CFPB Fall 2020 rulemaking agenda

The Bureau has published its Fall 2020 Rulemaking Agenda, which lists the regulatory matters that it expects to focus on for the remainder of 2020 through the spring of 2021. Key among these are:

• In addition to completing and publishing the October 30, 2020, final rule on debt collection, the Bureau has also engaged in testing of time-barred debt disclosures that were not the focus of the May 2019 proposal. In early 2020, after completing the testing, the Bureau published a supplemental NPRM related to time-barred debt disclosures. The Bureau expects to issue a final rule in December 2020 addressing, among other things, disclosures related to the validation notice and time-barred debt.
• The Bureau is continuing a rulemaking to address the anticipated expiration of the LIBOR index On Monday, November 30, regulatory authorities in the UK announced that they are considering extending the availability of US$ LIBOR for legacy loan contracts until June 2023 instead of the end of 2021. In light of this development, the Bureau anticipates publishing the final rulemaking on the LIBOR transition later than the January 2021 target identified in the Unified Agenda.
• The Bureau is participating in interagency rulemaking processes with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to develop regulations to implement the amendments made by the Dodd-Frank Act to the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) concerning appraisals. These amendments require implementing regulations for quality control standards for automated valuation models (AVMs). The Agencies will continue to develop a proposed rule to implement the Dodd-Frank Act’s AVM amendments to FIRREA.
• The Bureau anticipates issuing an NPRM in spring 2021 to consider possible amendments to the Bureau’s mortgage servicing rules to address actions required of servicers working with borrowers affected by natural disasters or other emergencies.
• The Bureau anticipates publishing two NPRMs in early 2021 concerning possible revisions to the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). One of these follows an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in May 2019 concerning certain data points that are required to be reported under the HMDA rule and coverage of certain business or commercial purpose loans, addressing concerns about regulatory burden. The second would address the public disclosure of HMDA data in light of consumer privacy interests, so that stakeholders can concurrently consider and comment on the collection and reporting of data points and public disclosure of those data points. This NPRM will follow up on the Bureau’s 2018 final policy guidance regarding disclosure of the HMDA data. (These proposed rules may not be released by the anticipated February target in the Unified Agenda.)

The Bureau has also added two new items to its long-term agenda. First, the Bureau will weigh feedback from its assessment of the TRID Rule suggesting that modifications of certain aspects of that rule make it more effective. Second, the CFPB has begun research that focuses on providing information to consumers about the costs associated with payday loans. The results of the qualitative testing will inform the Bureau in deciding whether and how to move forward with quantitative testing that might support possible future rulemaking or other actions related to payday loan disclosures.

In August 2020, the Bureau also began its review of Regulation Z rules that implement the CARD Act of 2009, with a focus on an interim final rule and three final rules published by the Federal Reserve Board from July 2009 to April 2011.