87 Fed. Reg. 80435 (Dec. 30, 2022)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) is amending the official commentary to its Regulation Z in order to make annual adjustments to the asset-size thresholds exempting certain creditors from the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan (HPML). These changes reflect updates to the exemption from the escrow requirement in the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) for creditors that, together with their affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured by first liens, had total assets of less than $2 billion (adjusted annually for inflation). They also reflect updates to the exemption the Bureau added, by implementing section 108 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA), for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (adjusted annually for inflation). These amendments are based on the annual percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Based on the 8.6 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2022, the exemption threshold for creditors and their affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured by first liens is adjusted to $2.537 billion from $2.336 billion and the exemption threshold for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less is adjusted to $11.374 billion from $10.473 billion.