The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is relaxing some of its requirements for lenders as coronavirus continues to spread. Temporarily, the CFPB will no longer require certain lenders to report quarterly information under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
The CFPB said it is working to provide flexibility to enable financial institutions to work with consumers as they respond to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Because of the pandemic, it will postpone some data collections from the industry to allow lenders to focus on responding to consumer needs. Currently, at least 200 million people in 21 states, 47 counties and 14 cities are being urged to stay home, according to the New York Times.
“As consumers seek temporary relief from lenders, the pandemic is impacting the operations of financial companies that are eager to help their customers during this unprecedented time,” CFPB Director Kathleen Kraninger said. “Our actions today are temporary and targeted to support consumers by allowing financial companies to focus their resources on assisting consumers.”
And the mortgage industry is certainly working to do just that. The mortgage industry’s biggest trade and lobbying groups are banding together to push the federal government for widespread relief for all borrowers affected by the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.
In addition to not expecting HMDA quarterly reporting, the CFPB will also not expect the reporting of certain information related to credit card and prepaid accounts under the Truth in Lending Act, Regulation Z, and Regulation E. This includes the annual submissions concerning agreements between credit card issuers and institutions of higher education; quarterly submission of consumer credit card agreements; collection of certain credit card price and availability information; and submission of prepaid account agreements and related information.
“The Bureau, along with our state and federal partners, have released prior guidance encouraging financial institutions to work constructively with borrowers and other customers affected by COVID-19 to meet their financial needs,” Kraninger said. “We will continue to issue additional guidance and policies to facilitate the ongoing collaborative relationship between companies and their customers during this time.”
The CFPB said lenders should continue collecting HMDA data to report it in its annual filings, and that it will provide new information when lenders need to resume quarterly HMDA reporting.
The following data collections are being postponed:
- A survey of financial institutions that seeks information on the cost of compliance in connection with pending rulemaking on Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act
- A survey of firms providing Property Assessed Clean Energy financing to consumers for the purposes of implementing Section 307 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act.
