WASHINGTON—Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray's pledge that the Bureau would issue a proposal in the coming weeks to raise the home equity line of credit reporting threshold is a “victory,” CUNA says.
In a letter sent this week to several Senators, Cordray cited increasing concerns from credit unions and other community financial institutions about the reporting burden.
CUNA said it has pushed to raise the threshold required under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rule from the CFPB.
Per Cordray, the upcoming proposal would exempt institutions that originate fewer than 500 HELOCs in either of the previous two calendar years from reporting. The current threshold is 100, CUNA noted.
Cordray said the Bureau would issue the proposal within the next two weeks, and it would apply for reporting in 2018 and 2019.
"Temporarily increasing the HELOC threshold in this way will give small institutions additional relief and provide the Consumer Bureau ample opportunity reconsider the HELOC threshold contained in the final rule and decide where it should be beginning in 2020," Cordray wrote.
In recent advocacy efforts with Congress, CUNA has shared its research that found 23% of credit unions that currently offer HELOCs indicate they plan to either curtail their HELOC offerings or stop offering them in response to reporting burdens.