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The CFPB has published in the November 9, 2018, Federal Register three final rules increasing various threshold amounts in its regulations, applicable for calendar year 2018.

• The threshold amount at or below which a special appraisal is not required for a higher-priced mortgage loan under § 1026.35(c) of Regulation Z will increase to $26,000.
• The threshold amount for exempt consumer leases under Regulation M will increase to $55,800.
• The threshold amount for exempt consumer credit under Regulation Z that is neither secured by real property or personal property used or expected to be used as a consumer's principal dwelling nor a private education loan will also increase to $55,800.

The changes to the Official Interpretations of Regulations M and Z have been posted to BankersOnline's Regulations pages.

The Federal Reserve has posted G.19 Consumer Credit data for September. Consumer credit increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5-1/2 percent during the third quarter. Both revolving and nonrevolving credit increased at similar annual rates. In September, consumer credit increased at an annual rate of 6-3/4 percent.

The October 2017 Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SCOOS) on Bank Lending Practices has been released by the Federal Reserve. The survey addresses changes in the standards and terms on, and demand for, bank loans to businesses and households over the past three months. Responses were received from 72 domestic banks and 23 U.S. branches and agencies of foreign banks.

The CFPB has posted tips for service members with student debt.

A Southern California-based auto dealership group will pay $1.4 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that it violated a 2014 administrative order prohibiting it from misrepresenting how much consumers could pay to finance or lease a vehicle.

The CFPB sent out an email Friday announcing the beta launch of its new HMDA Platform, to provide financial institutions an opportunity to become familiar with the HMDA Platform and, in particular, determine whether their sample LAR data complies with the reporting requirements outlined in the Filing Instructions Guide for HMDA data collected in 2017. The beta version of the platform will allow financial institutions to establish test log-in credentials; upload sample HMDA files and perform validation on their data; receive edit reports; allow users to confirm their test data submission; and conclude the test HMDA filing process.

The FDIC has released a list of 74 state nonmember banks recently evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). The list covers evaluation ratings that the FDIC assigned to institutions in August 2017. The list includes eight banks (one each in Iowa, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, California and Nevada, and two in New York) that received "outstanding" ratings, and one Texas bank that received a "needs to improve" rating. The other 65 banks received "satisfactory" ratings.

Registration for the 2018 NMLS Annual Conference and Training, February 6–9 in New Orleans, is open. The NMLS has set up a conference website with a schedule at-a-glance, venue information and fee schedule.

The CFBB has announced that approximately 14,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who were unlawfully charged higher interest or higher broker fees on mortgage loans with Provident Funding Associates were mailed checks compensating them for their harm. The total of those payments is about $9 million. In May 2015, the CFPB and the Department of Justice filed a complaint alleging that Provident Provident charged approximately 14,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers more on mortgage loans than similarly situated non-Hispanic white borrowers between 2006 and 2011.

In its announcement, the Bureau warned about scams that could develop around the settlement payments.

During his remarks delivered yesterday at the National Association of Affordable Home Lenders Annual Conference in Washington, Acting Comptroller of the Currency Noreika described guidance finalized by the OCC in August that gives national banks and federal savings associations more flexibility to offer rehabilitation financing in communities with depressed home values.