Added on December 22, 2015
The federal bank regulatory agencies today announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank, and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. The annual adjustments are required by the CRA rules. Financial institutions are evaluated under different CRA examination procedures based upon their asset-size classification. Those meeting the small and intermediate small institution asset-size thresholds are not subject to the reporting requirements applicable to large banks and savings associations. Annual adjustments to these asset-size thresholds are based on the change in the average of the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and…
Added on December 18, 2015
HMDA Asset-Size Exemption Threshold Unchanged at $44 Million; Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan Escrow Account Exemption Threshold Declines to $2.052 Billion WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today issued two final rules regarding annual threshold adjustments under the implementing regulations for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and the Truth in Lending Act. Home Mortgage Disclosure Act The CFPB issued a final rule regarding the asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions under Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). HMDA requires that the CFPB adjust this threshold yearly by the annual percentage change in the average of Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers…
Added on November 25, 2015
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…
Added on October 15, 2015
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is updating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requirements with a new rule that will shine more light on lending practices in America's largest consumer financial market, the mortgage market. HMDA is a statute that provides the public and policymakers with information about the mortgage market and ensures market transparency. HMDA requires many financial institutions to collect, report, and disclose information about their mortgage activity. The original law was enacted by Congress 40 years ago to respond to concerns that some banks may be failing to serve their communities. Everyone in America deserves a fair shot at accessing the American Dream. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: Helps to show whether lenders are serving the housing…
Added on September 28, 2015
Company to Pay $18 Million to Minority Auto Borrowers, $3 Million to Credit Card Customers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced two separate actions against Fifth Third Bank, for discriminatory auto loan pricing and for illegal credit card practices. The joint CFPB and Department of Justice (DOJ) auto-lending enforcement action requires Fifth Third to change its pricing and compensation system to minimize the risks of discrimination, and to pay $18 million to harmed African-American and Hispanic borrowers. The CFPB's action against Fifth Third's deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products requires the bank to provide an estimated $3 million in relief to eligible harmed consumers and pay a $500,000 penalty.
Added on September 25, 2015
Settlement Provides Over $27 Million to Ensure Equal Lending Services to Predominantly Black and Hispanic Communities
The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a consent order today to resolve allegations that Hudson City Savings Bank (Hudson City) engaged in a pattern or practice of "redlining" predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in its residential mortgage lending practices. "Redlining" is the discriminatory practice by banks or other financial institutions to deny or avoid providing credit services to a consumer because of the racial demographics of the neighborhood in which the consumer lives. This resolution represents the Justice Department's largest residential mortgage redlining settlement in its history.
Added on September 22, 2015
Today, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) published the 2014 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data showing that more people took out a mortgage to purchase a home in 2014 than in 2013 and that fewer people refinanced their mortgages. As part of our work to educate consumers to make informed financial decisions, we at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – along with the other members of the FFIEC – are committed to making HMDA data clear and available to you. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act helps protect consumers by providing public data about the mortgage market. Consumers, public officials, community groups, researchers, developers, journalists, and mortgage professionals can use these data to better understand mortgage trends at a…
Added on September 22, 2015
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today announced the availability of data on mortgage lending transactions at 7,062 U.S. financial institutions covered by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Covered institutions include banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies. The HMDA data made available today cover 2014 lending activity, and include applications, originations, purchases and sales of loans, denials, and other actions related to applications. The data released today also include disclosure statements for each financial institution, aggregate data for each metropolitan statistical area (MSA), nationwide summary statistics on lending patterns, and Loan/Application Registers (LARs) for each financial institution (LARs are modified…
Added on August 25, 2015
The three federal banking agency members of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) with Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) responsibilities—the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency—announced today the availability of data on small business, small farm, and community development lending reported by certain commercial banks and savings associations, pursuant to the CRA. An FFIEC disclosure statement on the reported 2014 CRA data, in electronic form, is available for each reporting commercial bank and savings association. The FFIEC also has prepared aggregate disclosure statements of small business and small farm lending for all of the metropolitan…
Added on July 8, 2015
The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation today announced the availability of the 2015 list of distressed or underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies, where revitalization or stabilization activities will receive Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) consideration as community development. Distressed nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies and underserved nonmetropolitan middle-income geographies are designated by the agencies in accordance with their CRA regulations. The criteria for designating these areas are available on the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) website (http://www.ffiec.gov/cra). The designations continue to reflect local…
Added on June 4, 2015
RPM CEO Erwin Robert Hirt to Pay Additional $1 Million Civil Penalty
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a complaint in federal district court against RPM Mortgage, Inc. and its CEO, Erwin Robert Hirt, for illegally paying bonuses and higher commissions to loan originators to incentivize them to steer consumers into costlier mortgages. The CFPB also filed a proposed order that, if entered by the court, would require RPM to pay $18 million in redress to consumers and a $1 million civil penalty, and would require Hirt to pay an additional $1 million civil penalty.
Added on May 28, 2015
Settlement Provides $9 Million in Compensation to African-American and Hispanic Borrowers
The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) filed a consent order today to resolve allegations that Provident Funding Associates (Provident) engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination that increased loan prices for African-American and Hispanic borrowers who obtained residential mortgages between 2006 and 2011 from Provident's nationwide network of mortgage brokers.
Added on February 10, 2015
Settlement Requires Substantial Improvements to Dealerships' Policies and Provides $225,000 in Relief to Affected Customers
The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina and the North Carolina Department of Justice today announced a settlement of the federal government's first-ever discrimination lawsuit involving "buy here, pay here" auto lending. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.
Added on January 29, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today proposed several changes to its mortgage rules to facilitate responsible lending by small creditors, particularly in rural and underserved areas. If finalized, the proposal issued today would increase the number of financial institutions able to offer certain types of mortgages in rural and underserved areas, and help small creditors adjust their business practices to comply with the new rules. "Responsible lending by community banks and credit unions did not cause the financial crisis, and our mortgage rules reflect the fact that small institutions play a vital role in many communities," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "Today's proposal will help consumers in rural or underserved areas access the mortgage…
Added on January 15, 2015
The Justice Department announced today that First United Bank, of Dimmitt, Texas, will maintain uniform pricing policies, conduct employee training and pay $140,000 as part of a settlement to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination on the basis of national origin.
The settlement, which is subject to court approval, was filed in conjunction with the Justice Department's complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The complaint alleges that First United Bank charged higher prices on unsecured consumer loans made to Hispanic borrowers in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).
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