Top Story Lending Related

HUD and the Census Bureau have jointly announced statistics on new residential sales for November 2017:

• New Home Sales: Sales of new single-family houses in November 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 733,000. This is 17.5 percent above the revised October rate of 624,000 and 26.6 percent above the November 2016 estimate of 579,000.
• Sales Price: The median sales price of new houses sold in November 2017 was $318,700. The average sales price was $377,100.
• For Sale Inventory: The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of November was 283,000. This represents a supply of 4.6 months at the current sales rate.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing a final rule [to be published December  27, 2017] amending the Regulation C asset-size exemption threshold for banks, savings associations, and credit unions from $44 million to $45 million in assets as of December 31, 2017, regarding the collection of data in 2018.

The Bureau is publishing on December 27 a final rule making a change in the asset-size threshold for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption from the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan, from $2.069 billion to $2.112 billion, effective January 1, 2018. Creditors with assets of less than $2.112 billion (including assets of certain affiliates) as of December 31, 2017, will be exempt, if other requirements of Regulation Z also are met, from establishing escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2018. This asset limit will also apply during a grace period, in certain circumstances, with respect to transactions with applications received before April 1 of 2019. The adjustment to the escrows asset-size exemption threshold will also increase a similar threshold for small-creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgages.

The CFPB has issued a statement on its Prepaid Accounts Rule, indicating that it "expects to issue a final rule amending certain aspects of its 2016 rule governing prepaid accounts soon after the new year. As part of that process, the Bureau expects, based on its review of the comments received, to further extend the effective date of the 2016 rule to allow additional time for implementation of the final rule. The Bureau proposed making changes to the prepaid rule in June; the comment period on the proposal ended in August."

OCC Bulletin 2017-62, FDIC FIL-63-2017 and a public statement from the CFPB all state that the respective agencies do not intend to require data resubmission unless data errors are material or assess penalties with respect to errors for data collected in 2018 and reported in 2019 under HMDA and Regulation C.

The Bureau also announced it intends to open a rulemaking to reconsider various aspects of its 2015 HMDA rule, such as the institutional and transactional coverage tests and the rule’s discretionary data points.

The Fed, FDIC, and OCC have issued a joint press release announcing a Shared National Credit definition change; an aggregate loan commitment threshold increase to adjust for inflation, and changes in average loan size.

The Federal Reserve has released the December 2017 Senior Credit Officer Opinion Survey (SCOOS) on Dealer Financing Terms. The SCOOS is a quarterly survey providing information about the availability and terms of credit in securities financing and over-the counter derivatives markets. The SCOOS is modeled after the long-established Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices, which provides qualitative information about changes in supply and demand for loans to households and businesses at commercial banks. The SCOOS collects qualitative information on credit terms and conditions in securities financing and OTC derivatives markets, which are important conduits for leverage in the financial system.

A Federal Reserve payments study points to accelerated credit card use. Growth in the number of credit card payments rose sharply from 2015 to 2016--eclipsing growth for other card types, according to new payments data collected by the Federal Reserve. A notable increase was also seen last year in the number of card payments made remotely versus in person.

The federal bank regulatory agencies have announced the annual adjustment to the asset-size thresholds used to define small bank, small savings association, intermediate small bank, and intermediate small savings association under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. As a result of the 2.11 percent increase in the CPI-W for the period ending in November 2017, the definitions of small and intermediate small institutions for CRA examinations will change, effective January 1, 2018, as follows:

• "Small bank" or "small savings association" means an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.252 billion.
• "Intermediate small bank" or "intermediate small savings association" means a small institution with assets of at least $313 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.252 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has released its third quarter Foreclosure Prevention Report, which shows that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 41,465 foreclosure prevention actions in the third quarter of 2017, bringing the total number of troubled homeowners helped to 3,972,689 since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008. The number of early stage (30-59 days) delinquent loans rose 25 percent in the third quarter, driven primarily by the impact of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico.