McCoy v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Regulation X, which implements the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), requires a servicer to respond to a borrower’s request for information “with respect to” the borrower’s mortgage loan unless the request seeks a payoff balance or is made on a payment form. 12 C.F.R. § 1024.36(a). Regulation X also separately requires a servicer to investigate and respond to a borrower’s written notice asserting certain types of errors, including the “[f]ailure to provide an accurate payoff balance upon a borrower’s request in violation of [separate Regulation Z].” 12 C.F.R. § 1024.35(b)(6).
The Bureau filed an amicus brief arguing that, under Regulation X’s plain text, a loan servicer must respond to a borrower’s request for information about the borrower’s loan, even if the requested information does not relate specifically to servicing. The brief also argues that Regulation X requires a servicer to investigate and respond when a borrower complains that the servicer failed to provide any payoff balance at all in response to the borrower’s request, not just when the borrower complains that the servicer provided a payoff balance that was inaccurate.