Bureau announces year-end adjustments

The Bureau has announced year-end dollar amount adjustments under Regulations C and Z, and one under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

• The asset-size exemption threshold for depository institutions under Regulation C will increase in 2019 from $45 million to $46 million. Banks, savings associations, and credit unions with assets of $46 million or less as of December 31, 2018, are exempt from collection of HMDA data in 2019. UPDATE:Published 1/31/2019 in the Federal Register.
• The asset-size threshold under Regulation Z for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan will increase from $2.112 billion to $2.167 billion. Therefore, creditors with assets of less than $2.167 billion (including assets of certain affiliates) as of December 31, 2018, are exempt, if other requirements of Regulation Z also are met, from establishing escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2019. This asset limit will also apply during a grace period, in certain circumstances, with respect to transactions with applications received before April 1 of 2020.
• The adjustment to the escrows asset-size exemption threshold will also increase a similar threshold for small-creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgages. Balloon-payment qualified mortgages that satisfy all applicable criteria, including being made by creditors that have (together with certain affiliates) total assets below the threshold, are also excepted from the prohibition on balloon payments for high-cost mortgages.
• Under section 612(f)(1)(A) of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Bureau each year sets a ceiling on the charges a credit reporting agency can charge for making a disclosure to the consumer under section 609 of FCRA. For 2019, that amount will increase to $12.50. The Bureau is also amending Regulation V to add an appendix setting forth the statutory requirements for determining the maximum allowable charge; announcing the maximum charge for 2019; and preserving a list of historical maximum allowable charges. UPDATE: Published 1/31/2019 in the Federal Register.