Welcome to the Compliance Cohort. We are a group of compliance professionals working to make compliance easier. Our goal is to take complex compliance concepts and put them in simple terms that apply to the real world. We are glad you have found us and look forward to collaborating in the future.
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In this Compliance Clip (video), Adam talks about the loan purpose on construction loans and how it is treated on the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure. Construction loans seem to be a challenge especially when it comes to loan purpose but it shouldn't be that difficult. Watch as Adam explains the TRID purpose “waterfall”.
On December 23, 2021, the CFPB adjusted the HMDA exemption threshold from $48 million to $50 million. The adjustment is based on the 4.7 percent increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2021 (up from 1.6 in 2019 and 1.3 in 2020). Therefore, banks, savings associations, and credit unions with assets of $50 million or less as of Dec. 31, 2021, are exempt from collecting data in 2022.
On December 23, 2021, the CFPB announced the annual adjustment to the asset size threshold for certain creditors to qualify for an exemption to the requirement to establish an escrow account for a higher-priced mortgage loan under Regulation Z. For 2022, , the exemption threshold for creditors and their affiliates that regularly extended covered transactions secured by first liens is adjusted to $2.336 billion from $2.230 billion while for certain insured depository institutions and insured credit unions with assets of $10 billion or less (adjusted annually for inflation), the exemption threshold is adjusted to $10.473 billion from $10 billion.
On 12/20/2021, the Department of Justice and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued two joint letters to remind Landlords and Mortgage Servicers to Adhere to the CARES Act and Additional Legal Requirements Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. The first letter was sent to landlords and other housing providers regarding protections for military tenants. The second letter was sent to mortgage servicers regarding military borrowers who have already exited or will be exiting COVID-19 mortgage forbearance programs in the coming weeks and months. The Justice Department and CFPB are calling on mortgage servicers and landlords to ensure that military homeowners and tenants are safeguarded during the pandemic and benefit equally from the nation’s economic recovery.
On 12/20/21, FinCEN released a Financial Threat Analysis on wildlife trafficking threat patterns and trend information identified in Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data filed between January 2018 and October 2021. The result of the analysis shows that wildlife trafficking-related SARs filed between January 2018 and October 2021 trended significantly up and SARs filed in 2021 are on track to meet or exceed the amount of SARs filed in 2020 based on current trends.
On 12/20/21, the OCC issued an updated "Other Real Estate Owned" booklet of the Comptroller’s Handbook, which is prepared for use by OCC examiners in connection with the examination and supervision of national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches and agencies of foreign banking organizations (collectively, banks).
On 12/16/21, FinCEN and the OCC announced on separate issuances that they assessed a total of $8 million civil money penalty on CommunityBank of Texas, N.A. (CBOT) for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and its implementing regulations. As a result of its own investigation, the OCC assessed a civil penalty of $1 million for related violations while FinCEN agreed with CBOT to a settlement of $7 million.
On 12/16/21, the Federal Reserve Board and the FDIC issued the 2022 updated asset-size thresholds used to define "small bank" and "intermediate small bank" under their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) regulations. Small bank means an institution that, as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years, had assets of less than $1.384 billion. Intermediate small bank means a small institution with assets of at least $346 million as of December 31 of both of the prior two calendar years and less than $1.384 billion as of December 31 of either of the prior two calendar years.
On 12/17/21, the OCC issued the revised interagency Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) examination procedures for determining compliance with HMDA and its implementing regulations. The interagency procedures update the April 19, 2019, FFIEC interagency examination procedures for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.
In this Compliance Clip (video), Adam explains the answer to the questions on whether or not certain situations are in fact an unauthorized electronic fund transfer and whether or not a dispute has to be processed under regulation E. To provide the answer, he dives into the regulation, commentary, and additional guidance from the CFPB. This video is a must watch for anyone in your organization who processes Reg E disputes.
