Question:
We have a potential borrower who has several buildings we will be taking as collateral. The corner of one building is in a flood zone. We have requested flood insurance covering the entire building. Our borrower stated that his previous lender allowed them to obtain flood insurance on the one unit of the building that has the corner in the flood zone. We disagree with this. Should we receive flood insurance on the entire building? Answer: That is correct. Under the “one brick rule,” if the bank is taking the entire building as collateral and if even one corner or brick of the building is in the flood zone, the entire building must be covered. There’s not an exception for only securing the percentage of the building that is in the flood zone, unfortunately. This was discussed in our latest flood webinar: https://www.compliancealliance.com/news-events/an-in-depth-look-at-flood-insurance-webinar-2019 (a) In general. An FDIC-supervised institution shall not make, increase, extend, or renew any designated loan unless the building or mobile home and any personal property securing the loan is covered by flood insurance for the term of the loan. The amount of insurance must be at least equal to the lesser of the outstanding principal balance of the designated loan or the maximum limit of coverage available for the particular type of property under the Act. Flood insurance coverage under the Act is limited to the building or mobile home and any personal property that secures a loan and not the land itself. https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=463dc6e6b10404e4021fd57c6eccf410&mc=true&node=se12.5.339_13&rgn=div8 Question:
With regard to the FDIC's Part 350 Annual Disclosure Statement rescission, would it only apply to one of our charters or would it apply to the holding company and everything under it as a whole? We are two chartered banks under one holding company. Answer: The rescission applies to all FDIC supervised bank at the federal level, so in your case, it appears that it would apply to both banks independently, regardless of whether they're both under a holding company: ...This Financial Institution Letter applies to all FDIC-supervised institutions, including community institutions.... FDIC: FIL-14-2019: Removal of the FDIC'S Part 350 Annual Disclosure Statement Requirement www.fdic.gov Removal of the FDIC's Part 350 Annual Disclosure Statement Requirement Printable Format: FIL-14-2019 - PDF (). Summary: On March 8, 2019, the FDIC Board approved a final rule rescinding and removing Part 350 of the FDIC's regulations, which is entitled Disclosure of Financial and Other Information by FDIC Insured State Nonmember Banks. The FDIC is taking this action to simplify its regulations ... Question:
When is the deadline to provide a PMI notice of cancellation/termination? Answer: Assuming this is subject to the Homeowners Protection Act, the bank has 30 days after the PMI relating to a residential mortgage transaction is canceled or terminated to send out a notice to the borrower, as set out here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/supmanual/cch/hpa.pdf "Notification upon Cancellation or Termination of PMI Relating to Residential Mortgage Transactions General Requirements Not later than thirty days after PMI relating to a residential mortgage transaction is canceled or terminated, the servicer must notify the borrower in writing that
Question:
We escrow for taxes and insurance. This is not an HPML loan nor is flood insurance required in this situation. The taxes, with respect to this loan, are subject to a continual homestead credit that exceeds the tax charge. So, year after year, the amount via escrow that is owed is $0.00. The bank would like to collect a small amount as a cushion in case the taxes increase over the established credit. We don’t necessarily anticipate the taxes to increase, though. Can we do this? Answer: 12 CFR 1024.17(c)(ii): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1024/17/#c-1-ii - (1) A lender or servicer (hereafter servicer) shall not require a borrower to deposit into any escrow account, created in connection with a federally related mortgage loan, more than the following amounts: (ii) Charges during the life of the escrow account. Throughout the life of an escrow account, the servicer may charge the borrower a monthly sum equal to one-twelfth (1/12) of the total annual escrow payments which the servicer reasonably anticipates paying from the account. In addition, the servicer may add an amount to maintain a cushion no greater than one-sixth (1/6) of the estimated total annual payments from the account. Question:
We are selling one of our branches next month. The branch only has one HMDA loan to date. Do we need to report that loan on the HMDA LAR? The bank that is purchasing the branch is not a HMDA-reporting bank. Answer: Assuming that purchasing this branch will not cause the acquiring back to become a HMDA-reporting bank, then yes, in this instance you'd report any HMDA reportable loans that originated prior to the sale in April. Any reporting after the sale by the acquiring bank is optional for the remainder of the year. CFPB HMDA Guide, p. 121 https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/bcfp_hmda_small-entity-compliance-guide-final_2018-10.pdf When an institution that is not subject to Regulation C acquires a Branch Office of an institution that is subject to Regulation C but that acquisition does not result in the acquiring institution becoming subject to Regulation C, data collection is required for transactions of the acquired Branch Office that take place prior to the acquisition. Data collection by the acquired Branch Office is optional for transactions taking place in the remainder of the calendar year of the acquisition. Question:
