Comment for 1041.12 - Compliance Program and Record Retention

This version is the current regulation

12(a) Compliance Program

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.

12(b) Record Retention

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.

12(b)(4) Retention of Records Relating to Payment Practices for Covered Loans

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.

12(b)(5) Electronic Records in Tabular Format Regarding Payment Practices 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.