[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 141 (Wednesday, July 22, 2020)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 44228-44244]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-14692]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

12 CFR Part 1026

[Docket No. CFPB-2020-0023]
RIN 3170-AA83


Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan Escrow Exemption (Regulation Z)

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.

ACTION: Proposed rule with request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is 
proposing to amend Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending 
Act, as mandated by section 108 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory 
Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The amendments would exempt 
certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions from 
the requirement to establish escrow accounts for certain higher-priced 
mortgage loans.

DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or before 
September 21, 2020.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2020-0023 or RIN 3170-AA83, by any of the 
following methods:
     Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. 
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
     Email: [email protected]. Include Docket 
No. CFPB-2020-0023 or RIN 3170-AA83 in the subject line of the message.
     Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake--Higher-Priced 
Mortgage Loan Escrow Exemption, Bureau of Consumer Financial 
Protection, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552. Please note that 
due to circumstances associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau 
discourages the submission of comments by mail, hand delivery, or 
courier.
    Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of 
comments. All submissions should include the agency name and docket 
number or Regulatory Information Number (RIN) for this rulemaking. 
Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Bureau is 
subject to delay, and in light of difficulties associated with mail and 
hand deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, commenters are encouraged 
to submit comments electronically. In general, all comments received 
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov. In 
addition, once the Bureau's headquarters reopens, comments will be 
available for public inspection and copying at 1700 G Street NW, 
Washington, DC 20552, on official business days between the hours of 
10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. At that time, you can make an 
appointment to inspect the documents by telephoning 202-435-9169.
    All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials, 
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. 
Proprietary information or sensitive personal information, such as 
account numbers or Social Security numbers, or names of other 
individuals, should not be included. Comments will not be edited to 
remove any identifying or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joseph Devlin, Senior Counsel, Office 
of Regulations, at 202-435-7700 or https://reginquiries.consumerfinance.gov/. If you require this document in an 
alternative electronic format, please contact 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Summary of the Proposed Rule

    Regulation Z, 12 CFR part 1026, implements the Truth in Lending Act 
(TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., and includes a requirement that 
creditors establish an escrow account for certain higher-priced 
mortgage loans (HPMLs),\1\ along with certain exemptions from this 
requirement.\2\ In the 2018 Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and 
Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA),\3\ Congress required the Bureau to 
issue regulations to add a new exemption from TILA's escrow requirement 
that exempts transactions by certain insured depository institutions 
and insured credit unions. The proposed rule would implement the 
EGRRCPA section 108 statutory directive, and would also remove certain 
obsolete text from the

[[Page 44229]]

Official Interpretations to Regulation Z (commentary).\4\
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    \1\ 12 CFR 1026.35(a) and (b). An HPML is defined in 12 CFR 
1026.35(a)(1) and generally means a closed-end consumer credit 
transaction secured by the consumer's principal dwelling with an 
annual percentage rate (APR) that exceeds the average prime offer 
rate (APOR) for a comparable transaction as of the date the interest 
rate is set by (1) 1.5 percentage points or more for a first-lien 
transaction at or below the Freddie Mac conforming loan limit; (2) 
2.5 percentage points or more for a first-lien transaction above the 
Freddie Mac conforming loan limit; or (3) 3.5 percentage points or 
more for a subordinate-lien transaction. The escrow requirement only 
applies to first-lien HPMLs.
    \2\ 12 CFR 1026.35(b)(2)(i) and (iii).
    \3\ Public Law 115-174, 132 Stat. 1296 (2018).
    \4\ As discussed in more detail below, this obsolete text 
includes, among other text, language related to a recently issued 
interpretive rule. On June 23, 2020, the Bureau issued an 
interpretive rule that describes the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 
1975 (HMDA), Public Law 94-200, 89 Stat. 1125 (1975), data to be 
used in determining that an area is ``underserved.'' As the Bureau 
explained in the interpretive rule, certain parts of the methodology 
described in comment 35(b)(2)(iv)-1.ii were obsolete because they 
referred to HMDA data points replaced or otherwise modified by a 
2015 Bureau final rule (2015 HMDA Final Rule). 80 FR 66128, 66256-58 
(Oct. 28, 2015). The Bureau stated that it was issuing the 
interpretive rule to supersede the outdated portions of the 
commentary and to identify current HMDA data points it will use to 
determine whether a county is underserved. In this proposed rule we 
identify proposed changes to the comment to remove the obsolete 
text.
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    New Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi) would exempt from the Regulation Z HPML 
escrow requirement any loan made by an insured depository institution 
or insured credit union and secured by a first lien on the principal 
dwelling of a consumer if (1) the institution has assets of $10 billion 
or less; (2) the institution and its affiliates originated 1,000 or 
fewer loans secured by a first lien on a principal dwelling during the 
preceding calendar year; and (3) certain of the existing HPML escrow 
exemption criteria are met, as described below.\5\
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    \5\ When amending commentary, the Office of the Federal Register 
requires reprinting of certain subsections being amended in their 
entirety rather than providing more targeted amendatory instructions 
and related text. The sections of regulatory and commentary text 
included in this document show the language of those sections if the 
Bureau adopts its changes as proposed. In addition, the Bureau is 
releasing an unofficial, informal redline to assist industry and 
other stakeholders in reviewing the changes that it is proposing to 
make to the regulatory and commentary text of Regulation Z. This 
redline is posted on the Bureau's website with this proposed rule. 
If any conflicts exist between the redline and the text of 
Regulation Z or this proposal, the documents published in the 
Federal Register and the Code of Federal Regulations are the 
controlling documents.
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II. Background

A. Federal Reserve Board Escrow Rule and the Dodd-Frank Act

    Prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 
Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act),\6\ the Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System (Board) issued a rule \7\ requiring, among 
other things, the establishment of escrow accounts for payment of 
property taxes and insurance for certain ``higher-priced mortgage 
loans,'' a category which the Board defined to capture what it deemed 
to be subprime loans.\8\ The Board explained that this rule was 
intended to reduce consumer and systemic risks by requiring the 
subprime market to structure and price loans similarly to the prime 
market.\9\
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    \6\ Public Law 111-203, 124 Stat. 1376 (2010).
    \7\ 73 FR 44522 (July 30, 2008).
    \8\ Id. at 44532.
    \9\ Id. at 44557-61.
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    In 2010, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, which amended TILA 
and transferred TILA rulemaking authority and other functions from the 
Board to the Bureau.\10\ The Dodd-Frank Act added TILA section 129D(a), 
which adopted the Board's rule requiring that creditors establish an 
escrow account for higher-priced mortgage loans.\11\ The Dodd-Frank Act 
also excluded certain loans, such as reverse mortgages, from this 
escrow requirement. The Dodd-Frank Act further granted the Bureau 
authority to structure an exemption based on asset size and mortgage 
lending activity for creditors operating predominantly in rural or 
underserved areas.\12\ In 2013, the Bureau exercised this authority to 
exempt from the escrow requirement creditors with under $2 billion in 
assets and meeting other criteria.\13\ In 2015, in the Helping Expand 
Lending Practices in Rural Communities Act, Congress amended TILA 
section 129D again by striking the term ``predominantly'' for creditors 
operating in rural or underserved areas.\14\
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    \10\ Dodd Frank Act sections 1022, 1061, 1100A and 1100B, 124 
Stat. 1980, 2035-39, 2107-10.
    \11\ Dodd-Frank Act section 1461(a); 15 U.S.C. 1639d.
    \12\ Id.
    \13\ 78 FR 4726 (Jan. 22, 2013).
    \14\ Public Law 114-94, div. G, tit. LXXXIX, section 89003, 129 
Stat. 1799, 1800 (2015).
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B. Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act

    Congress enacted EGRRCPA in 2018. In section 108 of the 
EGRRCPA,\15\ Congress directed the Bureau to conduct a rulemaking to 
create a new exemption, this one to exempt from TILA's escrow 
requirement loans made by certain creditors with assets of $10 billion 
or less and meeting other criteria. Specifically, section 108 of the 
EGRRCPA amended TILA section 129D(c) to require the Bureau to exempt 
certain loans made by certain insured depository institutions and 
insured credit unions from the TILA section 129D(a) HPML escrow 
requirement.
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    \15\ EGRRCPA section 108, 132 Stat. 1304-05; 15 U.S.C. 
1639d(c)(2).
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    TILA section 129D(c)(2), as amended by EGGRCPA, requires the Bureau 
to issue regulations to exempt from the HPML escrow requirement any 
loan made by an insured depository institution or insured credit union 
secured by a first lien on the principal dwelling of a consumer if: (1) 
The institution has assets of $10 billion or less; (2) the institution 
and its affiliates originated 1,000 or fewer loans secured by a first 
lien on a principal dwelling during the preceding calendar year; and 
(3) certain of the existing Regulation Z HPML escrow exemption 
criteria, or those of any successor regulation, are met. The Regulation 
Z provisions that the statute includes in the new exemption are: (1) 
the requirement that the creditor extend credit in a rural or 
underserved area (Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A)); (2) the exclusion from 
exemption eligibility of transactions involving forward purchase 
commitments (Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(v)); and (3) the prerequisite that the 
institution and its affiliates not maintain an escrow account other 
than those established for HPMLs at a time when the creditor may have 
been required by the regulation to do so or those established after 
consummation as an accommodation to distressed consumers to assist such 
consumers in avoiding default or foreclosure (Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)).

III. Legal Authority

    The Bureau is issuing this proposal pursuant to its authority under 
the Dodd-Frank Act and TILA.

A. Dodd-Frank Act Section 1022(b)

    Section 1022(b)(1) of the Dodd-Frank Act authorizes the Bureau to 
prescribe rules ``as may be necessary or appropriate to enable the 
Bureau to administer and carry out the purposes and objectives of the 
Federal consumer financial laws, and to prevent evasions thereof.'' 
\16\ Among other statutes, TILA and title X of the Dodd-Frank Act are 
Federal consumer financial laws.\17\ Accordingly, in setting forth this 
proposal, the Bureau is exercising its authority under Dodd-Frank Act 
section 1022(b) to prescribe rules that carry out the purposes and 
objectives of TILA and title X of the Dodd-Frank Act and prevent 
evasion of those laws.
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    \16\ 12 U.S.C. 5512(b)(1).
    \17\ Dodd-Frank Act section 1002(14), 12 U.S.C. 5481(14) 
(defining ``Federal consumer financial law'' to include the 
``enumerated consumer laws'' and the provisions of title X of the 
Dodd-Frank Act); Dodd-Frank Act section 1002(12), 12 U.S.C. 5481(12) 
(defining ``enumerated consumer laws'' to include TILA).
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B. TILA

    A purpose of TILA is ``to assure a meaningful disclosure of credit 
terms so that the consumer will be able to compare more readily the 
various credit terms available to him and avoid the uninformed use of 
credit.'' \18\ This stated purpose is tied to Congress's finding that 
``economic stabilization would be

