Skip to content

Exception Tracking Spreadsheet (TicklerTrax™)
Downloaded by more than 1,000 bankers. Free Excel spreadsheet to help you track missing and expiring documents for credit and loans, deposits, trusts, and more. Visualize your exception data in interactive charts and graphs. Provided by bank technology vendor, AccuSystems. Download TicklerTrax for free.

Click Now!


Top Story Lending Related

12/21/2023

Biden vetoes congressional disapproval of '1071 Rule'

On Tuesday, President Biden sent a veto message to the Senate concerning Senate Joint Resolution 32, which would disapprove of the CFPB’s final rule titled “Small Business Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B).” The Joint Resolution was passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate under the Congressional Review Act, and, if approved by the president, would have nullified the CFPB's rule and prevented the Bureau from issuing any substantially similar rule.

The Bureau's rule remains subject to an injunction against enforcement issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

12/20/2023

Agencies set CRA asset-size thresholds

The FDIC and Federal Reserve have published [88 FR 87895] a final rule in this morning's Federal Register establishing for 2024 the asset-size thresholds used to define “small bank” and “intermediate small bank” in their Community Reinvestment Act regulations. As required, the adjustment to the threshold amounts are based on the annual percentage change in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI–W).

Effective January 1, 2024, “small bank” will mean a bank that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.564 billion, and “intermediate small bank” will mean a small bank with assets of at least $391 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.564 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.

12/19/2023

FDIC advisory on managing commercial real estate concentrations

FDIC Financial Institution Letter FIL-64-2023, Managing Commercial Real Estate Concentrations in a Challenging Economic Environment, issued yesterday, is an advisory to reemphasize the importance of strong capital, appropriate credit loss allowance levels, and robust credit risk-management practices for institutions with commercial real estate (CRE) concentrations. It also conveys several key risk management practices for institutions to consider in managing CRE loan concentrations in the current economic environment. Additionally, the advisory reemphasizes the importance of effectively managing liquidity and funding risks, which can compound lending risks, particularly for CRE-concentrated institutions. This advisory replaces the 2008 advisory: Managing Commercial Real Estate Concentrations in a Challenging Environment (issued March 17, 2008).

Institutions with significant CRE concentrations are advised to consider the risk management principles discussed in the joint Guidance on Concentrations in Commercial Real Estate Lending, Sound Risk Management Practices (issued December 6, 2006), and the Interagency Policy Statement on Allowances for Credit Losses (Revised April 27, 2023).

12/19/2023

CFPB issues HMDA and TILA exemption threshold inflation adjustments

The CFPB has announced the asset-size exemption thresholds for depository institutions under Regulation C. The Bureau also announced the asset-size exemption thresholds for certain creditors under the escrow requirements and small creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgage requirements, and the small creditor exemption from the prohibition against balloon-payment high-cost mortgages under Regulation Z.

These adjustments are effective on January 1, 2024, consistent with relevant statutory or regulatory provisions.

  • The HMDA (Regulation C) asset-size exemption in comment 2(g)-2 will increase to $56 million from $54 million.
  • The Regulation Z exemption threshold in § 1026.35(b)(2)(iii) for the escrow requirement for HPMLs will increase to $2,640,000,000 from $2,537,000,000. The adjustment to the escrows asset-size exemption threshold also will increase the threshold for small-creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgages under Regulation Z.
  • The EGRRCPA asset-size exemption from escrow requirements for smaller federally-insured depository institutions and credit unions will be increased to $11.835 billion from $11.374 billion.

The BankersOnline Regulations pages have been updated to reflect these increases.

12/18/2023

CFPB shuts down medical debt collector for violations

The CFPB on Friday announced it had taken action against a medical debt collector, Commonwealth Financial Systems, for illegally trying to collect unverified medical debts after consumers disputed the validity of the debts. Under the stipulated order issued Friday, the company will cease operations and pay a $95,000 penalty to the CFPB’s victims relief fund. Commonwealth is also required by the order to request all consumer reporting companies to whom it previously furnished information about any consumer to delete all collection accounts for such consumers.

Commonwealth Financial Systems is a nonbank corporation with its principal place of business in Dickson City, Pennsylvania. Commonwealth is a third-party debt collector that specializes in the collection of past-due medical debts and furnishes information about consumer collection accounts to consumer reporting companies.

Commonwealth’s actions violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act because the company failed to conduct reasonable investigations of disputed debts and failed to inform consumer reporting companies that certain information was being disputed. Commonwealth also violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act because it continued to attempt to collect disputed debts without substantiating documentation.

In a related development, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed into state law legislation prohibiting hospitals, health care professionals and ambulances from reporting an individual's medical debt to credit agencies.

