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1003.1 Authority, purpose, and scope

(a) Authority. This part, known as Regulation C, is issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) pursuant to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), as amended. The information-collection requirements have been approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and have been assigned OMB numbers for institutions reporting data to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (1557-0159), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (3064-0046), the Federal Reserve System (7100-0247), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (2502-0529), the National Credit Union Administration (3133-0166), and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (3170-0008).

(b) Purpose. (1) This part implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which is intended to provide the public with loan data that can be used:

(i) To help determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities;

(ii) To assist public officials in distributing public-sector investment so as to attract private investment to areas where it is needed; and

(iii) To assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination statutes.

(2) Neither the act nor this part is intended to encourage unsound lending practices or the allocation of credit.

(c) Scope. This part applies to financial institutions as defined in § 1003.2(g). This part requires a financial institution to submit data to the appropriate Federal agency for the financial institution as defined in § 1003.5(a)(4), and to disclose certain data to the public, about covered loans for which the financial institution receives applications, or that it originates or purchases, and that are secured by a dwelling located in a State of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.


COMMENTARY

Section 1003.1--Authority, Purpose, and Scope


1(c) Scope.

1. General. The comments in this section address issues affecting coverage of institutions and exemptions from coverage.

2. The broker rule and the meaning of “broker” and “investor.” For the purposes of the guidance given in this commentary, an institution that takes and processes a loan application and arranges for another institution to acquire the loan at or after closing is acting as a “broker,” and an institution that acquires a loan from a broker at or after closing is acting as an “investor.” (The terms used in this commentary may have different meanings in certain parts of the mortgage lending industry, and other terms may be used in place of these terms, for example in the Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance programs.) Depending on the facts, a broker may or may not make a credit decision on an application (and thus it may or may not have reporting responsibilities). If the broker makes a credit decision, it reports that decision; if it does not make a credit decision, it does not report. If an investor reviews an application and makes a credit decision prior to closing, the investor reports that decision. If the investor does not review the application prior to closing, it reports only the loans that it purchases; it does not report the loans it does not purchase. An institution that makes a credit decision on an application prior to closing reports that decision regardless of whose name the loan closes in.

3. Illustrations of the broker rule. Assume that, prior to closing, four investors receive the same application from a broker; two deny it, one approves it, and one approves it and acquires the loan. In these circumstances, the first two report denials, the third reports the transaction as approved but not accepted, and the fourth reports an origination (whether the loan closes in the name of the broker or the investor). Alternatively, assume that the broker denies a loan before sending it to an investor; in this situation, the broker reports a denial.

4. Broker's use of investor's underwriting criteria. If a broker makes a credit decision based on underwriting criteria set by an investor, but without the investor's review prior to closing, the broker has made the credit decision. The broker reports as an origination a loan that it approves and closes, and reports as a denial an application that it turns down (either because the application does not meet the investor's underwriting guidelines or for some other reason). The investor reports as purchases only those loans it purchases.

5. Insurance and other criteria. If an institution evaluates an application based on the criteria or actions of a third party other than an investor (such as a government or private insurer or guarantor), the institution must report the action taken on the application (loan originated, approved but not accepted, or denied, for example).

6. Credit decision of agent is decision of principal. If an institution approves loans through the actions of an agent, the institution must report the action taken on the application (loan originated, approved but not accepted, or denied, for example). State law determines whether one party is the agent of another.

7. Affiliate bank underwriting (250.250 review). If an institution makes an independent evaluation of the creditworthiness of an applicant (for example, as part of a preclosing review by an affiliate bank under 12 CFR 250.250, a regulation of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System that interprets section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act), the institution is making a credit decision. If the institution then acquires the loan, it reports the loan as an origination whether the loan closes in the name of the institution or its affiliate. An institution that does not acquire the loan but takes some other action reports that action.

8. Participation loan. An institution that originates a loan and then sells partial interests to other institutions reports the loan as an origination. An institution that acquires only a partial interest in such a loan does not report the transaction even if it has participated in the underwriting and origination of the loan.

9. Assumptions. An assumption occurs when an institution enters into a written agreement accepting a new borrower as the obligor on an existing obligation. An institution reports an assumption (or an application for an assumption) as a home purchase loan in the amount of the outstanding principal. If a transaction does not involve a written agreement between a new borrower and the institution, it is not an assumption for HMDA purposes and is not reported.

 

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