[[Page 44230]]

enhanced and the competition among the various financial institutions 
and other firms engaged in the extension of consumer credit would be 
strengthened by the informed use of credit.'' \19\ Thus, strengthened 
competition among financial institutions is a goal of TILA, achieved 
through the effectuation of TILA's purposes.
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    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 1601(a).
    \19\ Id.
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    Congress in 2018 enacted EGRRCPA, and section 108 of EGRRCPA 
amended section 129D of TILA.\20\ The exemption proposed in this 
rulemaking would implement that amendment. In addition, in previous 
rulemakings the Bureau issued two of the regulatory provisions this 
proposed rule proposes to amend. In issuing these provisions, the 
Bureau relied on one or more of the authorities discussed below, as 
well as other authority.\21\ The Bureau is proposing amendments to 
these provisions in reliance on the same authority, as discussed in 
detail in the Legal Authority or Section-by-Section Analysis parts of 
the Bureau's final rules titled ``Escrow Requirements Under the Truth 
in Lending Act'' and ``Amendments Relating to Small Creditors and Rural 
or Underserved Areas Under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z).'' 
\22\
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    \20\ EGRRCPA section 108, 132 Stat. 1304.
    \21\ Specifically, TILA section 129D(c) authorizes the Bureau to 
exempt, by regulation, a creditor from the requirement (in section 
129D(a)) that escrow accounts be established for higher-priced 
mortgage loans if the creditor operates in rural or underserved 
areas, retains its mortgage loans in portfolio, does not exceed 
(together with all affiliates) a total annual mortgage loan 
origination limit set by the Bureau, and meets any asset-size 
threshold, and any other criteria the Bureau may establish. See 80 
FR 59944, 59945-46 (Oct. 2, 2015).
    \22\ See 78 FR 4726 and 80 FR 59944.
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    As amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, TILA section 105(a) directs the 
Bureau to prescribe regulations to carry out the purposes of TILA, and 
provides that such regulations may contain additional requirements, 
classifications, differentiations, or other provisions, and may provide 
for such adjustments and exceptions for all or any class of 
transactions, that the Bureau judges are necessary or proper to 
effectuate the purposes of TILA, to prevent circumvention or evasion 
thereof, or to facilitate compliance therewith.\23\
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    \23\ 15 U.S.C. 1604(a).
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    Historically, TILA section 105(a) has served as a broad source of 
authority for rules that promote the informed use of credit through 
required disclosures and substantive regulation of certain practices. 
Dodd-Frank Act section 1100A clarified the Bureau's section 105(a) 
authority by amending that section to provide express authority to 
prescribe regulations that contain ``additional requirements'' that the 
Bureau finds are necessary or proper to effectuate the purposes of 
TILA, to prevent circumvention or evasion thereof, or to facilitate 
compliance. The Dodd-Frank Act amendment clarified that the Bureau has 
the authority to use TILA section 105(a) to prescribe requirements 
beyond those specifically listed in TILA that meet the standards 
outlined in section 105(a). As amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, TILA 
section 105(a) authority to make adjustments and exceptions to the 
requirements of TILA applies to all transactions subject to TILA, 
except with respect to the provisions of TILA section 129 that apply to 
the high-cost mortgages referred to in TILA section 103(bb).\24\
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    \24\ 15 U.S.C. 1602(bb).
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    The Bureau's authority under TILA section 105(a) to make 
exceptions, adjustments, and additional provisions that the Bureau 
finds are necessary or proper to effectuate the purposes of TILA 
applies with respect to the purpose of TILA section 129D. That purpose 
is to ensure that consumers understand and appreciate the full cost of 
home ownership. The purpose of TILA section 129D is also informed by 
the findings articulated in section 129B(a) that economic stabilization 
would be enhanced by the protection, limitation, and regulation of the 
terms of residential mortgage credit and the practices related to such 
credit, while ensuring that responsible and affordable mortgage credit 
remains available to consumers.\25\
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    \25\ See 15 U.S.C. 1639b(a).
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    For the reasons discussed in this document, the Bureau is proposing 
amendments to Regulation Z to implement the EGRRCPA section 108 to 
carry out the purposes of TILA and is proposing such additional 
requirements, adjustments, and exceptions as, in the Bureau's judgment, 
are necessary and proper to carry out the purposes of TILA, prevent 
circumvention or evasion thereof, or to facilitate compliance. In 
developing these aspects of the proposed rule pursuant to its authority 
under TILA section 105(a), the Bureau has considered: (1) The purposes 
of TILA, including the purpose of TILA section 129D; (2) the findings 
of TILA, including strengthening competition among financial 
institutions and promoting economic stabilization; and (3) the specific 
findings of TILA section 129B(a)(1) that economic stabilization would 
be enhanced by the protection, limitation, and regulation of the terms 
of residential mortgage credit and the practices related to such 
credit, while ensuring that responsible, affordable mortgage credit 
remains available to consumers.
    In addition, as noted elsewhere in this document, three of the 
regulatory provisions this proposed rule proposes to amend were adopted 
by the Bureau in previous rulemakings. In adopting those provisions, 
the Bureau relied on one or more of the authorities discussed above, as 
well as other authority.\26\ The Bureau is proposing amendments to 
these existing provisions as applied to entities subject to the 
original exemption in reliance on the same authorities.
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    \26\ Specifically, TILA section 129D(c) authorizes the Bureau to 
exempt a creditor that, among other factors, ``meets any other 
criteria the Bureau may establish consistent with the purposes of'' 
Part B (Credit Transactions) of TILA. See 78 FR 4726 and 80 FR 
59944.
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IV. Section-by-Section Analysis

Section 1026.35 Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

35(a) Definitions

35(a)(3) and (4)

    The escrow requirement exemption in EGRRCPA section 108 is 
available to ``insured credit unions'' and ``insured depository 
institutions.'' Section 108 amends TILA to provide definitions for 
these two terms, at TILA section 129D(i)(3) and (4). ``Insured credit 
union'' has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Federal 
Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752), and ``insured depository 
institution'' has the meaning given the term in section 3 of the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
    The Bureau proposes to include these definitions along with the 
existing definitions regarding HPMLs, in Sec.  1026.35(a).

35(b) Escrow accounts

35(b)(2) Exemptions

35(b)(2)(iii)

    EGRRCPA section 108 amends TILA section 129D to provide that one of 
the requirements for the new escrow exemption is that an exempted 
transaction satisfy the criterion previously established by the Bureau 
and codified at Regulation Z Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) to qualify for 
the existing escrow exemption.\27\ Section 1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) 
establishes as a prerequisite to the exemption that a creditor or its 
affiliate is not already maintaining an escrow account for any

[[Page 44231]]

extension of consumer credit secured by real property or a dwelling 
that the creditor or its affiliate currently services.\28\ The purpose 
of this prerequisite is to limit the exemption to institutions that do 
not already provide escrow accounts. Instead, institutions that already 
provide escrow accounts would bear the entire burden, with the burden 
for them being lower because they are continuing to provide them rather 
than commencing to provide them. This prerequisite, however, is subject 
to two exceptions.
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    \27\ The term ``existing'' or ``original'' HPML escrow exemption 
refers throughout this document to the regulatory exemption at Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii). It does not refer to the exemptions or 
exclusions listed at Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(i).
    \28\ 78 FR 4726, 4738-39.
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    First, under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2) a creditor would not 
lose the exemption for providing escrow accounts as an accommodation to 
distressed consumers to assist such consumers in avoiding default or 
foreclosure. The Bureau is not proposing to amend this exception.
    Second, under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1), the Bureau initially 
granted an exception from the escrow requirement to creditors who 
established escrow accounts for first-lien HPMLs on or after April 1, 
2010 (the effective date of the Board's original HPML escrow rule), and 
before June 1, 2013 (the effective date of the Bureau's first HPML 
escrow rule that included the Dodd-Frank exemption for certain 
creditors (original escrow exemption)). The purpose of this exception 
was to avoid penalizing creditors that had not previously provided 
escrow accounts but established them specifically to comply with the 
regulation requiring escrows.\29\ Over time, as the Bureau amended the 
HPML escrow exemption criteria and made more creditors eligible, the 
Bureau also extended the end date for the exception to the prerequisite 
against maintaining escrow accounts in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D), so 
that creditors that had established escrow accounts in order to comply 
with the Bureau's regulations could still benefit from the relief 
provided by the Bureau's amendments to the exemption criteria.\30\ The 
Bureau most recently extended the date to May 1, 2016, consistent with 
the effective date of the Bureau's latest amendment to the HPML 
exemption criteria.\31\
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    \29\ Id.
    \30\ See, e.g., 80 FR 59944, 59968 (adjusting end date to 
January 1, 2016).
    \31\ See Operations in Rural Areas Under the Truth in Lending 
Act (Regulation Z); Interim Final Rule, 81 FR 16074 (Mar. 25, 2016).
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    The Bureau proposes to amend this exception. The dates in current 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) between which creditors are allowed to 
maintain escrow accounts for first-lien HPMLs without losing 
eligibility for the exemption (April 1, 2010, until May 1, 2016) were 
necessary to allow creditors to benefit fully from the existing HPML 
escrow exemption. However, those same dates, if applied to EGRRCPA's 
new exemption criteria would cause most insured depositories and 
insured credit unions who would otherwise qualify under EGRRCPA's new 
exemption criteria to be ineligible. The reason they would be 
ineligible is that those depositories and credit unions presumably have 
established escrows for HPMLs after May 1, 2016, in compliance with the 
existing escrow rule's requirements.
    The Bureau believes that very few insured depository institutions 
and insured credit unions that do not meet the existing exemption 
criteria would benefit from the section 108 exemption if implemented 
without modification to the end date in existing Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1). These would only be institutions that (1) 
together with their affiliates, have more than approximately $2 billion 
\32\ in assets and, without affiliates, less than $10 billion in 
assets; (2) have not extended any HPMLs since May 1, 2016; and (3) do 
not offer mortgage escrows in the normal course of business. Because 
this approach would restrict access to the new HPML escrow exemption to 
institutions that do not currently originate HPMLs, its usefulness 
would be extremely limited. The Bureau believes it is unlikely that 
Congress intended to provide an exemption for institutions that do not 
engage in the business activity to which the exemption applies. 
Consequently, to better implement what the Bureau believes is 
Congress's intent, the Bureau proposes to replace the May 1, 2016, end 
date for the prerequisite against establishing escrows with a new end 
date that is approximately 90 days after the effective date of the 
forthcoming section 108 escrow exemption final rule. The Bureau 
believes that the extra 90 days would help otherwise exempt 
institutions avoid inadvertently making themselves ineligible by 
establishing escrow accounts before they have heard about the rule and 
adjusted their compliance. In addition, the Bureau proposes to amend 
comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.iv to conform to this change.
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    \32\ After inflation adjustments, this figure is now $2.167 
billion.
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    The Bureau also proposes to amend comment 35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1)-1 to 
address the date change. Comment 35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1)-1 and comment 
35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2)-1 were inadvertently deleted from the Code of 
Federal Regulations in 2019 during an annual inflation adjustment, and 
no change in interpretation of the associated regulatory provisions was 
intended. The Bureau is correcting this deletion by proposing to 
reinsert the two comments back into Supplement I, with comment 
35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1)-1 amended from its former language to reflect the 
date change described above and with no changes being made to comment 
35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2)-1. In addition, a sentence describing the 
definition of ``affiliate'' in comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.ii.C was also 
inadvertently deleted from the Code of Federal Regulations in 2019, and 
no change in interpretation was intended. The Bureau now proposes to 
add the deleted sentence back into this comment.
    Although the Bureau is proposing this date change in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and the related comment to implement the new 
exemption specified by Congress, it is possible that creditors outside 
of the scope of the proposed new exemption may now be eligible for the 
existing exemption, in spite of having established escrow accounts 
after May 1, 2016. Despite this potential change, the Bureau believes 
that few creditors would newly qualify for, and few, if any, would take 
advantage of the existing exemption as a result of the date change. 
Newly eligible creditors would likely have been eligible during date 
extensions in the past, and chose to forgo the exemption at those 
times. The Bureau does not consider it likely that more than a very few 
institutions would choose to change their business processes this time.
    The Bureau initially adopted the criterion in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) under its broad discretionary authority, set 
forth in 15 U.S.C. 1639d(c)(4), to establish ``criteria [for the escrow 
exemption] consistent with the purposes'' of the escrow provisions. In 
establishing the new exemption in section 108, Congress incorporated as 
a prerequisite the criterion in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) or ``any 
successor regulation.'' The Bureau interprets the reference to ``any 
successor regulation'' to authorize the Bureau to make amendments to 
existing Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) consistent with the purposes of 
the escrow provisions, the same standard under which the provision was 
initially authorized. The Bureau believes the proposed amendment to the 
end date in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) is consistent with the 
purposes of the escrow provisions to avoid disqualifying the vast 
majority of institutions that otherwise would qualify for the new 
exemption. The Bureau believes

[[Page 44232]]

Congress did not intend the new exemption to apply so narrowly.
    In addition, the Bureau's proposed exemption is authorized under 
the Bureau's TILA section 105(a) authority to make adjustments to 
facilitate compliance with TILA and effectuate its purposes.\33\ 
Modifying the date would facilitate compliance with TILA for the 
institutions that would qualify for the exemption but would not be 
eligible without the modification, and the failure to adjust the date 
would limit the exemption to an extremely small number of institutions. 
The Bureau proposes to set the end date 90 days after the final rule is 
published in the Federal Register because the Bureau proposes that the 
rule become effective upon publication, as explained below. The small 
to mid-size institutions affected by the rule may not be immediately 
aware of the change and might make themselves ineligible for the 
exemption by establishing escrow accounts. Such institutions would have 
90 days to learn of the amendment and avoid that problem.
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    \33\ 15 U.S.C. 1604(a).
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    The Bureau solicits comment on the Bureau's proposed amendments to 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and comments 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.iv and 
35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1)-1, and specifically the exclusion of escrow 
accounts established on or after April 1, 2010, and before [DATE 90 
DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE] from the limitation in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1). In particular, the Bureau seeks comment 
on the need for the proposed changes and the impact on consumers of 
extending the exemption to the escrow requirements in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(1).

