CFPB proposes changes to Reg B

The Bureau has announced a proposal to increase flexibility for mortgage lenders in collecting demographic information. The CFPB’s proposal would provide compliance flexibility for individual mortgage lenders, and would also support the broader mortgage industry’s ability to use consistent forms and compliance practices. Under the proposal, mortgage lenders would not be required to maintain different practices depending on their loan volume or other characteristics, allowing more lenders to adopt application forms that include expanded requests for information regarding a consumer’s ethnicity and race, including the revised Uniform Residential Loan Application. The proposal also contains other amendments to Regulation B and its commentary to facilitate compliance with Regulation B’s requirements for the collection and retention of information about the ethnicity, race, and sex of applicants seeking certain types of mortgage loans. Comments will be accepted for 30 days following publication in the Federal Register.

UPDATE: Published April 4, 2017, with comment deadline of May 4, 2017.