12/14/2023

Fed issues FOMC Statement and economic projections

The Federal Reserve Board has issued the Federal Open Market Committee Statement following the Committee's Meeting on December 12–13, 2023. An excerpt follows:

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. In support of these goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5-1/4 to 5-1/2 percent. The Committee will continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy. In determining the extent of any additional policy firming that may be appropriate to return inflation to 2 percent over time, the Committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments. In addition, the Committee will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities, as described in its previously announced plans. The Committee is strongly committed to returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.”

The Board and the Committee also released the economic projections made by participants at the Committee meeting.

In the Implementation Note that accompanied the Statement, it is noted that the Board of Governors voted unanimously to maintain the interest rate paid on reserve balances at 5.4 percent, effective December 14, 2023, and voted unanimously to approve the establishment of the primary credit rate at the existing level of 5.5 percent.

12/13/2023

FTC issues CARS Rule to fight scams in vehicle shopping

The Federal Trade Commission has announced it has finalized a new rule, the Combating Auto Retail Scams Trade Regulation Rule (CARS Rule) to fight two common types of illegal tactics consumers face when buying a car: bait-and-switch tactics and hidden junk fees. The FTC expects the new rule to save consumers nationwide more than $3.4 billion and an estimated 72 million hours each year shopping for vehicles.

The CARS Rule also includes clear protections for members of the military and their families, who are targeted not only with bait-and-switch tactics and junk fees, but also deceptive information about whether dealers are affiliated with the military and other specific issues that affect servicemembers.

The CARS Rule:

  • Prohibits misrepresentations about key information, like price and cost.
  • Requires dealers to provide the offering price—the actual price any consumer can pay for the vehicle; tell consumers that optional add-ons (like extended warranties) are not required; and give information about the total payment when discussing monthly payments.
  • Prohibits dealers from charging for any add-on that does not provide a benefit to consumers. Examples of such add-ons include: warranty programs that duplicate a manufacturer’s warranty, service contracts for oil changes on an electric vehicle, GAP agreements that do not actually cover the car or neighborhood in which it is housed, or other parts of the deal, and software or audio subscription services on a vehicle that cannot support the software or subscription.
  • Requires dealers to get consumers’ express, informed consent for any charges that they pay as part of a vehicle purchase.
  • Prohibits dealers from lying to servicemembers and other consumers about important cost and financing information, and about whether the dealers are affiliated with the military or any other governmental organization. They also are prohibited from lying about whether a vehicle can be moved out of state (which affects servicemembers and their families, who must frequently move to new duty stations) and whether a vehicle can be repossessed (there are laws that protect many servicemembers from having their vehicle repossessed).

The rule, which will add part 463 to subchapter D of Title 16 of the C.F.R., will become effective July 30, 2024.

UPDATE: Published at 89 FR 590 on 1/4/2024.

12/13/2023

OCC mortgage performance report for third quarter

The OCC has reported on the performance of first-lien mortgages in the federal banking system during the third quarter of 2023.

The OCC Mortgage Metrics Report, Third Quarter 2023 showed that 97.3 percent of mortgages included in the report were current and performing at the end of the quarter, the same as the previous quarter. Performance improved compared to third quarter 2022 when 97.2 percent of mortgages were current and performing.

The percentage of seriously delinquent mortgages—mortgages that are 60 or more days past due and all mortgages held by bankrupt borrowers whose payments are 30 or more days past due—was 1.1 percent in the third quarter of 2023, the same as the previous quarter, and a decrease from 1.3 percent a year ago. The percent of seriously delinquent loans has trended down since the third quarter of 2021.

Servicers initiated 8,965 new foreclosures in the third quarter of 2023, an increase from the prior quarter but a decrease from a year earlier. The new foreclosure volume in the third quarter of 2023 is lower than pre-COVID-19 pandemic foreclosure volumes.

Servicers completed 7,436 modifications during the third quarter of 2023, a 13.8 percent decrease from the previous quarter’s 8,623 modifications. Of these 7,436 modifications, 6,367 or 85.6 percent, were “combination modifications”—modifications that included multiple actions affecting the affordability and sustainability of the loan, such as an interest rate reduction and a term extension.

12/13/2023

Another update of FinCEN's BOI FAQs

FinCEN has updated its Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) Reporting Rule FAQs to include 19 new or updated questions on general inquiries, the reporting process, reporting companies, reporting requirements, initial reports, updated reports, compliance and enforcement, FinCEN identifiers, and third-party service providers.

12/08/2023

OCC identifies key risks facing federal banking system

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency yesterday reported the key issues facing the federal banking system in its Semiannual Risk Perspective for Fall 2023.

The OCC highlighted credit, market, operational, and compliance risks as the key risk themes in the report. The report also highlights artificial intelligence (AI) in banking as an emerging risk.

Pages

Training View All

Penalties View All

Search Top Stories