35(b)(2)(iv)

35(b)(2)(iv)(A)

    Section 1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A)(3) provides that a county or census 
block could be designated as rural using an application process 
pursuant to section 89002 of the Helping Expand Lending Practices in 
Rural Communities Act, Public Law 114-94, title LXXXIX (2015). Because 
the provision ceased to have any force or effect on December 4, 2017, 
the Bureau proposes to remove this provision and make conforming 
changes to Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A). The Bureau also proposes to 
remove references to the obsolete provision in comments 
35(b)(2)(iv)(A)-1.i and -2.i, as well as comment 43(f)(1)(vi)-1.
    On June 23, 2020, the Bureau issued an interpretive rule that 
describes the HMDA data to be used in determining whether an area is 
``underserved.'' \34\ As the interpretive rule explained, certain parts 
of the methodology described in comment 35(b)(2)(iv)-1.ii became 
obsolete because they referred to HMDA data points replaced or 
otherwise modified by the 2015 HMDA Final Rule. The Bureau proposes to 
remove the last two sentences from comment 35(b)(2)(iv)-1.ii. In 
addition to removing the obsolete language referring to HMDA data, the 
Bureau would also remove references to publishing the annual rural and 
underserved lists in the Federal Register. The Bureau does not believe 
that such publication would increase the ability of financial 
institutions to access the information, and that posting the lists on 
the Bureau's public website is sufficient.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/final-rules/truth-lending-regulation-z-underserved-areas-home-mortgage-disclosure-act-data/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

35(b)(2)(v)

    EGRRCPA section 108 further amends TILA section 129D to provide 
that one of the requirements for the new escrow exemption is that an 
exempted transaction satisfy the criterion in Regulation Z Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(v), a prerequisite to the existing HPML escrow exemption. 
Section 1026.35(b)(2)(v) currently states that, unless otherwise 
exempted by Sec.  1026.35(b)(2), the exemption to the escrow 
requirement will not be available for any first-lien HPML that, at 
consummation, is subject to a commitment to be acquired by a person 
that does not satisfy the conditions for an exemption in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii) (i.e., no forward commitment). In adopting the 
original escrow exemption, the Bureau stated that the prerequisite of 
no forward commitments would appropriately implement the requirement in 
TILA section 129D(c)(1)(C) \35\ that the exemption apply to portfolio 
lenders.\36\ The Bureau also reasoned that conditioning the exemption 
on a lack of forward commitments, rather than requiring that all loans 
be held in portfolio, would avoid consumers having to make unexpected 
lump sum payments to fund an escrow account.\37\ To implement section 
108, the Bureau now proposes to add references in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(v) to the new exemption to make clear that the new 
exemption would also not be available for transactions subject to 
forward commitments of the type described. The Bureau also proposes to 
add similar references to the new exemption in comment 35(b)(2)(v)-1 
discussing ``forward commitments.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ EGRRCPA section 108 redesignated this paragraph. It was 
previously TILA section 129D(c)(3).
    \36\ 78 FR 4726, 4741.
    \37\ Id. at 4741-42.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

35(b)(2)(vi)

    As explained above, section 108 of EGRRCPA amends TILA section 129D 
to provide a new exemption from the HPML escrow requirement.\38\ The 
new exemption is narrower than the existing TILA section 129D exemption 
in several ways, including the following. First, the section 108 
exemption is limited to insured depositories and insured credit unions 
that meet the statutory criteria, whereas the existing exemption 
applies to any creditor (including a non-insured creditor) that meets 
its criteria. Second, the originations limit in the section 108 
exemption is specified to be 1,000 loans secured by a first lien on a 
principal dwelling originated by an insured depository institution or 
insured credit union and its affiliates during the preceding calendar 
year. In contrast, TILA section 129D(c)(1) (as redesignated) gave the 
Bureau discretion to choose the originations limit for the original 
exemption, which the Bureau set at 2,000 originations (other than 
portfolio loans).\39\ Third, TILA section 129D(c)(1) also gave the 
Bureau discretion to determine any asset size threshold and any other 
criteria the Bureau may establish, consistent with the purposes of 
TILA. Section 108, on the other hand, specifies an asset size threshold 
of $10 billion and does not expressly state that the Bureau can 
establish other criteria.\40\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \38\ EGRRCPA section 108 designates the new exemption as section 
129D(c)(2) and redesignates the paragraph that includes the existing 
exemption, adopted pursuant to section 1461(a) of the Dodd-Frank 
Act, as section 129D(c)(1).
    \39\ 12 CFR 1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B).
    \40\ However, as discussed above, EGRRCPA section 108 does 
appear to allow for a more circumscribed ability to alter certain 
parameters of the new exemption by referencing the existing 
regulation ``or any successor regulation.'' TILA section 
129D(c)(2)(C).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Bureau believes that EGRRCPA section 108 is meant to carve out 
a carefully circumscribed exemption available to insured depository 
institutions and insured credit unions that do not pursue mortgage 
lending as a major business line. Congress provided an asset size limit 
of $10 billion, approximately eight billion above the existing 
exemption, but reduced the originations limit to 1,000 loans. This 
suggests that the institutions Congress intended to exempt do not need 
to be as small as those benefiting from the original exemption, but 
their mortgage lending business should be small enough that they do not 
benefit

[[Page 44233]]

from economies of scale in providing escrow accounts.
    The Bureau now proposes to implement the section 108 exemption 
consistent with this understanding of its limited scope. Proposed new 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi) would codify the section 108 exemption by 
imposing as a precondition a bar on its use with transactions involving 
forward commitments, as explained above in the discussion of the 
forward commitments provision, Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(v), and limiting its 
use to insured depository institutions and insured credit unions. The 
other requirements for the exemption would be implemented in proposed 
subparagraphs (A), (B) and (C), discussed below.
    In addition, the Bureau proposes to provide three-month grace 
periods \41\ for the annually applied requirements for the section 108 
escrow exemption, in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A), (B) and (C). The grace 
periods would allow exempt creditors to continue using the exemption 
for three months after they exceed a threshold in the previous year, to 
allow a transition period to facilitate compliance.\42\ The new 
proposed exemption would use the same type of grace periods as in the 
existing escrow exemption at Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ See the discussion of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) below for 
further explanation of the Bureau's proposed adoption of grace 
periods in the proposed exemption.
    \42\ See 80 FR 59944, 59948-49, 59951, 59954.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition to the three-month grace periods, the new proposed 
exemption has other important provisions in common with the existing 
exemption, including the rural or underserved test, the definition of 
affiliates, and the application of the non-escrowing time period 
requirement. Thus, the Bureau proposes to add new comment 35(b)(2)(vi)-
1, which cross-references the commentary to Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii). 
Specifically, proposed comment 35(b)(2)(vi)-1 would explain that for 
guidance on applying the grace periods for determining asset size or 
transaction thresholds under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) or (B), the 
rural or underserved requirement, or other aspects of the exemption in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi) not specifically discussed in the commentary to 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), an insured depository institution or insured 
credit union may, where appropriate, refer to the commentary to Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii).

35(b)(2)(vi)(A)

    EGRRCPA section 108(1)(D) amends TILA section 129D(c)(2)(A) to 
provide that the new escrow exemption is available only for 
transactions by an insured depository or credit union that ``has assets 
of $10,000,000,000 or less.'' The Bureau proposes to implement this 
provision in new Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) by: (1) Using an 
institution's assets during the previous calendar year to qualify for 
the exemption, but allowing for a three-month grace period at the 
beginning of a new year if the institution loses the exemption it 
previously qualified for; and (2) adjusting the $10 billion threshold 
annually for inflation using the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 
Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), not seasonally adjusted, for each 
12-month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest 
million dollars.
    The existing escrow exemption at Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) includes 
three-month grace periods for determination of asset size, loan volume, 
and rural or underserved status. As explained above, the grace periods 
allow exempt creditors to continue using the exemption for three months 
after they exceed a threshold in the previous year, so that there will 
be a transition period to facilitate compliance when they no longer 
qualify for the exemption.\43\ The use of grace periods therefore 
addresses potential concerns regarding the impact of asset size and 
origination volume fluctuations from year to year.\44\ The grace 
periods in the existing exemption, and the new proposed grace period in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A), cover applications received before April 1 
of the year following the year that the asset threshold is exceeded, 
and allow institutions to continue to use their asset size from the 
year before the previous year.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ 80 FR 59944, 59948-49, 59951, 59954.
    \44\ See 80 FR 7770, 7781 (Feb. 11, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Bureau believes that, although new TILA section 129D(c)(2)(A) 
does not expressly provide for a grace period, proposing the same type 
of grace period provided for in the existing regulatory exemption is 
justified. EGRRCPA section 108 specifically cites to and relies on 
aspects of the existing regulatory exemption, which uses grace periods 
for certain factors. In fact, section 108 incorporates one requirement 
from the existing exemption, the rural or underserved requirement at 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A), that uses a grace period. The Bureau 
believes that a grace period is authorized under its TILA 105(a) 
authority \45\ to effectuate the purposes of TILA and to facilitate 
compliance. The Bureau believes that the proposed grace periods for the 
asset threshold, and the loan origination limit discussed below,\46\ 
would facilitate compliance with TILA for institutions that formerly 
qualified for the exemption but then exceeded the threshold in the 
previous year. Those institutions would have three months to adjust 
their compliance management systems to provide the required escrow 
accounts. The grace periods would reduce uncertainties caused by yearly 
fluctuations in assets or originations, and they would make the timing 
of the new and existing exemptions consistent.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ 15 U.S.C. 1604(a).
    \46\ The Bureau also believes that the use of a grace period 
with the rural or underserved requirement is appropriate and the 
Bureau is proposing to include one by citing to existing Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A). However, because the regulation already 
provides for that grace period, the discussion of the use of 
exception and adjustment authority does not list it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The new section 108 exemption is restricted to insured depositories 
and credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less. Although section 
108 does not expressly state that this figure should be adjusted for 
inflation, the Bureau proposes this adjustment to effectuate the 
purposes of TILA and facilitate compliance. EGRRCPA section 108 
specifically cites to and relies on criteria in the existing exemption, 
whose asset threshold is adjusted for inflation. In fact, monetary 
threshold amounts are adjusted for inflation in numerous places in 
Regulation Z.\47\ In addition, because inflation adjustment keeps the 
threshold value at the same level in real terms as when adopted, 
adjusting for inflation avoids undermining the objective that Congress 
intended to achieve with the threshold value. To effectuate the 
purposes of TILA and facilitate compliance, the Bureau is proposing to 
use its TILA section 105(a) authority to adjust the threshold value to 
account for inflation. The Bureau is proposing this adjustment to 
facilitate compliance with TILA and effectuate its purposes.\48\ The 
Bureau believes that failure to adjust for inflation would interfere 
with the purpose of TILA by reducing the availability of the exemption 
over time to fewer institutions than the provision was meant to cover.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ See, e.g., Sec.  1026.3(b)(1)(ii) (Regulation Z exemption 
for credit over applicable threshold), Sec.  1026.35(c)(2)(ii) 
(appraisal exemption threshold), Sec.  1026.6(b)(2)(iii) (CARD Act 
minimum interest charge threshold), Sec.  1026.43(e)(3)(ii)(points 
and fees thresholds for qualified mortgage status).
    \48\ 15 U.S.C. 1604(a).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In order to facilitate compliance with Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A), 
the Bureau proposes to add comment 35(b)(2)(vi)(A)-1. Comment 
35(b)(2)(vi)(A)-1 would explain the method by which the asset threshold 
will be adjusted for inflation, that the

[[Page 44234]]

assets of affiliates are not considered in calculating compliance with 
the threshold (consistent with EGRRCPA section 108), and that the 
Bureau will publish notice of the adjusted asset threshold each year.

