Do you consider a construction loan a residential mortgage transaction (the purchase or refinancing of a dwelling), therefore requiring a written application under section 202.5(e) of Reg. B? I have always considered a construction loan to be a "purchase" transaction, but am wondering how others look at it.

Yes.

David has a really great "cheat sheet' to check loans for reg applicability (is that a word?) It is available to us all in Banker Tools , under Compliance Tools in the More Tools box. It is the Real Estate Loan Matrix. This matrix will show you, among other things, that construction loans require written applications.

Thanks.

The matrix needs updating - financial privacy disclosures, Section 32 disclosures, AfBA disclosures, etc. Kirchman also has a matrix that is not as comprehensive, but it is color coded at http://www.kirchman.com/comply//pdfs/disclreq.pdf

Kirchman also has a funds availability checklist at http://www.kirchman.com/comply/pdfs/fundavlb-qrg.pdf

If you mean a construction only loan, I was under the impression that these did not require written applications. Sc. 202.5(e) states that written applications are required for the types of loans covered by Sc. 202.13(a). The Commentary to this section states that construction only loans are not subject to Sc. 202.13, and I conclude not subject to Sc. 202.5(e). Construction/perm loans are covered. Is my interpretation correct?

Yes, I agree with your interpretation, and I was talking about a construction only loan. However, in our situation, we will not make a construction loan unless we know that we will also make the permanent loan. Even though we treat them as 2 separate loans, we know from the offset that we will be making the permanent loan, I therefore contend that we are in essence making a “construction/permanent” loan commitment. This may be a conservative approach, but I’d rather error on the conservative side.