Federal Regulation History

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.

This is a three-page summary of the history of RESPA’s affiliated business arrangement rule.  It summarizes concerns about the rise of controlled businesses, a 1980 HUD advisory on the subject, 1983 RESPA amendments, the 1988 HUD proposed rulemaking, the 1992 final HUD rule, the 1996 HUD policy statement, the 1996 statutory amendment, the resulting 1996 HUD rule change, and the 2011 recodification.

This is a summary judgment motion in California’s challenge in the Northern District of California to an OCC rule.  The OCC rule allows non-bank assignees of national banks to charge the same interest rate that a national bank could charge even where state law would otherwise prohibit such a charge by a non-bank.

This is the notice of proposed rulemaking for the origianal version of the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule, 60 Fed. Reg. 8313 (Feb. 14, 1995). The FTC proposes to implement the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act. Section 3 of the Act directs the FTC to prescribe rules, within 365 days of enactment of the Act, prohibiting deceptive telemarketing acts or practices and other abusive telemarketing acts or practices. This proposed rule led to a final rule that was later extensively expanded and amended.

This Federal Register notice, 86 Fed. Reg. 48918 (Sept. 1, 2021) withdraws the delay of Regulation F’s effective date. In 2020, the CFPB finalized two rules revising Regulation F, which implements the FDCPA. As finalized, the Debt Collection Final Rules had an effective date of November 30, 2021. On April 7, 2021, the CFPB issued a proposal to delay that effective date by sixty days, until January 29, 2022. The CFPB, by this notice, is withdrawing that proposal for reasons described in the notice.

The CFPB is seeking comment, data, and information from the public about debt collection practices. The CFPB is considering proposing rules relating to debt collection and is interested in learning through responses to this advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) about the debt collection system, about consumer experiences with the debt collection system, and about how rules for debt collectors might protect consumers without imposing unnecessary burdens on industry.

In an effort to understand the consumers’ perspective on the debt collection process, related to the CFPB’s Regulation F rulemaking, Fors Marsh Group (FMG) conducted five focus groups with two consumer groups; individuals with no debt collection experience and individuals who had been contacted by a debt collector attempting to recover a debt within the previous two years (henceforth referred to as “debt collection experience”). 

The CFPB worked with Fors Marsh Group (FMG) to develop a model validation notice for Regulation F intended to clearly communicate key information about the debt and about how consumers can respond to the notice. To assess how different content, wording, and formatting could influence consumer perception and behavior, FMG conducted interviews with consumers as they reviewed a series of model validation notices. FMG conducted 30 one-on-one interviews with consumers.

The CFPB worked with Fors Marsh Group (FMG) to develop a model validation notice for Regulation F intended to clearly communicate key information about the debt and about how consumers can respond to the notice. To assess how different content, wording, and formatting could influence consumer perception and behavior, FMG conducted interviews with consumers as they reviewed a series of model validation notices. FMG conducted 30 one-on-one interviews with consumers.

The CFPB worked with Fors Marsh Group (FMG), as part of the Regulation F rulemaking process, to develop model validation notices that will communicate effectively and clearly key information about the debt and about how consumers can respond to the notice. The effort included focus groups, individual in-depth cognitive interviews, and one-on-one user experience (UX) interviews with consumers in multiple locations across the United States.