Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection May 2013 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing a final rule delaying the June 1, 2013, effective date of a prohibition on creditors financing credit insurance premiums in connection with certain consumer credit transactions secured by a dwelling. The prohibition was adopted in the Loan Originator Compensation Requirements under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) Final Rule, issued on January 20, 2013, and published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2013. The Bureau is delaying the effective date until January 10, 2014, to permit the Bureau to clarify, before the provision takes effect, its applicability to transactions other than those in which a lump-sum premium is added to the loan amount at closing. The new effective date will be January 10, 2014, but the Bureau will solicit comment on the appropriate effective date at the same time that it seeks comment on clarifications. (The Bureau is not contemplating extending the effective date beyond January 10, 2014.)

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending its regulation which implements the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, and the official interpretation to the regulation. This final rule (the 2013 Final Rule) modifies the final rules issued by the Bureau in February, July, and August 2012 (collectively the 2012 Final Rule) that implement section 1073 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act regarding remittance transfers. The amendments address three specific issues. First, the 2013 Final Rule modifies the 2012 Final Rule to make optional, in certain circumstances, the requirement to disclose fees imposed by a designated recipient's institution. Second and relatedly, the 2013 Final Rule also makes optional the requirement to disclose taxes collected by a person other than the remittance transfer provider. In place of these two former requirements, the 2013 Final Rule requires disclaimers to be added to the rule's disclosures indicating that the recipient may receive less than the disclosed total due to the fees and taxes for which disclosure is now optional. Finally, the 2013 Final Rule revises the error resolution provisions that apply when a remittance transfer is not delivered to a designated recipient because the sender provided incorrect or insufficient information, and, in particular, when a sender provides an incorrect account number or recipient institution identifier that results in the transferred funds being deposited in the wrong account.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is proposing to temporarily delay the June 1, 2013, effective date of a prohibition on creditors financing credit insurance premiums in connection with certain consumer credit transactions secured by a dwelling. The prohibition was adopted in the Loan Originator Compensation Requirements under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) Final Rule, issued on January 20, 2013. Temporary delay of the effective date would permit the Bureau to clarify, before the provision takes effect, its applicability to transactions other than those in which a lump-sum premium is added to the loan amount at closing.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act or Act) establishes a ``Consumer Financial Civil Penalty Fund'' (Civil Penalty Fund) into which the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) must deposit any civil penalty it obtains against any person in any judicial or administrative action under Federal consumer financial laws. Under the Act, funds in the Civil Penalty Fund may be used for payments to the victims of activities for which civil penalties have been imposed under Federal consumer financial laws. In addition, to the extent that such victims cannot be located or such payments are otherwise not practicable, the Bureau may use funds in the Civil Penalty Fund for the purpose of consumer education and financial literacy programs. This proposal is related to a final rule published elsewhere in today's Federal Register. That final rule implements the statutory Civil Penalty Fund provisions by articulating the Bureau's interpretation of what kinds of payments to victims are appropriate and by establishing procedures for allocating funds for such payments to victims and for consumer education and financial literacy programs. This notice of proposed rulemaking seeks comments on possible revisions, adjustments, or refinements to the rule.

This rule proposes amendments to some of the final mortgage rules issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) in January of 2013. These amendments clarify or correct provisions on the relation to State law of Regulation X's servicing provisions; the small servicer exemption from certain servicing rules; the use of government- sponsored enterprise and Federal agency purchase, guarantee or insurance eligibility for determining qualified mortgage status; and the determination of debt and income for purposes of originating qualified mortgages.

In accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, as amended, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, hereinto referred to as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau), gives notice of the establishment of a revised Privacy Act System of Records.