Banks, credit unions, and savings associations with assets of $48 million or less as of Dec. 31 are exempt from collecting data in 2021 under Regulation C (Home Mortgage Disclosure), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said Tuesday in setting the regulation’s annual asset-size threshold.
The bureau said the $1 million upward adjustment in the threshold from last year was based on a 1.3% increase in the average of the CPI-W for the 12-month period ending in November 2020.
As it usually does, the bureau noted that an institution’s exemption from collecting data in 2021 does not affect its responsibility to report data it was required to collect in 2020.
The bureau also announced its adjustment to Regulation Z thresholds, stating that creditors with assets of less than $2.23 billion (including assets of certain affiliates) as of Dec. 31 are exempt, if other requirements of Regulation Z also are met, from establishing escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2021.
The asset-size exemption threshold applies to certain creditors under the escrow requirements and small creditor portfolio and balloon-payment qualified mortgage requirements, and the small creditor exemption from the prohibition against balloon-payment high-cost mortgages under Regulation Z.
The CFPB said the asset limit will also apply during a grace period, in certain circumstances, with respect to transactions with applications received before April 1, 2022.
Finally, the bureau announced the annual adjustment to the maximum amount consumer reporting agencies may charge consumers for making a file disclosure to a consumer under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The ceiling on allowable charges under Section 612(f) of FCRA will increase to $13, effective for 2021.
All adjustments are effective Jan. 1.