35(b)(2)(vi)(B)

    EGRRCPA section 108 limits use of its escrow exemption to insured 
depositories and insured credit unions that, with their affiliates, 
``during the preceding calendar year . . . originated 1,000 or fewer 
loans secured by a first lien on a principal dwelling.'' This threshold 
is half the limit in the existing regulatory exemption and does not 
exclude portfolio loans from the total. As discussed above, the Bureau 
believes that Congress intended the provision to limit the new 
exemption to depositories of less than $10 billion that do not pursue 
mortgage lending as a significant line of business.
    The Bureau proposes to implement the 1,000 loan threshold in new 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(B), with a three-month grace period similar to 
the one provided in proposed Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) and the ``rural 
or underserved'' requirement in proposed Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(C) 
(discussed in more detail below). For the Bureau's reasoning regarding 
the adoption of grace periods with the new exemption, see the 
discussion of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) above.
    There are important differences between the 2,000-loan transaction 
threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B) of the existing exemption and 
the 1,000-loan transaction threshold in proposed Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(B) of the new exemption that would go beyond the 
number of loans. Proposed comment 35(b)(2)(vi)(B)-1 would aid 
compliance by explaining the differences between the transactions to be 
counted toward the two thresholds for their respective exemptions.

35(b)(2)(vi)(C)

    EGRRCPA section 108 requires that, in order to be eligible for the 
new exemption, an insured depository or insured credit union must 
satisfy the criteria in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A) and Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D), or any successor regulation. The Bureau proposes 
to implement these requirements in new Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(C).
    Section 1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A) requires that during the preceding 
calendar year, or, if the application for the transaction was received 
before April 1 of the current calendar year, during either of the two 
preceding calendar years, a creditor has extended a covered 
transaction, as defined by Sec.  1026.43(b)(1), secured by a first lien 
on a property that is located in an area that is either ``rural'' or 
``underserved,'' as set forth in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv). As discussed 
above, the current regulation includes a three-month grace period at 
the beginning of a calendar year to allow a transition period for 
institutions that lose the existing exemption, and EGRRCPA section 108 
incorporates that provision, including the grace period, into the new 
exemption. By following EGRRCPA and citing to the current regulation, 
the Bureau proposes to include the criteria for extending credit in a 
rural or underserved area, including the grace period, in the new 
exemption.
    Section 1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) of the existing escrow exemption 
generally provides that a creditor may not use the exemption if it or 
its affiliate maintains an escrow account for any extension of consumer 
credit secured by real property or a dwelling that the creditor or its 
affiliate currently services. However, escrow accounts established 
after consummation as an accommodation to distressed consumers to 
assist such consumers in avoiding default or foreclosure are excluded 
from this prohibition. In addition, escrow accounts established between 
certain dates during which the creditor would have been required to 
provide escrows to comply with the regulation are also excluded. As 
explained in the section-by-section discussion of Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D) above, the Bureau proposes to change the end date 
of this exclusion to accommodate the new section 108 exemption. Because 
the Bureau is proposing to make the final rule effective upon 
publication in the Federal Register (see part V below), the Bureau 
proposes to extend the end date in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) to 90 
days after such publication. The Bureau believes that the extra 90 days 
will help potentially exempt institutions avoid inadvertently making 
themselves ineligible.

Section 1026.43 Minimum Standards for Transactions Secured by a 
Dwelling

43(f) Balloon-Payment Qualified Mortgages Made by Certain Creditors

43(f)(1) Exemption

43(f)(1)(vi)

    As explained above, the Bureau proposes to remove an obsolete 
provision in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A) and remove references to that 
provision in comments 35(b)(2)(iv)-1.i and -2.i, as well as comment 
43(f)(1)(vi)-1.

V. Proposed Effective Date for Final Rule

    The Bureau proposes that the amendments included in this proposal 
take effect for mortgage applications received by an exempt institution 
on the date of the final rule's publication in the Federal Register. 
Under section 553(d) of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the 
required publication or service of a substantive rule must be made not 
less than 30 days before its effective date except for certain 
instances, including when a substantive rule grants or recognizes an 
exemption or relieves a restriction.\49\ This proposed rule would grant 
an exemption from a requirement to provide escrow accounts for certain 
HPMLs and would relieve a restriction against providing certain HPMLs 
without such accounts. The proposed rule therefore would lead to a 
final rule that would be a substantive rule that would grant an 
exemption and relieve requirements and restrictions. Thus, the Bureau 
proposes to make the final rule effective on the same day as 
publication. The Bureau seeks comment on whether the proposed effective 
date is appropriate, or whether the Bureau should adopt an alternative 
effective date.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ 5 U.S.C. 553(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

VI. Dodd-Frank Act Section 1022(b)(2) Analysis

A. Overview

    In developing the proposed rule, the Bureau has considered the 
proposed rule's potential benefits, costs, and impacts as required by 
section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act.\50\ The Bureau requests 
comment on the preliminary analysis presented below as well as 
submissions of additional data that could inform the Bureau's analysis 
of the benefits, costs, and impacts. In developing the proposed rule, 
the Bureau has consulted, or offered to consult with, the appropriate 
prudential regulators and other Federal agencies, including regarding 
consistency with any prudential, market, or systemic objectives 
administered by such agencies as required by section 1022(b)(2)(B) of 
the Dodd-Frank Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ Specifically, section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act 
requires the Bureau to consider the potential benefits and costs of 
the regulation to consumers and covered persons, including the 
potential reduction of access by consumers to consumer financial 
products and services; the impact of proposed rules on insured 
depository institutions and insured credit unions with less than $10 
billion in total assets as described in section 1026 of the Dodd-
Frank Act; and the impact on consumers in rural areas.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Bureau is proposing this rule to implement EGRRCPA section 108. 
See

[[Page 44235]]

the Section-by-Section discussion above for a full description of the 
proposed rule.

B. Data Limitations and Quantification of Benefits, Costs, and Impacts

    The discussion below relies on information that the Bureau has 
obtained from industry, other regulatory agencies, and publicly 
available sources. These sources form the basis for the Bureau's 
consideration of the likely impacts of the proposed rule. The Bureau 
provides the best estimates possible of the potential benefits and 
costs to consumers and covered persons of this proposal given available 
data. However, as discussed further below, the data with which to 
quantify the potential costs, benefits, and impacts of the proposed 
rule are generally limited.
    In light of these data limitations, the analysis below generally 
provides a qualitative discussion of the benefits, costs, and impacts 
of the proposed rule. General economic principles and the Bureau's 
expertise in consumer financial markets, together with the limited data 
that are available, provide insight into these benefits, costs, and 
impacts. The Bureau requests additional data or studies that could help 
quantify the benefits and costs to consumers and covered persons of the 
proposed rule.

C. Baseline for Analysis

    In evaluating the potential benefits, costs, and impacts of the 
proposal, the Bureau takes as a baseline the existing regulations 
requiring the establishment of escrow accounts for HPMLs and the 
existing exemption from these regulations. If finalized, the proposed 
rule would create a new exemption so that some entities that are 
currently subject to the regulations requiring the establishing of 
escrow accounts for HPMLs would no longer be subject to those 
regulations. Therefore, the baseline for the analysis of the proposed 
rule is those entities remaining subject to those requirements.
    If finalized as proposed, the rule should affect the market as 
described below as long as it is in effect. However, the costs, 
benefits, and impacts of any rule are difficult to predict far into the 
future. Therefore, the analysis below of the benefits, costs, and 
impacts of the proposed rule is most likely to be accurate for the 
first several years following implementation of the proposed rule.

D. Potential Benefits and Costs to Consumers and Covered Persons

    The Bureau has relied on a variety of data sources to analyze the 
potential benefits, costs, and impacts of the proposed rule. To 
estimate the number of mortgage lenders that may be impacted by the 
rule and the number of HPMLs originated by those lenders, the Bureau 
has analyzed the 2018 HMDA data.\51\ While the HMDA data have some 
shortcomings that are discussed in more detail below, they are the best 
source available to the Bureau to quantify the impact of the proposed 
rule. For some portions of the analysis, the requisite data are not 
available or are quite limited. As a result, portions of this analysis 
rely in part on general economic principles to provide a qualitative 
discussion of the benefits, costs, and impacts of the proposed rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \51\ See Feng Liu et al., Introducing New and Revised Data 
Points in HMDA (Aug. 2019), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_new-revised-data-points-in-hmda_report.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Of entities that currently exist, the proposed rule would have a 
direct effect mainly on those entities that are not currently exempt 
and would become exempt under the proposal. The Bureau estimates that 
in the 2018 HMDA data there are 147 insured depositories or insured 
credit unions with assets between $2 billion and $10 billion that 
originated at least one mortgage in a rural or underserved area and 
originated fewer than 1000 mortgages secured by a first lien on a 
primary dwelling, and so are likely to be impacted by the proposed 
rule. Together, these depositories reported originating 69,519 
mortgages in 2018. The Bureau estimates that less than 3,000 of these 
were HPMLs.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \52\ Some of the 147 entities described above were exempt under 
EGRRCPA from reporting many variables for their loans. Non-exempt 
entities originated 2,644 first-lien closed-end mortgages with APOR 
spreads above 150 basis points. Such mortgages below the conforming 
loan limit were HPMLs. Such mortgages above the conforming limit 
loan limit may not have been HPMLs if their APOR spreads were less 
than 250 basis points. To derive an upper limit on the number of 
HPMLs originated, all such mortgages are included in the 
calculations. The Bureau does not have data on the number of 
potential HPMLs originated by entities exempt under EGRRCPA from 
reporting rate spread data. Assuming the ratio of HPMLs to first-
lien mortgages is the same for these entities as it was for non-
exempt entities yields an estimate of 330 HPMLs originated by exempt 
entities, for a total conservative estimate of 2,974 HPMLs in the 
sample.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because of the amendment to the end date in proposed 
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1), it is possible that the proposed rule could 
also affect entities that established escrow accounts after May 1, 
2016, but would otherwise already be exempt under existing regulations. 
These could be entities that voluntarily established escrow accounts 
after May 1, 2016, even though they were not required to, or entities 
that, together with certain affiliates, had more than $2 billion in 
total assets, adjusted for inflation, before 2016 but less than $2 
billion, adjusted for inflation, afterwards. The Bureau does not 
possess the data to evaluate the number of such creditors but believes 
there to be very few of them.
    The proposed rule, if finalized, could encourage entry into the 
HPML market, expanding the number of entities exempted. However, the 
limited number of existing insured depository institutions and insured 
credit unions who would be exempt under the proposed rule may be an 
indication that the total potential market for such institutions of 
this size engaging in mortgage lending of less than 1,000 loans per 
year is small. This could indicate that few such institutions would 
enter the market due to the proposed rule. Moreover, the volume of 
lending they could engage in while maintaining the exemption is 
limited. The impact of this proposed rule on such institutions that are 
not exempt and would remain not exempt, or that are already exempt, 
would likely be very small. The impact of this proposed rule on 
consumers with HPMLs from institutions that are not exempt and will 
remain not exempt, or that are already exempt, would also likely be 
very small. Therefore, the analysis below focuses on entities that 
would be affected by the proposed rule and consumers at those entities. 
Because few entities are likely to be affected by the proposed rule, 
and these entities originate a relatively small number of mortgages, 
the Bureau notes that the benefits, costs, and impacts of the proposed 
rule are likely to be small. However, in localized areas some newly 
exempt community banks and small credit unions may increase mortgage 
lending to consumers who may be underserved at present.
1. Potential Benefits and Costs to Consumers
    For consumers with HPMLs originated by affected insured depository 
institutions and insured credit unions, the main effect of the proposed 
rule would be that those institutions would no longer be required to 
provide escrow accounts for HPMLs. As described above, the Bureau 
estimates that fewer than 3,000 HPMLs were originated in 2018 by 
institutions likely to be impacted by the rule. Institutions that would 
be affected by the proposed rule could choose to provide or not provide 
escrow accounts. If affected institutions decide not to provide escrow 
accounts, then consumers who would have escrow accounts under the 
baseline would instead not have escrow accounts. Affected consumers 
would experience

