HMDA and Company—Highlights for the Upcoming Year

Author: Sarah Sauceda

This past year has shaped up to be quite a ride but buckle up—2018 is fast approaching.

Highlights for 2018 include: (1) Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) changes; (2) amendments to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA); (3) an increased Truth-in-Lending (TIL) threshold; (4) Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) amendments; and (5) “sunset” provisions.

The time has come for the long-awaited changes affecting HMDA to hit the banking world with a bang. HMDA – version 2018 – includes changes relating to institutional and transactional coverage and data collection, recording, reporting, and disclosure.

As for institutional coverage, HMDA 2018 adopts a uniform loan-volume threshold for all institutions. This means that starting January 1, 2018, an institution will be subject to HMDA if it originated 25 or more covered closed-end mortgage loans in each of the preceding calendar years, or if it originated 100 or more covered open-end lines of credit in each of the past two years. Of course, the institutions making these loans also need to meet other applicable coverage requirements to be subject to HMDA.

As for the amendments to transactional coverage, HMDA 2018 modifies the types of transactions that are covered. Basically, the new version of HMDA adopts a dwelling-secured standard. As of January 1, 2018, covered loans will include both closed-end mortgage loans and open-end lines of credit secured by a dwelling. Another major change to this portion of HMDA concerns business-purpose loans. Starting January 1, 2018, dwelling-secured, business-purpose loans and lines of credit will constitute covered loans if they are home purchase loans, home improvement loans, or refinancings.

One other slightly understated change has to do with preapprovals. Under the new rule, covered institutions will be required to collect, record, and report information for approved but not accepted preapproval requests for home purchase loans. In contrast, preapproval requests for open-end lines of credit, home purchase loans to be secured by multifamily dwellings, and reverse mortgages will not be covered under HMDA.

Lastly and as most of you know, reportable data under HMDA has received a bit of a makeover. HMDA 2018 adds a few extra data points. These new data points include: (a) applicant/borrower age, (b) credit score, (c) automated underwriting system information, (d) unique loan identifier, (e) property value, (f) application channel, (g) borrower-paid origination charges, (h) points and fees, (i) lender credits, (j) discount points, (k) loan term, (l) prepayment penalty, (m) non-amortizing loan features, (n) interest rate, and (o) loan originator identifier as well as other data points.

Again, the effective date for these changes is January 1, 2018. Be sure to remember that, although the HMDA 2018 is upon us, you will still need to submit data collected in 2017 under the current rule with the slight change of submitting the 2017 data to the CFPB instead of the Federal Reserve Board.

 

The updates to HMDA can be found here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201708_cfpb_final-rule_home-mortgage-disclosure_regulation-c.pdf

Because the regulators know that changing one major regulation isn’t enough fun, they have also changed ECOA. ECOA’s current ethnicity and race information collection are updated in the 2018 version of the regulation. Additionally, the amendments add certain model forms and remove others. Thankfully the changes to HMDA and ECOA go hand-in-hand, as the purpose of the amendments to ECOA is to facilitate compliance with HMDA version 2018. Note that all these changes to ECOA come into effect on January 1, 2018 with the exception of the amendment that removes the Uniform Residential Loan Application. This particular amendment becomes effective on January 1, 2022.

The final ECOA rule can be found here: http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/201709_cfpb_final-rule_regulation-b.pdf

It didn’t happen for 2016…It didn’t happen 2017…but the time you have anxiously been awaiting…has finally arrived! The TIL exemption threshold has been adjusted. The exemption threshold will increase from $54,600 to $55,800, effective January 1, 2018.

The rule updating the threshold can be found here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2017/11/09/2017-24445/truth-in-lending-regulation-z

The regulators are at it again and are making more changes—this time to the CRA. Once again, these changes are aimed at helping banks transition to the new version of HMDA. The new rule updates the definitions of “home mortgage loan” and “consumer loan,” and the public file content requirements to conform HMDA 2018. The amendments also cleanup the CRA by removing now obsolete references to the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The comments closed on October 20, 2017, and the final rule becomes effective on January 1, 2018.

The updates to the CRA may be found here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/files/bcreg20170913a1.pdf

Finally: When I think of sunsets, I picture beaches, long walks, and OF COURSE regulations that are up for renewal. (This is normal, right?) This last topic concerns the regulations that are set to expire in the near future. These are often referred to as “sunset” provisions because the regulatory sun is quickly setting on them. Some of the major sunset provisions include: sections 531 (maximum rent) and 533 (foreclosure) of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA); the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) SCRA notice; the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP); and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation loan limit of $424,100. These provisions are all set to expire at the very end of 2017, with the exception of the NFIP. NFIP authorization was set to expire on December 8, 2017, but received a two-week extension by Congress (currently set to expire on December 22, 2017). As of now, none of the provisions have been extended past 2017. So, be sure to keep an eye on these regulations towards the end of the year.

In conclusion, there are a great many changes in store for 2018, but if you are prepared, you should be able to handle them with ease and confidence.

For any questions or concerns, feel free to give us a call at (888) 353-3933, chat with us on the website (https://www.compliancealliance.com), or email us at hotline@compliancealliance.com