Two new fact sheets focusing on appraisals and other valuations and their delivery in home mortgage loan applications were released Thursday by the federal consumer financial protection agency, which said the documents were issued in response to frequently asked questions.
The fact sheets by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) deal with transaction coverage and delivery of appraisals under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The transaction coverage fact sheet covers questions posed to the bureau since it issued its ECOA Valuations Rule in 2013. That bureau noted that that rule amended Regulation B to require creditors to provide applicants free copies of all appraisals and other written valuations developed in connection with an application secured by a first lien on a dwelling and to notify applicants of their right to receive copies of appraisals within three business days.
The delivery of appraisals fact sheet, the bureau said, is intended to explain the delivery requirements for appraisals under the Valuations Rule. The rule, CFPB noted, guarantees that applicants receive important information about the value of their homes in a mortgage transaction. That information includes copies of all appraisals and other written valuations and notification to all applicants of their right to receive the copies of appraisals and valuations.
According to CFPB, the fact sheet uses illustrations to help explain the “prompt delivery” of all copies of appraisals (including what is, and is not, considered “prompt”).