[[Page 44236]]

both benefits and costs as a result of the proposed rule. These 
benefits and costs would vary across consumers.
    Affected consumers would have mortgage escrow accounts under the 
baseline, but not under the proposed rule. The benefits to consumers of 
not having mortgage escrow accounts include: (1) More budgetary 
flexibility, (2) interest earnings,\53\ (3) potentially decreased 
prices, and (4) greater access to credit resulting from lower mortgage 
servicing costs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \53\ Some states require the paying of interest on escrow 
account balances. But even in those states the consumer might be 
able to arrange a better return than the escrow account provides.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Escrow accounts generally require consumers to save for infrequent 
liabilities, such as property tax and insurance, by making equal 
monthly payments. Standard economic theory predicts that many consumers 
may value the budgetary flexibility to manage tax and insurance 
payments in other ways. Even without an escrow account, those consumers 
who prefer to make equal monthly payments towards escrow liabilities 
may still do so, by, for example, creating a savings account for the 
purpose. Other consumers who do not like this payment structure can 
come up with their own preferred payment plans. For example, a consumer 
with $100 a month in mortgage escrow payments and $100 a month in 
discretionary income might have to resort to taking on high-interest 
debt to cover an emergency $200 expense. If the same consumer were not 
required to make escrow payments, she could pay for the emergency 
expense this month without taking on high-interest debt and still 
afford her property tax and insurance payments by increasing her 
savings for that purpose by an additional $100 next month.
    Another benefit for consumers may be the ability to invest their 
money and earn a return on amounts that might, depending on State 
regulations, be forgone under an escrow. The Bureau does not have the 
data to estimate the interest consumers forgo because of escrow 
accounts, but numerical examples may be illustrative. Assuming a two 
percent annual interest rate on savings, a consumer with property tax 
and insurance payments of $500 every six months foregoes about $5 a 
year in interest because of escrow. Assuming a five percent annual 
interest rate on savings, a consumer with property tax and insurance 
payments of $2,500 every six months foregoes about $65 a year in 
interest because of escrow.
    Finally, consumers may benefit from the proposed rule from the 
pass-through of lower costs incurred by servicers under the proposed 
rule compared to under the baseline. The benefit to consumers would 
depend on whether fixed or marginal costs, or both, fall because of the 
proposed rule. Typical economic theory predicts that existing firms 
should pass through only decreases in marginal rather than fixed costs. 
The costs to servicers of providing escrow accounts for consumers are 
likely to be predominantly fixed rather than marginal, which may limit 
the pass-through of lower costs on to consumers in the form of lower 
prices or greater access to credit. Research also suggests that the 
mortgage market may not be perfectly competitive and therefore that 
creditors may not fully pass through reductions even in marginal 
costs.\54\ Therefore, the benefit to consumers from receiving decreased 
costs at origination because decreased servicing costs are passed 
through is likely to be small. Lower servicing costs could also benefit 
consumers by encouraging new originators to enter the market. New 
exempt originators may be better able to compete with incumbent 
originators and potentially provide mortgages to underserved consumers 
because they will not have to incur the costs of establishing and 
maintaining escrow accounts. They in turn could provide more credit at 
lower costs to consumers. However, recent research suggests that the 
size of this benefit may be small.\55\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ Jason Allen et al., The Effect of Mergers in Search 
Markets: Evidence from the Canadian Mortgage Industry, Am. Econ. 
Rev. 2013, 104(10), at 3365-96.
    \55\ Alexei Alexandrov and Xiaoling An, Regulations, Community 
Bank and Credit Union Exits, and Access to Mortgage Credit, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2462128.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The costs to consumers of not having access to an escrow account 
include: (1) The difficulty of paying several bills instead of one, (2) 
a loss of a commitment and budgeting device, and (3) reduced 
transparency of mortgage costs potentially leading some consumers to 
spend more on house payments than they want, need, or can afford.
    Consumers may find it less convenient to separately pay a mortgage 
bill, an insurance bill, and potentially several tax bills, instead of 
one bill from the mortgage servicer with all requirement payments 
included. Servicers who maintain escrow accounts effectively assume the 
burden of tracking whom to pay, how much, and when, across multiple 
payees. Consumers without escrow accounts assume this burden 
themselves. This cost varies across consumers, and there is no current 
research to estimate it. An approximation may be found, however, in an 
estimate of around $20 per month per consumer, depending on the 
household's income, coming from the value of paying the same bill for 
phone, cable television, and internet.\56\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \56\ H. Liu et al., Complementarities and the Demand for Home 
Broadband internet Services, Marketing Science, 29(4), 701-20 
(2010).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The loss of escrow accounts may hurt consumers who value the 
budgetary predictability and commitment that escrow accounts provide. 
Recent research finds that many homeowners do not pay full attention to 
property taxes,\57\ and are more likely to pay property tax bills on 
time if sent reminders to plan for these payments.\58\ Other research 
suggests that many consumers, in order to limit their spending, prefer 
to pay more for taxes than necessary through payroll deductions and 
receive a tax refund check from the IRS in the spring, even though 
consumers who do this forgo interest they could have earned on the 
overpaid taxes.\59\ This could suggest that some consumers may value 
mortgage escrow accounts because they provide a form of savings 
commitment. The Bureau recognizes that the budgeting and commitment 
benefits of mortgage escrow accounts vary across consumers. These 
benefits will be particularly large for consumers who would otherwise 
miss payments or even experience foreclosure. Research suggests that a 
nontrivial fraction of consumers may be in this group.\60\ Conversely, 
as discussed previously, some consumers may assign no benefit to or 
consider the budgeting and commitment aspects of escrow accounts to be 
a cost to them.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \57\ Francis Wong, The Financial Burden of Property Taxes, 
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/55dcwuztmo8bwuv/AADfEOFVXZ8zVGzj0-Od5GCKa?dl=0.
    \58\ Stephanie Moulton et al., Reminders to Pay Property Tax 
Payments: A Field Experiment of Older Adults with Reverse Mortgages, 
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3445419.
    \59\ Michael A. Barr and Jane B. Dokko, Paying to Save: Tax 
Withholding and Asset Allocation Among Low- and Moderate-Income 
Taxpayers, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, Federal Reserve 
Board (2008), http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2008/200811/200811pap.pdf.
    \60\ Moulton et al., supra note 58. See also Nathan B. Anderson 
and Jane B. Dokko, Liquidity Problems and Early Payment Default 
Among Subprime Mortgages, Finance and Economics Discussion Series, 
Federal Reserve Board (2011), http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/feds/2011/201109/201109pap.pdf (Anderson and Dokko).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, escrow accounts may make it easier for consumers to shop 
for mortgages by reducing the number of payments consumers have to 
compare. Consumers considering mortgages

[[Page 44237]]

without escrow accounts may not be fully aware of the costs they would 
be assuming and so may end up paying more on mortgage and housing costs 
than they want, need, or can afford. Research suggests that some 
consumers make suboptimal decisions when obtaining a mortgage, in part 
because of the difficulty of comparing different mortgage options 
across a large number of dimensions, and that consumers presented with 
simpler mortgage choices make better decisions.\61\ For example, if a 
consumer compares a monthly mortgage payment that includes an escrow 
payment, as most consumer mortgages do, with a payment that does not 
include an escrow payment, the consumer may mistakenly believe the non-
escrow loan is less expensive, even though the non-escrow loan may in 
fact be more expensive. In practice, the magnitude and frequency of 
these mistakes likely depend in part on the effectiveness of cost 
disclosures consumers receive while shopping for mortgages.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \61\ Susan E. Woodward and Robert E. Hall, Consumer Confusion in 
the Mortgage Market: Evidence of Less than a Perfectly Transparent 
and Competitive Market, Am. Econ. Rev.: Papers & Proceedings, 
100(2), 511-15.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Potential Costs and Benefits to Affected Creditors
    For affected creditors, the main effect of the proposed rule is 
that they would no longer be required to establish and maintain escrow 
accounts for HPMLs. As described above, the Bureau estimates that fewer 
than 3,000 HPMLs were originated in 2018 by institutions likely to be 
impacted by the rule. Of the 147 institutions that are likely to be 
impacted by the proposed rule as described above, 101 were not exempt 
under EGRRCPA from reporting APOR rate spreads. Of these 101, no more 
than 80 originated at least one HPML in 2018.
    The main benefit of the rule on affected entities would be cost 
savings. There are startup and operational costs of providing escrow 
accounts.
    Operational costs of maintaining escrow accounts for a given time 
period (such as a year) can be divided into costs associated with 
maintaining any escrow account for that time period and marginal costs 
associated with maintaining each escrow account for that time period. 
The cost of maintaining software to analyze escrow accounts for under- 
or overpayments is an example of the former. Because the entities 
affected by the rule are small and do not originate large numbers of 
mortgages, this kind of cost will not be spread among many loans. The 
per-letter cost of mailing consumers escrow statements is an example of 
the latter. The Bureau does not have data to estimate these costs.
    The startup costs associated with creating the infrastructure to 
establish and maintain escrow accounts may be substantial. However, 
many creditors who would not be required to establish and maintain 
escrow accounts under the proposed rule are currently required to do so 
under the existing regulation. These creditors have already paid these 
startup costs and would therefore not benefit from lower startup costs 
under the proposed rule. The proposed rule would lower startup costs 
for new firms that enter the market. The proposed rule would also lower 
startup costs for insured depositories and insured credit unions that 
are sufficiently small that they are currently exempt from mortgage 
escrow requirements under the existing regulation, but that would grow 
in size such that they would no longer be exempt under the existing 
regulation, but still be exempt under the proposed rule.
    Affected creditors could still provide escrow accounts for 
consumers if they choose to do so. Therefore, the proposed rule would 
not impose any cost on creditors. However, the benefits to firms of the 
proposed rule would be partially offset by forgoing the benefits of 
providing escrow accounts. The two main benefits to creditors of 
providing escrow accounts to consumers are (1) decreased default risk 
for consumers, and (2) the loss of interest income from escrow 
accounts.
    As noted previously, research suggests that escrow accounts reduce 
mortgage default rates.\62\ Eliminating escrow accounts may therefore 
increase default rates, offsetting some of the benefits to creditors of 
lower servicing costs.\63\ In the event of major damage to the 
property, the creditor might end up with little or nothing if the 
homeowner had not been paying home insurance premiums. If the homeowner 
had not been paying taxes, there might be a claim or lien on the 
property interfering with the creditor's ability to access the full 
collateral. Therefore, the costs to creditors of foreclosures may be 
especially severe in the case of homeowners without mortgage escrow 
accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \62\ See Moulton et al., supra note 58; see also Anderson and 
Dokko, supra note 60.
    \63\ Because of this potential, many creditors currently verify 
whether or not the consumer made the requisite insurance premiums 
and tax payments every year even where the consumer did not set up 
an escrow account. The proposed rule would allow creditors to forego 
this verification process as the funds would be escrowed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The other cost to creditors of eliminating escrow accounts is the 
interest that they otherwise would have earned on escrow account 
balances. Depending on the State, creditors might not be required to 
pay interest on the money in the escrow account or might be required to 
pay a fixed interest rate that is less than the market rate.\64\ The 
Bureau does not have the data to determine the interest that creditors 
earn on escrow account balances, but numerical examples may be 
illustrative. Assuming a two percent annual interest rate and a 
mortgage account with property tax and insurance payments of $500 every 
six months, the servicer earns about $5 a year in interest because of 
escrow. Assuming a five percent annual interest rate and a mortgage 
account with property tax and insurance payments of $2,500 every six 
months, the servicer earns about $65 a year in interest because of 
escrow.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \64\ Some states may require interest rates that are higher than 
market rates, imposing a cost on creditors who provide escrow 
accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Bureau does not have the data to estimate the benefits of lower 
default rates or escrow account interest for creditors. However, the 
Bureau believes that for most lenders the marginal benefits of 
maintaining escrow accounts outweigh the marginal costs, on average, 
because in the current market lenders and servicers often do not 
relieve consumers of the obligation to have escrow accounts unless 
those consumers meet requirements related to credit scores, home 
equity, and other measures of default risk. In addition, creditors 
often charge consumers a fee for eliminating escrow accounts, in order 
to compensate the creditors for the increase in default risk associated 
with the removal of escrow accounts. However, for small lenders that do 
not engage in a high volume of mortgage lending and could benefit from 
the proposed rule, the analysis may be different.

