(a) Compliance program. A lender making a covered loan must develop and follow written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure compliance with the requirements in this part. These written policies and procedures must be appropriate to the size and complexity of the lender and its affiliates, and the nature and scope of the covered loan lending activities of the lender and its affiliates.
1. General. Section 1041.12(a) requires a lender making a covered loan to develop and follow written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to ensure compliance with the applicable requirements in this part. These written policies and procedures must provide guidance to a lender's employees on how to comply with the requirements in this part. In particular, under § 1041.12(a), a lender must develop and follow detailed written policies and procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance, as applicable, with the payments requirements in §§ 1041.8 and 1041.9. The provisions and commentary in each section listed above provide guidance on what specific directions and other information a lender must include in its written policies and procedures.
(b) Record retention. A lender must retain evidence of compliance with this part for 36 months after the date on which a covered loan ceases to be an outstanding loan.
1. General. Section 1041.12(b) requires a lender to retain various categories of documentation and information concerning payment practices in connection with covered loans. The items listed are non-exhaustive as to the records that may need to be retained as evidence of compliance with this part.
(1) Retention of loan agreement for covered loans. To comply with the requirements in this paragraph (b), a lender must retain or be able to reproduce an image of the loan agreement for each covered loan that the lender originates.
**(2) [Reserved] **
**(3) [Reserved] **
(4) Retention of records relating to payment practices for covered loans. To comply with the requirements in this paragraph (b), a lender must retain or be able to reproduce an image of the following documentation, as applicable, in connection with a covered loan:
1. Methods of retaining documentation. Section 1041.12(b)(4) requires a lender either to retain certain payment-related information in connection with covered loans in original form or to be able to reproduce an image of such documents accurately. For example, § 1041.12(b)(4) requires the lender to either retain a paper copy of the leveraged payment mechanism obtained in connection with a covered longer-term loan or to be able to reproduce an image of the mechanism. For documentation that the lender receives electronically, the lender may retain either the electronic version or a printout.
(i) Leveraged payment mechanism(s) obtained by the lender from the consumer;
(ii) Authorization of additional payment transfer, as described in § 1041.8(c)(3)(iii); and
(iii) Underlying one-time electronic transfer authorization or underlying signature check, as described in § 1041.8(d)(2).
(5) Electronic records in tabular format regarding payment practices for covered loans. To comply with the requirements in this paragraph (b), a lender must retain electronic records in tabular format that include the following information for covered loans:
1. Electronic records in tabular format. Section 1041.12(b)(5) requires a lender to retain records regarding payment practices in electronic, tabular format. Tabular format means a format in which the individual data elements comprising the record can be transmitted, analyzed, and processed by a computer program, such as a widely used spreadsheet or database program. Data formats for image reproductions, such as PDF, and document formats used by word processing programs are not tabular formats.
(i) History of payments received and attempted payment transfers, as defined in § 1041.8(a)(1), including:
(A) Date of receipt of payment or attempted payment transfer;
(B) Amount of payment due;
(C) Amount of attempted payment transfer;
(D) Amount of payment received or transferred; and
(E) Payment channel used for attempted payment transfer.
(ii) If an attempt to transfer funds from a consumer's account is subject to the prohibition in § 1041.8(b)(1), whether the lender or service provider obtained authorization to initiate a payment transfer from the consumer in accordance with the requirements in § 1041.8(c) or (d).
