Comment for 1026.1 - Authority, Purpose, Coverage, Organization, Enforcement and Liability
1(c) Coverage
1. Foreign applicability. Regulation Z applies to all persons (including branches of foreign banks and sellers located in the United States) that extend consumer credit to residents (including resident aliens) of any state as defined in § 1026.2. If an account is located in the United States and credit is extended to a U.S. resident, the transaction is subject to the regulation. This will be the case whether or not a particular advance or purchase on the account takes place in the United States and whether or not the extender of credit is chartered or based in the United States or a foreign country. For example, if a U.S. resident has a credit card account located in the consumer's state issued by a bank (whether U.S. or foreign-based), the account is covered by the regulation, including extensions of credit under the account that occur outside the United States. In contrast, if a U.S. resident residing or visiting abroad, or a foreign national abroad, opens a credit card account issued by a foreign branch of a U.S. bank, the account is not covered by the regulation.
Paragraph 1(c)(5).
1. Exemption for certain mortgage transactions. Section 1026.1(c)(5) implements sections 128(a)(16) through (19), 128(b)(4), 129C(f)(1), 129C(g)(2) and (3), 129C(h), 129D(h), 129D(j)(1)(A), and 129D(j)(1)(B) of the Truth in Lending Act and section 4(c) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, by exempting persons from the disclosure requirements of those sections, except in certain transactions. The exemptions do not apply to certain transactions for which the disclosure requirements are implemented in other parts of Regulation Z. Sections 1026.37 and 1026.38 implement sections 128(a)(16) through (19), 128(b)(4), 129C(f)(1), 129C(g)(2) and (3), 129D(h), and 129D(j)(1)(A) of the Truth in Lending Act and section 4(c) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act for transactions subject to § 1026.19(e) and (f). Section 1026.38(l)(5) implements the disclosure requirements of section 129C(h) of the Truth in Lending Act for transactions subject to § 1026.19(f). Section 1026.39(d)(5) implements the disclosure requirements of section 129C(h) of the Truth in Lending Act for transactions subject to § 1026.39(d)(5). Section 1026.20(e) implements the disclosure requirements of section 129D(j)(1)(B) of the Truth in Lending Act for transactions subject to § 1026.20(e). Section 1026.1(c)(5) does not exempt any person from any other requirement of this part, Regulation X (12 CFR part 1024), the Truth in Lending Act, or the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
1(d) Organization.
Paragraph 1(d)(5).
1. Effective date.
i. General. The Bureau's revisions to Regulation X and Regulation Z published on December 31, 2013 (the TILA-RESPA Final Rule) apply to covered loans (closed-end credit transactions that are secured by real property or a cooperative unit, whether or not treated as real property under State or other applicable law) for which the creditor or mortgage broker receives an application on or after October 3, 2015 (the effective date), except that § 1026.19(e)(2), the amendments to § 1026.28(a)(1), and the amendments to the commentary to § 1026.29 became effective on October 3, 2015, without respect to whether an application was received as of that date. Additionally, §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5), as amended or adopted by the TILA-RESPA Final Rule, took effect on October 3, 2015, for transactions for which the creditor or mortgage broker received an application on or after October 3, 2015, and take effect October 1, 2018, with respect to transactions for which a creditor or mortgage broker received an application prior to October 3, 2015.
ii. Pre-application activities. The provisions of § 1026.19(e)(2) apply prior to a consumer's receipt of the disclosures required by § 1026.19(e)(1)(i) and therefore restrict activity that may occur prior to receipt of an application by a creditor or mortgage broker. These provisions include § 1026.19(e)(2)(i), which restricts the fees that may be imposed on a consumer, § 1026.19(e)(2)(ii), which requires a statement to be included on written estimates of terms or costs specific to a consumer, and § 1026.19(e)(2)(iii), which prohibits creditors from requiring the submission of documents verifying information related to the consumer's application. Accordingly, the provisions of § 1026.19(e)(2) are effective on October 3, 2015, without respect to whether an application has been received on that date.
iii. Determination of preemption. The amendments to § 1026.28 and the commentary to § 1026.29 govern the preemption of State laws, and thus the amendments to those provisions and associated commentary made by the TILA-RESPA Final Rule are effective on October 3, 2015, without respect to whether an application has been received on that date.
iv. Post-consummation escrow cancellation disclosure and partial payment disclosure. A creditor, servicer, or covered person, as applicable, must provide the disclosures required by §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5) for transactions for which the conditions in § 1026.20(e) or § 1026.39(d)(5), as applicable, exist on or after October 1, 2018, regardless of when the corresponding applications were received. For transactions in which such conditions exist on or after October 3, 2015, through September 30, 2018, a creditor, servicer, or covered person, as applicable, complies with §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5) if it provides the mandated disclosures in all cases or if it provides them only in cases where the corresponding applications were received on or after October 3, 2015.
v. Examples. For purposes of the following examples, an application received before or after the effective date is any submission for the purpose of obtaining an extension of credit that satisfies the definition in § 1026.2(a)(3), as adopted by the TILA-RESPA Final Rule, even if that definition was not yet in effect on the date in question. Cross-references in the following examples to provisions of Regulation Z refer to those provisions as adopted or amended by the TILA-RESPA Final Rule, together with any subsequent amendments, unless noted otherwise.