E. Potential Specific Impacts of the Proposed Rule

Insured Depository Institutions and Credit Unions With $10 Billion or 
Less in Total Assets, As Described in Section 1026
    The proposed rule would apply to insured depository instructions 
and credit unions with $10 billion or less in assets. Therefore, the 
consideration of the benefits, costs, and impacts of the proposed rule 
on covered persons presented above represents in full the Bureau's 
analysis of the benefits, costs,

[[Page 44238]]

and impacts of the proposed rule on insured depository institutions and 
credit unions with $10 billion or less in assets.
Impact of the Proposed Provisions on Consumer Access to Credit and on 
Consumers in Rural Areas
    The proposed rule would affect insured depositories and insured 
credit unions that operate at least in part in rural or underserved 
areas. As discussed above, the Bureau does not expect the costs, 
benefits, or impacts of the rule to be large in aggregate, but because 
affected entities must operate in rural or underserved areas, the 
costs, benefits, and impacts of the rule may be expected to be larger 
in rural areas. Entities likely to be affected by the proposed rule 
originated roughly 0.9 percent of all mortgages reported to HMDA in 
2018. Such entities originated roughly 1.6 percent of all mortgages in 
rural areas reported to HMDA in 2018. Therefore, entities likely to be 
affected by the proposed rule have a small share of the overall market, 
and a small but somewhat larger share of the rural market. This 
suggests the costs, benefits, and impacts of the rule will be 
disproportionately large in rural areas.
    As discussed above, the proposed rule may increase consumer access 
to credit. It may also present other costs, benefits, and impacts for 
affected consumers. Because creditors likely to be affected by this 
rule have a disproportionately large market share in rural areas, the 
Bureau expects that the costs, benefits, and impacts of the proposed 
rule on rural consumers would be proportionally larger than the costs, 
benefits, and impacts of the proposed rule on other consumers.

VII. Regulatory Flexibility Act Analysis

    The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA) generally requires an agency 
to conduct an initial regulatory flexibility analysis (IRFA) and a 
final regulatory flexibility analysis of any rule subject to notice-
and-comment rulemaking requirements, unless the agency certifies that 
the rule will not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities.\65\ The Bureau also is subject to certain 
additional procedures under the RFA involving the convening of a panel 
to consult with small business representatives prior to proposing a 
rule for which an IRFA is required.\66\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \65\ 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq.
    \66\ 5 U.S.C. 609.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A depository institution is considered ``small'' if it has $600 
million or less in assets.\67\ Under existing regulations, most 
depository institutions with less than $2 billion in assets are already 
exempt from the mortgage escrow requirement, and there would be no 
difference if they chose to use the new exemption. The proposed rule 
would affect only insured depository institutions and insured credit 
unions, and it would affect only certain of such institutions with over 
approximately $2 billion in assets. Since depository institutions with 
over $2 billion in assets are not small under the SBA definition, the 
proposed rule would not affect any small entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \67\ The current SBA size standards can be found on SBA's 
website at https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/2019-08/SBA%20Table%20of%20Size%20Standards_Effective%20Aug%2019%2C%202019_Rev.pdf.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Furthermore, affected institutions could still provide escrow 
accounts for their consumers if they chose to. Therefore, the proposed 
rule would not impose any substantial burden on any entities, including 
small entities.
    Accordingly, the Director hereby certifies that this proposal, if 
adopted, would not have a significant economic impact on a substantial 
number of small entities. Thus, neither an IRFA nor a small business 
review panel is required for this proposal. The Bureau requests comment 
on the analysis above and requests any relevant data.

VIII. Paperwork Reduction Act

    Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA),\68\ Federal 
agencies are generally required to seek the Office of Management and 
Budget's (OMB's) approval for information collection requirements prior 
to implementation. The collections of information related to Regulation 
Z have been previously reviewed and approved by OMB and assigned OMB 
Control number 3170-0015. Under the PRA, the Bureau may not conduct or 
sponsor and, notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person is 
not required to respond to an information collection unless the 
information collection displays a valid control number assigned by OMB.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \68\ 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Bureau has determined that this proposed rule would not impose 
any new or revised information collection requirements (recordkeeping, 
reporting, or disclosure requirements) on covered entities or members 
of the public that would constitute collections of information 
requiring OMB approval under the PRA.

IX. Signing Authority

    The Director of the Bureau, having reviewed and approved this 
document, is delegating the authority to electronically sign this 
document to Laura Galban, a Bureau Federal Register Liaison, for 
purposes of publication in the Federal Register.

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1026

    Advertising, Appraisal, Appraiser, Banking, Banks, Consumer 
protection, Credit, Credit unions, Mortgages, National Banks, Reporting 
and recordkeeping requirements, Savings associations, Truth-in-lending.

Authority and Issuance

    For the reasons set forth above, the Bureau proposes to amend 
Regulation Z, 12 CFR part 1026, as set forth below:

PART 1026--TRUTH IN LENDING (REGULATION Z)

0
1. The authority citation for part 1026 continues to read as follows:

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2601, 2603-2605, 2607, 2609, 2617, 3353, 
5511, 5512, 5532, 5581; 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.

Subpart E--Special Rules for Certain Home Mortgage Transactions

0
2. Amend Sec.  1026.35 by:
0
a. Adding paragraphs (a)(3) and (4);
0
b. Revising paragraphs (b)(2)(iii)(D)(1), (b)(2)(iv)(A), and (b)(2)(v); 
and
0
c. Adding paragraph (b)(2)(vi).
    The additions and revisions read as follows:


Sec.  1026.35  Requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans.

    (a) * * *
    (3) ``Insured credit union'' has the meaning given in Section 101 
of the Federal Credit Union Act (12 U.S.C. 1752).
    (4) ``Insured depository institution'' has the meaning given in 
Section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813).
    (b) * * *
    (2) * * *
    (iii) * * *
    (D) * * *
    (1) Escrow accounts established for first-lien higher-priced 
mortgage loans for which applications were received on or after April 
1, 2010, and before [DATE 90 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL 
RULE]; or
* * * * *
    (iv) * * *
    (A) An area is ``rural'' during a calendar year if it is:
    (1) A county that is neither in a metropolitan statistical area nor 
in a micropolitan statistical area that is adjacent to a metropolitan 
statistical area, as those terms are defined by the U.S. Office of 
Management and Budget

[[Page 44239]]

and as they are applied under currently applicable Urban Influence 
Codes (UICs), established by the United States Department of 
Agriculture's Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS); or
    (2) A census block that is not in an urban area, as defined by the 
U.S. Census Bureau using the latest decennial census of the United 
States.
* * * * *
    (v) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b)(2)(iii) and (vi) of this 
section, an escrow account must be established pursuant to paragraph 
(b)(1) of this section for any first-lien higher-priced mortgage loan 
that, at consummation, is subject to a commitment to be acquired by a 
person that does not satisfy the conditions in paragraph (b)(2)(iii) or 
(vi) of this section, unless otherwise exempted by this paragraph 
(b)(2).
    (vi) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(v) of this section, an 
escrow account need not be established for a transaction made by a 
creditor that is an insured depository institution or insured credit 
union if, at the time of consummation:
    (A) As of the preceding December 31st, or, if the application for 
the transaction was received before April 1 of the current calendar 
year, as of either of the two preceding December 31sts, the insured 
depository institution or insured credit union had assets of 
$10,000,000,000 or less, adjusted annually for inflation using the 
Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, not 
seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in November (see 
comment 35(b)(2)(vi)(A)-1 for the applicable threshold);
    (B) During the preceding calendar year, or, if the application for 
the transaction was received before April 1 of the current calendar 
year, during either of the two preceding calendar years, the creditor 
and its affiliates, as defined in Sec.  1026.32(b)(5), together 
extended no more than 1,000 covered transactions secured by a first 
lien on a principal dwelling; and
    (C) The transaction satisfies the criteria in paragraphs 
(b)(2)(iii)(A) and (D) of this section.
* * * * *
0
3. Amend supplement I to part 1026 by:
0
a. Under Section 1026.35--Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage 
Loans:
0
i. Revising Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iii);
0
ii. Adding Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and Paragraph 
35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2);
0
iv. Revising Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iv);
0
v. Revising Paragraph 35(b)(2)(v); and
0
vi. Adding Paragraph 35(b)(2)(vi) and Paragraph 35(b)(2)(vi)(A).
0
b. Under Section 1026.43--Minimum Standards for Transactions Secured by 
a Dwelling, revising Paragraph 43(f)(1)(vi).
    The revisions and additions read as follows:

Supplement I to Part 1026--Official Interpretations

* * * * *

Section 1026.35--Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

* * * * *
35(b) Escrow Accounts
* * * * *
35(b)(2) Exemptions
* * * * *
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iii)
    1. Requirements for exemption. Under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii), 
except as provided in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(v), a creditor need not 
establish an escrow account for taxes and insurance for a higher-priced 
mortgage loan, provided the following four conditions are satisfied 
when the higher-priced mortgage loan is consummated:
    i. During the preceding calendar year, or during either of the two 
preceding calendar years if the application for the loan was received 
before April 1 of the current calendar year, a creditor extended a 
first-lien covered transaction, as defined in Sec.  1026.43(b)(1), 
secured by a property located in an area that is either ``rural'' or 
``underserved,'' as set forth in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv).
    A. In general, whether the rural-or-underserved test is satisfied 
depends on the creditor's activity during the preceding calendar year. 
However, if the application for the loan in question was received 
before April 1 of the current calendar year, the creditor may instead 
meet the rural-or-underserved test based on its activity during the 
next-to-last calendar year. This provides creditors with a grace period 
if their activity meets the rural-or-underserved test (in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A)) in one calendar year but fails to meet it in the 
next calendar year.
    B. A creditor meets the rural-or-underserved test for any higher-
priced mortgage loan consummated during a calendar year if it extended 
a first-lien covered transaction in the preceding calendar year secured 
by a property located in a rural-or-underserved area. If the creditor 
does not meet the rural-or-underserved test in the preceding calendar 
year, the creditor meets this condition for a higher-priced mortgage 
loan consummated during the current calendar year only if the 
application for the loan was received before April 1 of the current 
calendar year and the creditor extended a first-lien covered 
transaction during the next-to-last calendar year that is secured by a 
property located in a rural or underserved area. The following examples 
are illustrative:
    1. Assume that a creditor extended during 2016 a first-lien covered 
transaction that is secured by a property located in a rural or 
underserved area. Because the creditor extended a first-lien covered 
transaction during 2016 that is secured by a property located in a 
rural or underserved area, the creditor can meet this condition for 
exemption for any higher-priced mortgage loan consummated during 2017.
    2. Assume that a creditor did not extend during 2016 a first-lien 
covered transaction secured by a property that is located in a rural or 
underserved area. Assume further that the same creditor extended during 
2015 a first-lien covered transaction that is located in a rural or 
underserved area. Assume further that the creditor consummates a 
higher-priced mortgage loan in 2017 for which the application was 
received in November 2017. Because the creditor did not extend during 
2016 a first-lien covered transaction secured by a property that is 
located in a rural or underserved area, and the application was 
received on or after April 1, 2017, the creditor does not meet this 
condition for exemption. However, assume instead that the creditor 
consummates a higher-priced mortgage loan in 2017 based on an 
application received in February 2017. The creditor meets this 
condition for exemption for this loan because the application was 
received before April 1, 2017, and the creditor extended during 2015 a 
first-lien covered transaction that is located in a rural or 
underserved area.
    ii. The creditor and its affiliates together extended no more than 
2,000 covered transactions, as defined in Sec.  1026.43(b)(1), secured 
by first liens, that were sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred by 
the creditor or its affiliates to another person, or that were subject 
at the time of consummation to a commitment to be acquired by another 
person, during the preceding calendar year or during either of the two 
preceding calendar years if the application for the loan was received 
before April 1 of the current calendar year. For purposes of Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B), a transfer of a first-lien covered transaction 
to

[[Page 44240]]

