Agencies Announce Threshold for Smaller Loan Exemption from Appraisal Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Reserve Board, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today announced that the threshold for exempting loans from special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans during 2016 will remain $25,500.

The threshold amount will be effective January 1, 2016, and is the same threshold that applied in 2015–based on the annual percentage decrease in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as of June 1, 2015.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 amended the Truth in Lending Act to add special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans, including a requirement that creditors obtain a written appraisal based on a physical visit to the home's interior before making a higher-priced mortgage loan. The rules implementing these requirements contain an exemption for loans of $25,000 or less and also provide that the exemption threshold will be adjusted annually to reflect increases in the CPI-W. If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the agencies will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year.

The Federal Register notice is available at: https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-30097