Newsroom

March 30, 2015

2 House panel chairs urge CFPB on TILA/RESPA compliance extension

House subcommittee chairmen Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-Mo., and Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, have asked CFPB Director Richard Cordray to set a five-month "hold harmless" period for those working to comply with the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act integrated mortgage disclosure rule.

Luetkemeyer and Neugebauer, who chair the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance and Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, respectively, said the rule's effective date of Aug. 1 falls in one of the busiest months for home-loan closings.

"It remains unclear … why the CFPB has selected the busiest time of the year to make fundamental changes to the home closing process," they wrote to Cordray last week. "We strongly encourage you to make the August 1, 2015, to December 31, 2015, timeframe a ‘hold harmless' period of restrained enforcement and liability."

The lawmakers said this change would allow all parties involved in the mortgage loan-closing process the time they need to gain a better understanding of the rule and allow CFPB to review any issues that might stem from the rule.

Luetkemeyer and Neugebauer requested from CFPB a "contingency plan to respond to uncertainty or questions about [the rule's] compliance following the August 1st implementation."

They asked Cordray to respond to their request by April 17.

Last week, as urged by NAFCU, NCUA Board Chairman Debbie Matz told association President and CEO Dan Berger the agency will be examining credit unions for reasonable, good faith efforts to comply with CFPB's TILA/RESPA rule as of Aug. 1.