On a business loan where we have personal guarantees, do we have to check MLA on the guarantees, since they are acting as individuals? Answer: No, because a business loan is not a covered transaction under the MLA. The MLA applies to "consumer credit" offered to covered borrowers, as those terms are defined in the MLA. Regarding the applicability of the MLA to guarantors, the Act is not clear as to whether it does apply or does not apply to guarantors. Conservatively, the bank would treat guarantors as if they fall under the scope of the MLA because they are to some extent "obligated on the consumer credit transaction..." 12 CFR § 232.3(g)(1) ("Covered borrower means a consumer who, at the time the consumer becomes obligated on a consumer credit transaction or establishes an account for consumer credit, is a covered member (as defined in paragraph (g)(2) of this section) or a dependent (as defined in paragraph (g)(3) of this section) of a covered member." 12 CFR § 232.3(f)(1) ("Consumer credit means credit offered or extended to a covered borrower primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, and that is: ...") Question:
Does the bank have to comply with the appraisal independence requirements even if an appraisal is not required? Answer: While not an explicit requirement if the appraisal itself is not required, we advise that the bank should ensure independence in the appraisal ordering process even if the appraisal was not required by the appraisal regulations. Note that the bank should also follow the same independence requirements for evaluations as well. The independence requirements can be found in the Interagency Appraisal and Evaluation Guidelines here: https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/laws/rules/5000-4800.html Question:
We request a tri-merge credit report for each applicant. Our credit decision is relies on the single lowest middle score applicant(s). Can you give guidance on how credit scores would be reported for two or more applicants? Do we report the one score relied on for all applicants, or report the score relied for one applicant and then the other as not applicable? Answer: The bank would report the credit score that it relied upon in making the decision. From what you described, it sounds like it would be the lowest middle score in this instance. The score would be reported for the applicant or co-applicant and not applicable for the one whose credit score was not used (since it wasn't relied upon in making the credit decision). To illustrate, assume a transaction involves one applicant and one co-applicant and that the financial institution obtains or creates two credit scores for the applicant and two credit scores for the co-applicant. Assume further that the financial institution relies on a single credit score that is the lowest, highest, most recent, or average of all of the credit scores obtained or created to make the credit decision for the transaction. The financial institution complies with § 1003.4(a)(15) by reporting that credit score and information about the scoring model used for the applicant and reporting that the requirement is not applicable for the first co-applicant or, at the financial institution's discretion, by reporting the data for the first co-applicant and reporting that the requirement is not applicable for the applicant. Comment 3, 1003.4(a)(15), https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1003/Interp-4/#4-a-15-Interp-3 Question:
We have a commercial customer with a line of credit that they use for working capital. They may also use the line for any other type of business-related expense. So, the commercial borrower used this original line to purchase a rental property. Now, we are paying down the line of credit with the property that was purchased as security. The original line won’t be fully paid down. Is this HMDA-reportable? Answer: No – this is not HMDA-reportable. This is because a commercial-purpose loan is only reportable as a home purchase loan, home improvement loan, or refinance. This situation only possibly implicates “refinance” for HMDA purposes (since there’s no indication that this is a home purchase or home improvement loan). However, this type of transaction does not constitute a “refinance” under HMDA because the new loan is only paying down the existing line of credit, rather than fully satisfying and replacing the line. (10) A closed-end mortgage loan or open-end line of credit that is or will be made primarily for a business or commercial purpose, unless the closed-end mortgage loan or open-end line of credit is a home improvement loan under § 1003.2(i), a home purchase loan under § 1003.2(j), or a refinancing under § 1003.2(p); 12 CFR 1003.3(c)(10): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1003/3/#c-10: 1. Loan or line of credit secured by a lien on unimproved land. Section 1003.3(c)(2) provides that a closed-end mortgage loan or an open-end line of credit secured by a lien on unimproved land is an excluded transaction. (p) Refinancing means a closed-end mortgage loan or an open-end line of credit in which a new, dwelling-secured debt obligation satisfies and replaces an existing, dwelling-secured debt obligation by the same borrower. 12 CFR 1003.2(p): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1003/2/#p Question:
We have a question on a loan that is a refinance of a purchase of a second home and is adding funds to pay off personal credit cards. Should be report the HOEPA Status as "Code 3 - NA"? Answer: Assuming the loan is just secured by the second home and is not also secured by the principal dwelling, then yes, it should be reported as "Code 3 - NA" like you said. The reason for this is that HOEPA only applies to: ...a high-cost mortgage, which is any consumer credit transaction that is secured by the consumer's principal dwelling... https://www.consumerfinance.gov/policy-compliance/rulemaking/regulations/1026/32/ So the HOEPA rules do not apply to this particular loan and, thus, it would be reported as not applicable for HMDA purposes. |
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