Escrow Requirements under the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z)
The CFPB is issuing a final rule that amends Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to implement certain amendments to the Truth in Lending Act made by the Dodd-Frank Act. Regulation Z currently requires creditors to establish escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans secured by a first lien on a principal dwelling. The rule implements statutory changes made by the Dodd-Frank Act that lengthen the time for which a mandatory escrow account established for a higher-priced mortgage loan must be maintained. The rule also exempts certain transactions from the statute’s escrow requirement. The primary exemption applies to mortgage transactions extended by creditors that operate predominantly in rural or underserved areas, originate a limited number of first-lien covered transactions, have assets below a certain threshold, and do not maintain escrow accounts on mortgage obligations they currently service.
This page also contains summaries and other resources to help you understand the rule and its implications.
Contents
- The rule
- Compliance guide and related information
- Related proposals
- What this means for consumers
- Summary of the rule as issued
The rule
Effective date
This rule is effective June 1, 2013.
Breakdown of the document’s contents
This document contains the following parts:
- Preamble summarizing why we are issuing the rule, our legal authority, reasoning behind the rule, responses to comments, and analysis of the benefits, costs, and impacts of the rule
- Regulatory text, which, when effective, will amend Regulation Z and can be found on page 98 in the issued document
- Official interpretations of the rules which can be found on page 103 in the issued document
Final rules submitted to the Federal Register
January 10, 2013: We issued the document containing this final rule. On January 22, 2013, the Office of the Federal Register published the final rule.
May 16, 2013: We issued a final rule clarifying and making technical corrections to the rule. On May 23, 2013, the Office of the Federal Register published the final rule.
Compliance guide and related information
Read the Small Entity Compliance Guide to learn more about the rule in a plain language and FAQ format which makes the content more accessible for a broad array of industry constituents, especially smaller businesses with limited legal and compliance staff. Or watch our video on YouTube to learn more about the rule.
Related proposals
March 2, 2011: The Office of the Federal Register published the following proposal issued by the Federal Reserve Board: Truth in Lending You can also review comments submitted to the Board’s docket.
What this means for consumers
The new rule will go into effect on June 1, 2013. This summary outlines some of the ways we expect it to impact consumers who have residential mortgage loans. Download the consumer summary.
Summary of the rule as issued
Read the summary to learn more about the background of this rule and how it affects providers of financial products and services.
