Final rules

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is issuing this interpretive rule to clarify that, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction, the prohibition against sex discrimination in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B, which implements ECOA, encompasses sexual orientation discrimination and gender identity discrimination, including discrimination based on actual or perceived nonconformity with sex-based or gender-based stereotypes and discrimination based on an applicant’s associations.

This Advisory Opinion addresses regulatory uncertainty regarding Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, as it applies to certain aspects of special purpose credit programs designed and implemented by for-profit organizations to meet special social needs.

The Bureau is publishing a Federal Register notice pursuant to section 706(e) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act concerning the update of the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) to include an applicant language preference question.

The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection is issuing a final rule that amends Regulation B to permit creditors additional flexibility in complying with Regulation B in order to facilitate compliance with Regulation C, adds certain model forms and removes others from Regulation B, and makes various other amendments to Regulation B and its commentary to facilitate the collection and retention of information about the ethnicity, sex, and race of certain mortgage applicants.

This notice is issued pursuant to section 706(e) of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and concerns the new Uniform Residential Loan Application and the collection of expanded Home Mortgage Disclosure Act information about ethnicity and race in 2017.  

Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act transferred rulemaking authority for certain consumer financial protection laws to the Bureau.  The Bureau republished the existing regulations implementing those laws as interim final rules, with technical and conforming changes to reflect the transfer of authority and certain other changes made by the Dodd-Frank Act. This final rule adopts those rules as final, subject to any intervening final rules published by the Bureau.

The CFPB is amending Regulation X, which implements the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974, and implementing a commentary that sets forth an official interpretation to the regulation. The CFPB is also amending Regulation Z, which implements the Truth in Lending Act and the official interpretation to the regulation, which interprets the requirements of Regulation Z. These final rules implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act regarding mortgage loan servicing.

These amendments focus primarily on loss mitigation procedures under Regulation X's servicing provisions, amounts counted as loan originator compensation to retailers of manufactured homes and their employees for purposes of applying points and fees thresholds under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act and the Ability-to-Repay rules in Regulation Z, exemptions available to creditors that operate predominantly in “rural or underserved” areas for various purposes under the mortgage regulations, application of the loan originator compensation rules to bank tellers and similar staff, and the prohibition on creditor-financed credit insurance. 

The final rule revises Regulation B to implement an ECOA amendment concerning appraisals and other valuations that was enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act).

The Bureau’s Mortgage Servicing Final Rules amend Regulations X and Z. The Mortgage Servicing Final Rules implement provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, and the Truth in Lending Act regarding mortgage loan servicing.