Proposed changes released in May to set the coverage threshold for home loan data reporting at either 50 or 100 closed-end mortgage loans, in either of the two preceding years, and set the threshold for open-end lines of credit at 200 were reissued for comment Wednesday with an Oct. 15 comment deadline.
The proposals, issued in May by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), would revise the coverage thresholds for lenders required to collect and report mortgage application and loan data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which is implemented by Regulation C. The bureau said it is extending the comment deadline on the coverage thresholds so commenters can work from the 2018 HMDA data slated for release this summer.
Under the May proposal, institutions originating fewer than either 50 closed-end mortgage loans, or alternatively 100 closed-end mortgage loans, in either of the two preceding calendar years would not have to report such data as of Jan. 1, 2020. The proposed rule would also adjust the threshold for reporting data about open-end lines of credit by extending to Jan. 1, 2022, the current temporary threshold of 500 open-end lines of credit and setting the threshold at 200 open-end lines of credit upon the expiration of the proposed extension of the temporary threshold. The comment deadline closed June 12.
Given the added time now being taken on the proposal, the bureau says it will no longer be able to make the permanent closed-end coverage threshold effective Jan. 1, 2020, as proposed. It’s therefore seeking comment on an appropriate effective date should the revised coverage threshold be finalized.
“Specifically, the Bureau requests comment on the costs and benefits of a mid-year effective date during 2020 (e.g., May 2020) versus a January 1, 2021 effective date,” states the bureau’s notice for the Federal Register. “With respect to the alternative of a mid-year effective date during 2020, the Bureau also requests comment on the costs and benefits of specific days of the week or times of the month, quarter, or year for a new closed-end coverage threshold to take effect and whether there are any other considerations that the Bureau should address in a final rule if it were to adopt a mid-year effective date.”
As for the proposed open-end coverage threshold, the proposed effective date – Jan. 1, 2022 – is still doable if the bureau opts to keep it, the notice says.
The new Oct. 15 comment deadline for HMDA coverage thresholds is the same that the bureau set in June in extending the comment period on its advance notice of proposed rulemaking on HMDA data points (when it also first announced it planned to extend the comment period on the coverage thresholds). The ANPR solicits comment on certain data points in the bureau’s October 2015 final rule that were added to Regulation C or revised to require additional information, and on coverage of certain business- or commercial-purpose loans.
Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C); Reopening of Comment Period
RR: Consumer bureau extends comment deadline for HMDA data points ANPR; comment period on coverage thresholds to be reopened (June 27, 2019)