``another person'' includes a transfer by a creditor to its affiliate.
    A. In general, whether this condition is satisfied depends on the 
creditor's activity during the preceding calendar year. However, if the 
application for the loan in question is received before April 1 of the 
current calendar year, the creditor may instead meet this condition 
based on activity during the next-to-last calendar year. This provides 
creditors with a grace period if their activity falls at or below the 
threshold in one calendar year but exceeds it in the next calendar 
year.
    B. For example, assume that in 2015 a creditor and its affiliates 
together extended 1,500 loans that were sold, assigned, or otherwise 
transferred by the creditor or its affiliates to another person, or 
that were subject at the time of consummation to a commitment to be 
acquired by another person, and 2,500 such loans in 2016. Because the 
2016 transaction activity exceeds the threshold but the 2015 
transaction activity does not, the creditor satisfies this condition 
for exemption for a higher-priced mortgage loan consummated during 2017 
if the creditor received the application for the loan before April 1, 
2017, but does not satisfy this condition for a higher-priced mortgage 
loan consummated during 2017 if the application for the loan was 
received on or after April 1, 2017.
    C. For purposes of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B), extensions of 
first-lien covered transactions, during the applicable time period, by 
all of a creditor's affiliates, as ``affiliate'' is defined in Sec.  
1026.32(b)(5), are counted toward the threshold in this section. 
``Affiliate'' is defined in Sec.  1026.32(b)(5) as ``any company that 
controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with another 
company, as set forth in the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 (12 
U.S.C. 1841 et seq.).'' Under the Bank Holding Company Act, a company 
has control over a bank or another company if it directly or indirectly 
or acting through one or more persons owns, controls, or has power to 
vote 25 per centum or more of any class of voting securities of the 
bank or company; it controls in any manner the election of a majority 
of the directors or trustees of the bank or company; or the Federal 
Reserve Board determines, after notice and opportunity for hearing, 
that the company directly or indirectly exercises a controlling 
influence over the management or policies of the bank or company. 12 
U.S.C. 1841(a)(2).
    iii. As of the end of the preceding calendar year, or as of the end 
of either of the two preceding calendar years if the application for 
the loan was received before April 1 of the current calendar year, the 
creditor and its affiliates that regularly extended covered 
transactions secured by first liens, together, had total assets that 
are less than the applicable annual asset threshold.
    A. For purposes of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(C), in addition to the 
creditor's assets, only the assets of a creditor's ``affiliate'' (as 
defined by Sec.  1026.32(b)(5)) that regularly extended covered 
transactions (as defined by Sec.  1026.43(b)(1)) secured by first 
liens, are counted toward the applicable annual asset threshold. See 
comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.ii.C for discussion of definition of 
``affiliate.''
    B. Only the assets of a creditor's affiliate that regularly 
extended first-lien covered transactions during the applicable period 
are included in calculating the creditor's assets. The meaning of 
``regularly extended'' is based on the number of times a person extends 
consumer credit for purposes of the definition of ``creditor'' in Sec.  
1026.2(a)(17). Because covered transactions are ``transactions secured 
by a dwelling,'' consistent with Sec.  1026.2(a)(17)(v), an affiliate 
regularly extended covered transactions if it extended more than five 
covered transactions in a calendar year. Also consistent with Sec.  
1026.2(a)(17)(v), because a covered transaction may be a high-cost 
mortgage subject to Sec.  1026.32, an affiliate regularly extends 
covered transactions if, in any 12-month period, it extends more than 
one covered transaction that is subject to the requirements of Sec.  
1026.32 or one or more such transactions through a mortgage broker. 
Thus, if a creditor's affiliate regularly extended first-lien covered 
transactions during the preceding calendar year, the creditor's assets 
as of the end of the preceding calendar year, for purposes of the asset 
limit, take into account the assets of that affiliate. If the creditor, 
together with its affiliates that regularly extended first-lien covered 
transactions, exceeded the asset limit in the preceding calendar year--
to be eligible to operate as a small creditor for transactions with 
applications received before April 1 of the current calendar year--the 
assets of the creditor's affiliates that regularly extended covered 
transactions in the year before the preceding calendar year are 
included in calculating the creditor's assets.
    C. If multiple creditors share ownership of a company that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions, the assets of the 
company count toward the asset limit for a co-owner creditor if the 
company is an ``affiliate,'' as defined in Sec.  1026.32(b)(5), of the 
co-owner creditor. Assuming the company is not an affiliate of the co-
owner creditor by virtue of any other aspect of the definition (such as 
by the company and co-owner creditor being under common control), the 
company's assets are included toward the asset limit of the co-owner 
creditor only if the company is controlled by the co-owner creditor, 
``as set forth in the Bank Holding Company Act.'' If the co-owner 
creditor and the company are affiliates (by virtue of any aspect of the 
definition), the co-owner creditor counts all of the company's assets 
toward the asset limit, regardless of the co-owner creditor's ownership 
share. Further, because the co-owner and the company are mutual 
affiliates the company also would count all of the co-owner's assets 
towards its own asset limit. See comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.ii.C for 
discussion of the definition of ``affiliate.''
    D. A creditor satisfies the criterion in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(C) for purposes of any higher-priced mortgage loan 
consummated during 2016, for example, if the creditor (together with 
its affiliates that regularly extended first-lien covered transactions) 
had total assets of less than the applicable asset threshold on 
December 31, 2015. A creditor that (together with its affiliates that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions) did not meet the 
applicable asset threshold on December 31, 2015 satisfies this 
criterion for a higher-priced mortgage loan consummated during 2016 if 
the application for the loan was received before April 1, 2016 and the 
creditor (together with its affiliates that regularly extended first-
lien covered transactions) had total assets of less than the applicable 
asset threshold on December 31, 2014.
    E. Under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(C), the $2,000,000,000 asset 
threshold adjusts automatically each year based on the year-to-year 
change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage 
Earners and Clerical Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-
month period ending in November, with rounding to the nearest million 
dollars. The Bureau will publish notice of the asset threshold each 
year by amending this comment. For calendar year 2020, the asset 
threshold is $2,202,000,000. A creditor that together with the assets 
of its affiliates that regularly extended first-lien covered 
transactions during calendar year 2019 has total assets of less than 
$2,202,000,000 on December 31, 2019, satisfies this criterion for 
purposes of any loan consummated in 2020 and for purposes of any loan 
consummated in 2021 for which the

[[Page 44241]]

application was received before April 1, 2021. For historical purposes:
    1. For calendar year 2013, the asset threshold was $2,000,000,000. 
Creditors that had total assets of less than $2,000,000,000 on December 
31, 2012, satisfied this criterion for purposes of the exemption during 
2013.
    2. For calendar year 2014, the asset threshold was $2,028,000,000. 
Creditors that had total assets of less than $2,028,000,000 on December 
31, 2013, satisfied this criterion for purposes of the exemption during 
2014.
    3. For calendar year 2015, the asset threshold was $2,060,000,000. 
Creditors that had total assets of less than $2,060,000,000 on December 
31, 2014, satisfied this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated 
in 2015 and, if the creditor's assets together with the assets of its 
affiliates that regularly extended first-lien covered transactions 
during calendar year 2014 were less than that amount, for purposes of 
any loan consummated in 2016 for which the application was received 
before April 1, 2016.
    4. For calendar year 2016, the asset threshold was $2,052,000,000. 
A creditor that together with the assets of its affiliates that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions during calendar year 
2015 had total assets of less than $2,052,000,000 on December 31, 2015, 
satisfied this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated in 2016 
and for purposes of any loan consummated in 2017 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2017.
    5. For calendar year 2017, the asset threshold was $2,069,000,000. 
A creditor that together with the assets of its affiliates that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions during calendar year 
2016 had total assets of less than $2,069,000,000 on December 31, 2016, 
satisfied this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated in 2017 
and for purposes of any loan consummated in 2018 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2018.
    6. For calendar year 2018, the asset threshold was $2,112,000,000. 
A creditor that together with the assets of its affiliates that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions during calendar year 
2017 had total assets of less than $2,112,000,000 on December 31, 2017, 
satisfied this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated in 2018 
and for purposes of any loan consummated in 2019 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2019.
    7. For calendar year 2019, the asset threshold was $2,167,000,000. 
A creditor that together with the assets of its affiliates that 
regularly extended first-lien covered transactions during calendar year 
2018 had total assets of less than $2,167,000,000 on December 31, 2018, 
satisfied this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated in 2019 
and for purposes of any loan consummated in 2020 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2020.
    iv. The creditor and its affiliates do not maintain an escrow 
account for any mortgage transaction being serviced by the creditor or 
its affiliate at the time the transaction is consummated, except as 
provided in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and (2). Thus, the exemption 
applies, provided the other conditions of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) (or, 
if applicable, the conditions for the exemption in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(vi)) are satisfied, even if the creditor previously 
maintained escrow accounts for mortgage loans, provided it no longer 
maintains any such accounts except as provided in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and (2). Once a creditor or its affiliate 
begins escrowing for loans currently serviced other than those 
addressed in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and (2), however, the 
creditor and its affiliate become ineligible for the exemptions in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) and (vi) on higher-priced mortgage loans they 
make while such escrowing continues. Thus, as long as a creditor (or 
its affiliate) services and maintains escrow accounts for any mortgage 
loans, other than as provided in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1) and 
(2), the creditor will not be eligible for the exemption for any 
higher-priced mortgage loan it may make. For purposes of Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii) and (vi), a creditor or its affiliate ``maintains'' 
an escrow account only if it services a mortgage loan for which an 
escrow account has been established at least through the due date of 
the second periodic payment under the terms of the legal obligation.
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(1)
    1. Exception for certain accounts. Escrow accounts established for 
first-lien higher-priced mortgage loans for which applications were 
received on or after April 1, 2010, and before [DATE 90 DAYS AFTER THE 
EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], are not counted for purposes of 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D). For applications received on and after 
[DATE 90 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], creditors, 
together with their affiliates, that establish new escrow accounts, 
other than those described in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2), do not 
qualify for the exemptions provided under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) and 
(vi). Creditors, together with their affiliates, that continue to 
maintain escrow accounts established for first-lien higher-priced 
mortgage loans for which applications were received on or after April 
1, 2010, and before [DATE 90 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL 
RULE], still qualify for the exemptions provided under Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii) and (vi) so long as they do not establish new escrow 
accounts for transactions for which they received applications on or 
after [DATE 90 DAYS AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE FINAL RULE], other 
than those described in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2), and they 
otherwise qualify under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) or Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(vi).
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2)
    1. Exception for post-consummation escrow accounts for distressed 
consumers. An escrow account established after consummation for a 
distressed consumer does not count for purposes of Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D). Distressed consumers are consumers who are 
working with the creditor or servicer to attempt to bring the loan into 
a current status through a modification, deferral, or other 
accommodation to the consumer. A creditor, together with its 
affiliates, that establishes escrow accounts after consummation as a 
regular business practice, regardless of whether consumers are in 
distress, does not qualify for the exception described in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(D)(2).
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(iv)
    1. Requirements for ``rural'' or ``underserved'' status. An area is 
considered to be ``rural'' or ``underserved'' during a calendar year 
for purposes of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A) if it satisfies either the 
definition for ``rural'' or the definition for ``underserved'' in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv). A creditor's extensions of covered transactions, as 
defined by Sec.  1026.43(b)(1), secured by first liens on properties 
located in such areas are considered in determining whether the 
creditor satisfies the condition in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A). See 
comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-1.
    i. Under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A), an area is rural during a 
calendar year if it is: A county that is neither in a metropolitan 
statistical area nor in a micropolitan statistical area that is 
adjacent to a metropolitan statistical area; or a census block that is 
not in an urban area, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau using the 
latest decennial census of the United States. Metropolitan statistical 
areas and micropolitan statistical areas are defined

