Top Story Lending Related

The CFPB has published a Notice and Request for Comment in today's Federal Register on a proposed web survey of 8,000 individuals as part of the Bureau's research on debt collection disclosures. The survey would explore consumer comprehension and decision making in response to debt collection disclosure forms. Comments will be accepted through August 4, 2017.

The Federal Reserve has issued a Collateral Bulletin to announce new collateral margin requirements for discount window lending and payment system risk purposes, effective July 3, 2017. The value that the Federal Reserve assigns to collateral may increase or decrease when the new margins go into effect. Reserve Banks will make individual contact with institutions that are required to pledge additional collateral in advance of the effective date.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has released its third report providing information about the sale of non-performing loans (NPLs) by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises). The Enterprise Non-Performing Loan Sales Report includes information about NPLs sold and outcomes for borrowers as of December 31, 2016. The sale of NPLs reduces the number of severely delinquent loans in the Enterprises’ portfolios.

FHFA press release

The Federal Trade Commission has provided its 2016 Annual Financial Acts Enforcement Report to the CFPB on enforcement and other activities related to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending Act), Regulation M (Consumer Leasing Act), and Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act).

The OCC has released the ratings recently received by 18 national banks and federal savings associations for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act. Two institutions were rated outstanding and 16 were rated satisfactory.

The Federal Reserve Board has announced that the results from the latest supervisory stress tests conducted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act will be released on June 22, and the results from the Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) will be released on June 28.

The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced it has designated six entities and three individuals, and identified three entities, in response to North Korea’s ongoing development of weapons of mass destruction and continued violations of UN Security Council resolutions. Also today, the State Department updated the aliases for two previously designated entities.As a result of these actions, any property or interests in property of the designated persons in the possession or control of U.S. persons or within the United States must be blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from doing business with them.

OFAC also announced it has sanctioned a senior Democratic Republic of the Congo official pursuant to Executive Order 13413, which authorizes sanctions in light of activities that threaten the peace, security, or stability of the DRC. OFAC also designated a resort located on the outskirts of Kinshasa, for being owned or controlled by that official. As a result of those actions, all of the designated persons’ assets within U.S. jurisdiction are frozen, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

For additional information on both announcements, see our OFAC Update.

The CFPB's May 2017 Monthly Complaint Report snapshot summarizes the complaints submitted by people who are 62 and older. The full report highlights issues that older consumers are more likely to experience than their younger counterparts, including issues with traditional and reverse mortgages, credit cards, and bank accounts and services.

A complaint has been filed by the Federal Trade Commission against the Louisiana Real Estate Appraisers Board alleging that the board is unreasonably restraining price competition for appraisal services in Louisiana, contrary to federal antitrust law. The FTC alleges that the Louisiana appraisers board limits the freedom of individual appraisers and their customers to engage in bona fide negotiations to set appraisal fees for real estate appraisals in Louisiana. According to the FTC’s complaint, the 2010 Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, popularly known as the “Dodd-Frank Act,” required appraisal management companies to pay “a rate that is customary and reasonable for appraisal services performed in the market area of the property being appraised.” The FTC alleged in its complaint that the appraisal board’s regulations exceeded the scope of the federal mandate. Specifically, the board required appraisal fees to equal or exceed the median fees identified in survey reports commissioned and published by the board. The board then investigated and sanctioned companies that paid fees below the specified levels. The complaint alleges that Dodd-Frank neither requires nor authorizes the restrictions that the board placed on appraisal fees.

The OCC and the FDIC have issued their lists of institutions scheduled for a CRA examination during the third and fourth quarters of 2017. Both regulators announced they will publish quarterly the next two quarters of scheduled exams, to be more responsive and transparent to the public, and to afford the public more time to offer comments on the CRA performance of the institutions to be examined.

OCC announcement
OCC exam third- and fourth-quarter schedule
FDIC third quarter schedule
FDIC fourth quarter schedule