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How the BCFP Has Impacted Housing Regulation

On Thursday, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP) released its 17th edition of Supervisory Highlights. In the report, the BCFP noted that it had found unfair acts or practices relating to conversion of trial modifications to permanent status and initiation of foreclosures after consumers accepted loss mitigation offers. According to the highlights report, recent examinations also identified unfair acts or practices when institutions charged consumers amounts not authorized by modification agreements or by mortgage notes.

The highlights report notes that in March, the BCFP had issued a rule intended to help servicers better understand the 2016 mortgage servicing rule. The final rule gives mortgage servicers a clearer and more straightforward standard for providing periodic statements to consumers entering or exiting bankruptcy. The rule became effective on April 19.

Additionally, the highlights report notes the implementation of the final rule in the Federal Register amending the Federal mortgage disclosure requirements under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures act and the Truth in Lending act. These amendments include creating a tolerance for the total of payments disclosure, clarifying the partial exemption for housing assistance lending, expanding coverage of the disclosure rule to include cooperative units regardless of whether State law considers the units real property or personal property, and clarifying when disclosures may be shared with third parties. The final rule took effect on June 1, 2018.

Amendments to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act included the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which provides partial exemptions for some insured depository institutions and insured credit unions from certain HMDA requirements.

To aid in the examination of HMDA data, the BCFP and the other Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) members implemented the new FFIEC Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Examiner Transaction Testing Guidelines for all financial institutions that report HMDA data. Beginning in 2018, financial institutions will have the Guidelines applied to the examination of HMDA data, to be reported by March 1, 2019.

Find the complete report from the BCFP here.

About Author: Seth Welborn

Seth Welborn is a Reporter for DS News and MReport. A graduate of Harding University, he has covered numerous topics across the real estate and default servicing industries. Additionally, he has written B2B marketing copy for Dallas-based companies such as AT&T. An East Texas Native, he also works part-time as a photographer.
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