[[Page 44242]]

by the Office of Management and Budget and applied under currently 
applicable Urban Influence Codes (UICs), established by the United 
States Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (USDA-
ERS). For purposes of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A)(1), ``adjacent'' has 
the meaning applied by the USDA-ERS in determining a county's UIC; as 
so applied, ``adjacent'' entails a county not only being physically 
contiguous with a metropolitan statistical area but also meeting 
certain minimum population commuting patterns. A county is a ``rural'' 
area under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A)(1) if the USDA-ERS categorizes 
the county under UIC 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12. Descriptions of UICs 
are available on the USDA-ERS website at http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/urban-influence-codes/documentation.aspx. A county for which 
there is no currently applicable UIC (because the county has been 
created since the USDA-ERS last categorized counties) is a rural area 
only if all counties from which the new county's land was taken are 
themselves rural under currently applicable UICs.
    ii. Under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(B), an area is underserved during 
a calendar year if, according to Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) 
data for the preceding calendar year, it is a county in which no more 
than two creditors extended covered transactions, as defined in Sec.  
1026.43(b)(1), secured by first liens, five or more times on properties 
in the county. Specifically, a county is an ``underserved'' area if, in 
the applicable calendar year's public HMDA aggregate dataset, no more 
than two creditors have reported five or more first-lien covered 
transactions, with HMDA geocoding that places the properties in that 
county.
    iii. A. Each calendar year, the Bureau applies the ``underserved'' 
area test and the ``rural'' area test to each county in the United 
States. If a county satisfies either test, the Bureau will include the 
county on a list of counties that are rural or underserved as defined 
by Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A)(1) or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(B) for a 
particular calendar year, even if the county contains census blocks 
that are designated by the Census Bureau as urban. To facilitate 
compliance with appraisal requirements in Sec.  1026.35(c), the Bureau 
also creates a list of those counties that are rural under the Bureau's 
definition without regard to whether the counties are underserved. To 
the extent that U.S. territories are treated by the Census Bureau as 
counties and are neither metropolitan statistical areas nor 
micropolitan statistical areas adjacent to metropolitan statistical 
areas, such territories will be included on these lists as rural areas 
in their entireties. The Bureau will post on its public website the 
applicable lists for each calendar year by the end of that year to 
assist creditors in ascertaining the availability to them of the 
exemption during the following year. Any county that the Bureau 
includes on these lists of counties that are rural or underserved under 
the Bureau's definitions for a particular year is deemed to qualify as 
a rural or underserved area for that calendar year for purposes of 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv), even if the county contains census blocks that 
are designated by the Census Bureau as urban. A property located in 
such a listed county is deemed to be located in a rural or underserved 
area, even if the census block in which the property is located is 
designated as urban.
    B. A property is deemed to be in a rural or underserved area 
according to the definitions in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv) during a 
particular calendar year if it is identified as such by an automated 
tool provided on the Bureau's public website. A printout or electronic 
copy from the automated tool provided on the Bureau's public website 
designating a particular property as being in a rural or underserved 
area may be used as ``evidence of compliance'' that a property is in a 
rural or underserved area, as defined in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A) and 
(B), for purposes of the record retention requirements in Sec.  
1026.25.
    C. The U.S. Census Bureau may provide on its public website an 
automated address search tool that specifically indicates if a property 
is located in an urban area for purposes of the Census Bureau's most 
recent delineation of urban areas. For any calendar year that began 
after the date on which the Census Bureau announced its most recent 
delineation of urban areas, a property is deemed to be in a rural area 
if the search results provided for the property by any such automated 
address search tool available on the Census Bureau's public website do 
not designate the property as being in an urban area. A printout or 
electronic copy from such an automated address search tool available on 
the Census Bureau's public website designating a particular property as 
not being in an urban area may be used as ``evidence of compliance'' 
that the property is in a rural area, as defined in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A), for purposes of the record retention requirements 
in Sec.  1026.25.
    D. For a given calendar year, a property qualifies for a safe 
harbor if any of the enumerated safe harbors affirms that the property 
is in a rural or underserved area or not in an urban area. For example, 
the Census Bureau's automated address search tool may indicate a 
property is in an urban area, but the Bureau's rural or underserved 
counties list indicates the property is in a rural or underserved 
county. The property in this example is in a rural or underserved area 
because it qualifies under the safe harbor for the rural or underserved 
counties list. The lists of counties posted on the Bureau's public 
website, the automated tool on its public website, and the automated 
address search tool available on the Census Bureau's public website, 
are not the exclusive means by which a creditor can demonstrate that a 
property is in a rural or underserved area as defined in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A) and (B). However, creditors are required to retain 
``evidence of compliance'' in accordance with Sec.  1026.25, including 
determinations of whether a property is in a rural or underserved area 
as defined in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A) and (B).
    2. Examples. i. An area is considered ``rural'' for a given 
calendar year based on the most recent available UIC designations by 
the USDA-ERS and the most recent available delineations of urban areas 
by the U.S. Census Bureau that are available at the beginning of the 
calendar year. These designations and delineations are updated by the 
USDA-ERS and the U.S. Census Bureau respectively once every ten years. 
As an example, assume a creditor makes first-lien covered transactions 
in Census Block X that is located in County Y during calendar year 
2017. As of January 1, 2017, the most recent UIC designations were 
published in the second quarter of 2013, and the most recent 
delineation of urban areas was announced in the Federal Register in 
2012, see U.S. Census Bureau, Qualifying Urban Areas for the 2010 
Census, 77 FR 18652 (Mar. 27, 2012). To determine whether County Y is 
rural under the Bureau's definition during calendar year 2017, the 
creditor can use USDA-ERS's 2013 UIC designations. If County Y is not 
rural, the creditor can use the U.S. Census Bureau's 2012 delineation 
of urban areas to determine whether Census Block X is rural and is 
therefore a ``rural'' area for purposes of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A).
    ii. A county is considered an ``underserved'' area for a given 
calendar year based on the most recent available HMDA data. For 
example, assume a creditor makes first-lien covered transactions in 
County Y during calendar year 2016, and the most recent HMDA data are 
for calendar year 2015, published in the third quarter of 2016.

[[Page 44243]]

The creditor will use the 2015 HMDA data to determine ``underserved'' 
area status for County Y in calendar year 2016 for the purposes of 
qualifying for the ``rural or underserved'' exemption for any higher-
priced mortgage loans consummated in calendar year 2017 or for any 
higher-priced mortgage loan consummated during 2018 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2018.
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(v)
    1. Forward commitments. A creditor may make a mortgage loan that 
will be transferred or sold to a purchaser pursuant to an agreement 
that has been entered into at or before the time the loan is 
consummated. Such an agreement is sometimes known as a ``forward 
commitment.'' Even if a creditor is otherwise eligible for an exemption 
in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), a first-lien 
higher-priced mortgage loan that will be acquired by a purchaser 
pursuant to a forward commitment is subject to the requirement to 
establish an escrow account under Sec.  1026.35(b)(1) unless the 
purchaser is also eligible for an exemption in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) 
or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), or the transaction is otherwise exempt 
under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2). The escrow requirement applies to any such 
transaction, whether the forward commitment provides for the purchase 
and sale of the specific transaction or for the purchase and sale of 
mortgage obligations with certain prescribed criteria that the 
transaction meets. For example, assume a creditor that qualifies for an 
exemption in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi) makes 
a higher-priced mortgage loan that meets the purchase criteria of an 
investor with which the creditor has an agreement to sell such mortgage 
obligations after consummation. If the investor is ineligible for an 
exemption in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), an 
escrow account must be established for the transaction before 
consummation in accordance with Sec.  1026.35(b)(1) unless the 
transaction is otherwise exempt (such as a reverse mortgage or home 
equity line of credit).
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(vi)
    1. For guidance on applying the grace periods for determining asset 
size or transaction thresholds under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A), (B) 
and (C), the rural or underserved requirement, or other aspects of the 
exemption in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi) not specifically discussed in the 
commentary to Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), an insured depository 
institution or insured credit union may refer to the commentary to 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii), while allowing for differences between the 
features of the two exemptions.
Paragraph 35(b)(2)(vi)(A)
    1. The asset threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(A) will adjust 
automatically each year, based on the year-to-year change in the 
average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 
Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for each 12-month period ending in 
November, with rounding to the nearest million dollars. Unlike the 
asset threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii) and the other thresholds in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi), affiliates are not considered in calculating 
compliance with this threshold. The Bureau will publish notice of the 
asset threshold each year by amending this comment. For calendar year 
2020, the asset threshold is $10,000,000,000. A creditor that during 
calendar year 2019 had assets of $10,000,000,000 or less on December 
31, 2019, satisfies this criterion for purposes of any loan consummated 
in 2020 and for purposes of any loan secured by a first lien on a 
principal dwelling of a consumer consummated in 2021 for which the 
application was received before April 1, 2021.
35(b)(2)(vi)(B)
    1. The transaction threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(B) differs 
from the transaction threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B) in two 
ways. First, the threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(B) is 1,000 loans 
secured by first liens on a principal dwelling, while the threshold in 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B) is 2,000 loans secured by first liens on a 
dwelling. Second, all loans made by the creditor and its affiliates 
secured by a first lien on a principal dwelling count toward the 1,000 
loan threshold in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(vi)(B), whether or not such loans 
are held in portfolio. By contrast, under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B), 
only loans secured by first liens on a dwelling that were sold, 
assigned, or otherwise transferred to another person, or that were 
subject at the time of consummation to a commitment to be acquired by 
another person, are counted toward the 2,000 loan threshold.
* * * * *

Section 1026.43--Minimum Standards for Transactions Secured by a 
Dwelling

* * * * *
43(f) Balloon-Payment Qualified Mortgages Made by Certain Creditors
* * * * *
43(f)(1) Exemption
* * * * *
Paragraph 43(f)(1)(vi)
    1. Creditor qualifications. Under Sec.  1026.43(f)(1)(vi), to make 
a qualified mortgage that provides for a balloon payment, the creditor 
must satisfy three criteria that are also required under Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A), (B) and (C), which require:
    i. During the preceding calendar year or during either of the two 
preceding calendar years if the application for the transaction was 
received before April 1 of the current calendar year, the creditor 
extended a first-lien covered transaction, as defined in Sec.  
1026.43(b)(1), on a property that is located in an area that is 
designated either ``rural'' or ``underserved,'' as defined in Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv), to satisfy the requirement of Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A) (the rural-or-underserved test). Pursuant to 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv), an area is considered to be rural if it is: A 
county that is neither in a metropolitan statistical area, nor a 
micropolitan statistical area adjacent to a metropolitan statistical 
area, as those terms are defined by the U.S. Office of Management and 
Budget; or a census block that is not in an urban area, as defined by 
the U.S. Census Bureau using the latest decennial census of the United 
States. An area is considered to be underserved during a calendar year 
if, according to HMDA data for the preceding calendar year, it is a 
county in which no more than two creditors extended covered 
transactions secured by first liens on properties in the county five or 
more times.
    A. The Bureau determines annually which counties in the United 
States are rural or underserved as defined by Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(A)(1) or Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv)(B) and publishes on 
its public website lists of those counties to assist creditors in 
determining whether they meet the criterion at Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(A). Creditors may also use an automated tool 
provided on the Bureau's public website to determine whether specific 
properties are located in areas that qualify as ``rural'' or 
``underserved'' according to the definitions in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv) 
for a particular calendar year. In addition, the U.S. Census Bureau may 
also provide on its public website an automated address search tool 
that specifically indicates if a property address is located in an 
urban area for purposes of the Census Bureau's most recent delineation 
of urban areas. For any calendar year that begins after the date on 
which the Census Bureau

[[Page 44244]]

announced its most recent delineation of urban areas, a property is 
located in an area that qualifies as ``rural'' according to the 
definitions in Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv) if the search results provided 
for the property by any such automated address search tool available on 
the Census Bureau's public website do not identify the property as 
being in an urban area.
    B. For example, if a creditor extended during 2017 a first-lien 
covered transaction that is secured by a property that is located in an 
area that meets the definition of rural or underserved under Sec.  
1026.35(b)(2)(iv), the creditor meets this element of the exception for 
any transaction consummated during 2018.
    C. Alternatively, if the creditor did not extend in 2017 a 
transaction that meets the definition of rural or underserved test 
under Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv), the creditor satisfies this criterion 
for any transaction consummated during 2018 for which it received the 
application before April 1, 2018, if it extended during 2016 a first-
lien covered transaction that is secured by a property that is located 
in an area that meets the definition of rural or underserved under 
Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iv).
    ii. During the preceding calendar year, or, if the application for 
the transaction was received before April 1 of the current calendar 
year, during either of the two preceding calendar years, the creditor 
together with its affiliates extended no more than 2,000 covered 
transactions, as defined by Sec.  1026.43(b)(1), secured by first 
liens, that were sold, assigned, or otherwise transferred to another 
person, or that were subject at the time of consummation to a 
commitment to be acquired by another person, to satisfy the requirement 
of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(B).
    iii. As of the preceding December 31st, or, if the application for 
the transaction was received before April 1 of the current calendar 
year, as of either of the two preceding December 31sts, the creditor 
and its affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured 
by first liens, together, had total assets that do not exceed the 
applicable asset threshold established by the Bureau, to satisfy the 
requirement of Sec.  1026.35(b)(2)(iii)(C). The Bureau publishes notice 
of the asset threshold each year by amending comment 35(b)(2)(iii)-
1.iii.

    Dated: June 29, 2020.
Laura Galban,
Federal Register Liaison, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2020-14692 Filed 7-21-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P