A. Application received on or after effective date of the TILA-RESPA Final Rule. Assume a creditor receives an application on October 3, 2015, and that consummation of the transaction occurs on October 31, 2015. The amendments of the TILA-RESPA Final Rule, including the requirement to provide the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure under § 1026.19(e) and (f), apply to the transaction. The creditor is also required to provide the special information booklet under § 1026.19(g).
B. Application received before effective date of the TILA-RESPA Final Rule. Assume a creditor receives an application on September 30, 2015, and that consummation of the transaction occurs on October 30, 2015. The requirement to provide the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure under § 1026.19(e) and (f) does not apply to the transaction. Instead, the creditor and the settlement agent must provide the disclosures required by § 1026.19, as it existed prior to the effective date of the TILA-RESPA Final Rule, and by Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.8. Similarly, the creditor must provide the special information booklet required by Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.6. However, the provisions of § 1026.19(e)(2) apply to the transaction beginning on October 3, 2015, because they became effective on October 3, 2015, without respect to whether an application was received by the creditor or mortgage broker on that date.
C. Predisclosure written estimates. Assume a creditor receives a request from a consumer for a written estimate of terms or costs specific to the consumer on October 3, 2015, before the consumer submits an application to the creditor and thus before the consumer has received the disclosures required by § 1026.19(e)(1)(i). The creditor, if it provides such a written estimate to the consumer, must comply with § 1026.19(e)(2)(ii) and provide the required statement on the written estimate, even though the creditor has not received an application on that date.
D. Request for preemption determination. Assume a creditor submits a request to the Bureau under § 1026.28(a)(1) for a determination of whether a State law is inconsistent with the disclosure requirements in Regulation Z on October 3, 2015. Because the amendments to § 1026.28(a)(1) are effective on that date and do not depend on whether the creditor has received an application, § 1026.28(a)(1) is applicable to the request on that date, and the Bureau would make a determination based on the provisions of Regulation Z in effect on that date, including the requirements of § 1026.19(e) and (f).
E. Effective dates for the post-consummation escrow cancelation disclosure and partial payment disclosure. Assume a creditor receives an application on October 10, 2010, and that the loan was consummated on November 19, 2010. Assume further that, on December 19, 2016, the escrow account established in connection with the mortgage loan was canceled or the loan is sold to another covered person. A creditor, servicer, or covered person, as applicable, may provide the disclosures required under §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5) to the consumer, but the creditor, servicer, or covered person, as applicable, is not required to provide those disclosures in this case. Assume the same circumstances, except that the escrow account established in connection with the loan is canceled or the mortgage loan is sold to another covered person on April 14, 2020. A creditor, servicer, or covered person, as applicable, must provide the disclosures in §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5), as applicable, because a condition requiring these disclosures occurred after October 1, 2018 (thus the date the application was received is irrelevant).
2. 2017 TILA-RESPA Amendments.
i. Generally. Except as provided in comment 1(d)(5)-2.ii, compliance with the amendments to this part effective on October 10, 2017 (the 2017 TILA-RESPA Amendments) is mandatory with respect to transactions for which a creditor or mortgage broker received an application on or after October 1, 2018. Except as provided in comment 1(d)(5)-2.ii, for transactions for which a creditor or mortgage broker received an application prior to October 1, 2018, from the effective date of the 2017 TILA-RESPA Amendments:
A. A person has the option of complying either: with 12 CFR part 1026 as it is in effect; or with 12 CFR part 1026 as it was in effect on October 9, 2017, together with any amendments to 12 CFR part 1026 that become effective after October 9, 2017, other than the 2017 TILA-RESPA Amendments; and
B. An act or omission violates 12 CFR part 1026 only if it violates both: 12 CFR part 1026 as it is in effect; and 12 CFR part 1026 as it was in effect on October 9, 2017, together with any amendments to 12 CFR part 1026 that become effective after October 9, 2017, other than the 2017 TILA-RESPA Amendments.
ii. Post-consummation escrow cancellation disclosure and partial payment disclosure. Comment 1(d)(5)-1.iv sets forth the transactions to which the disclosures required by §§ 1026.20(e) and 1026.39(d)(5) are applicable.