[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 225 (Friday, November 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55810-55829]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25434]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION


Final Redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application Status 
Under Regulation B

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Bureau official approval.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is publishing a 
notice pursuant to section 706(e) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act 
concerning the update of the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan 
Application to include an applicant language preference question.

DATES: This official approval is issued November 20, 2017.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Marta Tanenhaus and James Wylie, 
Senior Counsels, Office of Regulations, Consumer Financial Protection 
Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 20552, at 202-435-7700.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) administers 
the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. 1691, et seq. and 
its implementing regulation, Regulation B, 12 CFR part 1002. Section 
706(e) of ECOA, as amended, provides that no provision of ECOA imposing 
liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in 
conformity with any official rule, regulation, or interpretation 
thereof by the Bureau or in conformity with any interpretation or 
approval by an official or employee of the Bureau duly authorized by 
the Bureau to issue such an interpretation or approval. This notice 
(Bureau official approval) constitutes such an interpretation or 
approval, and therefore section 706(e) protects a creditor from civil 
liability under ECOA for any act done or omitted in good faith in 
conformity with this notice.
    The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and the Federal National 
Mortgage Association (collectively, the Enterprises), under the 
conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), issued a 
revised and redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application on August 
23, 2016 (redesigned URLA). That issuance was part of the effort of 
these entities to update the Uniform Loan Application Dataset (ULAD) in 
conjunction with the redesigned URLA. Bureau staff reviewed the 
redesigned URLA in accordance with the request by FHFA and the 
Enterprises for a Bureau official approval of the redesigned URLA under 
ECOA and Regulation B, and the Bureau issued a Bureau official approval 
notice on September 23, 2016, which was published in the Federal 
Register on September 29, 2016.\1\ That notice states that Bureau staff 
determined that the relevant language in the redesigned URLA is in 
compliance with the regulatory provisions of Regulation B Sec.  
1002.5(b) through (d), regarding requests for protected applicant-
characteristic information and certain other information. The notice 
also recognizes that the use of the redesigned URLA by creditors is not 
required under Regulation B. The notice goes on to state that a 
creditor that uses the redesigned URLA without any modification that 
would violate Sec.  1002.5(b) through (d) would act in compliance with 
Sec.  1002.5(b) through (d).
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    \1\ 81 FR 66930 (Sept. 29, 2016), https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/09/29/2016-23555/status-of-new-uniform-residential-loan-application-and-collection-of-expanded-home-mortgage. The redesigned URLA is attached to the notice.
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    On November 17, 2017, the Enterprises, under the conservatorship of 
the FHFA, issued an update to the redesigned URLA that included, among 
other modifications, an additional question concerning an applicant's 
language preference (final redesigned URLA).\2\ Bureau staff has 
reviewed the final redesigned URLA, including the additional language 
preference question, in accordance with the request by FHFA for a 
Bureau official approval under ECOA and Regulation B. Bureau staff 
specifically reviewed the question with respect to Regulation B Sec.  
1002.5(b) concerning requests for information about national origin.
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    \2\ See final redesigned URLA (Borrower Information, Additional 
Borrower, Unmarried Addendum, Lender Loan Information, Continuation 
Sheet, and Demographic Information Addendum) attached to this notice 
under Section IV. See also https://www.fanniemae.com/singlefamily/uniform-residential-loan-application and http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/sell/ulad.html.
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II. Bureau Official Approval

    Bureau staff has determined that the final redesigned URLA is in 
compliance with Sec.  1002.5(b) through (d).\3\ A creditor's use of the 
final redesigned URLA without any modification that would violate Sec.  
1002.5(b) through (d) would act in compliance with Sec.  1002.5(b) 
through (d). Bureau staff has also determined that because the 
substance and form of section 7 of the final redesigned URLA is 
substantially similar to the form the Bureau provides as a model form 
in Regulation C, the final redesigned URLA may be used in complying 
with Sec.  1002.13.\4\ A creditor's

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use of the final redesigned URLA is not required under Regulation B.
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    \3\ Regulation B Sec.  1002.5(b) provides rules concerning 
requests for information about race, color, religion, national 
origin, or sex. Section 1002.5(c) provides rules concerning requests 
for information about a spouse or former spouse. Section 1002.5(d) 
provides rules concerning requests for information regarding marital 
status; income from alimony, child support, or separate maintenance; 
and childbearing or childrearing.
    \4\ Regulation C implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act 
(HMDA). See Regulation C, 12 CFR part 1003, appendix B, Sample Data 
Collection Form. Effective January 1, 2018, Regulation B Sec.  
1002.13(a) comment 7 provides that, ``[f]or applications subject to 
Sec.  1002.13(a)(1), a creditor that collects information about the 
ethnicity, race, and sex of an applicant in compliance with the 
requirements of appendix B to 12 CFR part 1003 is acting in 
compliance with Sec.  1002.13 concerning the collection of an 
applicant's ethnicity, race, and sex information.'' See Amendments 
to Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) Ethnicity and Race 
Information Collection, 82 FR 45680, 45689 (Oct. 2, 2017).
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    The issuance of this Bureau official approval has been duly 
authorized by the Director of the Bureau and provides the protection 
afforded under section 706(e) of ECOA.

III. Regulatory Requirements

    This Bureau official approval is an approval or interpretation 
exempt from notice and comment rulemaking requirements under the 
Administrative Procedure Act. See 5 U.S.C. 551, 553(b). Because no 
notice of proposed rulemaking is required, the Regulatory Flexibility 
Act does not require an initial or final regulatory flexibility 
analysis. 5 U.S.C. 603(a), 604(a). The Bureau has determined that this 
notice does not impose any new or revise any existing recordkeeping, 
reporting, or disclosure requirements on covered entities or members of 
the public that would be collections of information requiring approval 
from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501, et seq.
    The existing information collections required by ECOA and 
Regulation B have been approved by OMB under OMB Control #3170-0013, 
and the information collections for HMDA and Regulation C are approved 
under OMB Control #3170-0008. The Bureau's approval of the updated 
redesigned URLA does not add or alter any information collections 
approved under either rule.

IV. Final Redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application

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    Dated: November 20, 2017.
David Silberman,
Acting Deputy Director of the Bureau and Associate Director, Division 
of Research, Markets, and Regulations, Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection.
[FR Doc. 2017-25434 Filed 11-22-17; 8:45 am]
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