to give floor consideration this week to S 2155, the credit union-backed Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, which also has the backing of community banks.
The bill includes:
- The Credit Union Residential Loan Parity Act, which would allow credit unions to treat loans for one-to-four-unit, non-owner-occupied dwellings that qualify for the MBL exemption as residential loans with lower interest rates – similar to how banks make these loans to small businesses.
- The Home Mortgage Disclosure Adjustment Act, which would exempt depository institutions that have originated fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit and closed-end mortgages in the previous two years from certain HMDA reporting and recordkeeping requirements.
Additional provisions in Title I of the package would provide credit unions with regulatory relief from various Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and TILA/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) integrated mortgage disclosure rule provisions, NAFCU noted.
“Two credit union-relevant provisions were also added when the bill passed out of the Senate Banking Committee in December: One that would require the NCUA to publish a detailed budget and hold a public hearing to receive comments from the public on its budget annually, and another that would clarify and streamline the process for establishing online banking accounts,” NAFCU reminded in its analysis.
CUNA and the state leagues have also been strongly lobbying in favor of the legislation.