CFPB

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this final rule amending the regulation text and official interpretations for Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

With certain exceptions, Regulation Z requires creditors to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer's ability to repay any residential mortgage loan, and loans that meet Regulation Z's requirements for “qualified mortgages” obtain certain protections from liability. One category of qualified mortgages (QMs) is loans that are eligible for purchase or guarantee by either the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac).

In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is requesting to renew the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval for an existing information collection, titled, ‘‘Truth In Lending Act (Regulation Z) 12 CFR 1026.’’

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is amending the official commentary that interprets the requirements of the Bureau's Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to reflect a change in the asset-size threshold for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan based on the annual percentage change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The Board and the Bureau are publishing final rules amending the official interpretations and commentary for the agencies' regulations that implement the Truth in Lending Act (TILA). The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amended TILA by requiring that the dollar threshold for exempt consumer credit transactions be adjusted annually by the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W).

The OCC, the Board, and the Bureau are finalizing amendments to 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.

 CFPB Consumer Financial Protection Circular 2022-05 on deals with debt collection and consumer reporting practices involving invalid nursing home debts. Under the Nursing Home Reform Act, a nursing facility may not condition a resident’s admission or continued stay on receiving a guarantee of payment from a third party, such as a relative or friend. Contractual provisions that violate that prohibition are illegal and unenforceable.

This notification letter from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and the CFPB is directed to the attention of nursing facilities and debt collectors.  It reminds them that the Nursing Home Reform Act (NHRA) prohibits nursing facilities from requesting or requiring that a third party personally guarantee payment to the facility as a condition of a resident’s admission or continued stay in the facility. Contract terms that conflict with the NHRA are unlawful, and alleged debts resulting from such unlawful contract terms are invalid and unenforceable.

This CFPB Amicus Brief before the Seventh Circuit in Hopkins v. Collecto deals with whether a debt collector violate the FDCPA by accurately stating that the debt it is seeking to collect includes $0.00 in interest and collection fees, including when interest and collection fees are not currently accruing.

This CFPB amicus brief before the Seventh Circuit in DeGroot v. Client Services deals with two questions. 1. Does a debt collector violate the FDCPA by accurately itemizing the interest and fees that are included in a debt it is seeking to collect, including when the interest and fees are $0.00?   2. Does a debt collector violate the FDCPA by accurately disclosing as part of a time-limited settlement offer that interest will not be charged

while the collector services the consumer’s account?