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Comment for 1003.6 - Enforcement

6(b) Bona Fide Errors

1. Bona fide error - information from third parties. Section 1003.6(b) provides that an error in compiling or recording data for a covered loan or application is not a violation of the Act or this part if the error was unintentional and occurred despite the maintenance of procedures reasonably adapted to avoid such an error. A financial institution that obtains the required data, such as property-location information, from third parties is responsible for ensuring that the information reported pursuant to § 1003.5 is correct. See comment 6(b)-2 concerning obtaining census tract information from a geocoding tool that the Bureau makes available on its Web site.

2. Information from the Bureau. Section 1003.6(b)(2) provides that an incorrect entry for census tract number is deemed a bona fide error, and is not a violation of the Act or this part, provided that the financial institution maintains procedures reasonably adapted to avoid an error. Obtaining the census tract numbers for covered loans and applications from a geocoding tool available on the Bureau’s Web site that identifies the census tract of a property using property addresses entered by users is an example of a procedure reasonably adapted to avoid errors under § 1003.6(b)(2). Accordingly, a census tract error is not a violation of the Act or this part if the financial institution obtained the census tract number from the geocoding tool on the Bureau’s Web site. However, a financial institution’s failure to provide the correct census tract number for a covered loan or application on its loan/ application register, as required by § 1003.4(a)(9)(ii)(C) or (e), because the geocoding tool on the Bureau’s Web site did not provide a census tract number for the property address entered by the financial institution is not excused as a bona fide error. In addition, a census tract error caused by a financial institution entering an inaccurate property address into the geocoding tool on the Bureau’s Web site is not excused as a bona fide error.