Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection November 2015 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The OCC, the Board and the Bureau are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations for their regulations that implement section 129H of the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). Section 129H of TILA establishes special appraisal requirements for ``higher-risk mortgages,'' termed ``higher-priced mortgage loans'' or ``HPMLs'' in the agencies' regulations. The OCC, the Board, the Bureau, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) (collectively, the Agencies) issued joint final rules implementing these requirements, effective January 18, 2014. The Agencies' rules exempted, among other loan types, transactions of $25,000 or less, and required that this loan amount be adjusted annually based on any annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the OCC, the Board and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. Based on the annual percentage decrease in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2015, the exemption threshold will remain at $25,500 through December 31, 2016.

The Board and the Bureau are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Consumer Leasing Act (CLA). The Dodd- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended the CLA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer leases be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Board and Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. Based on the annual percentage decrease in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2015, the exemption threshold will remain at $54,600 through December 31, 2016. Because the Dodd-Frank Act also requires similar adjustments in the Truth in Lending Act's threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions, the Board and the Bureau are making similar amendments to each of their respective regulations implementing the Truth in Lending Act elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) is requesting to renew the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing information collection titled, ``Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) 12 CFR 1002.''

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) is proposing a new information collection titled, ``Financial Well-Being National Survey.''

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) announces that the ceiling on allowable charges under section 612(f) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) will remain unchanged at $12.00, effective for 2016. The Bureau is required to increase the $8.00 amount referred to in section 612(f)(1)(A)(i) of the FCRA on January 1 of each year, based proportionally on changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), with fractional changes rounded to the nearest fifty cents. The CPI-U increased 47.61 percent between September 1997, when the FCRA amendments took effect, and September 2015. This increase in the CPI-U, and the requirement that any increase be rounded to the nearest fifty cents, result in a maximum allowable charge of $12.00.

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) is requesting to renew the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing information collection, and to revise an existing information collection, titled, ``Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C) 12 CFR 1003.''

On September 29, 2015, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) joined with the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Department of Education to release a Joint Statement of Principles on Student Loan Servicing as a framework for policymakers and market participants looking to improve student loan servicing practices, promote borrower success, and mitigate defaults. This Policy Guidance sets forth those joint principles.