HOEPA - Sections 226.17 .19; This and that
Posted by Anthony Demangone
I'll handle these two sections rather quickly. As I mentioned earlier, the Fed first issued their HOEPA regulations in 2008. But then Congress passed MDIA, which overtook the HOEPA regs in several areas. Well, the overlapped areas affect the two sections noted above in this post's title.
Sections 226.17 (general disclosure requirements) and .19 (certain mortgage and variable rate transactions) were amended by the Fed in 2008, but were superseded by the MDIA amendments to Reg Z. When you begin working toward compliance for HOEPA, remember this important distinction. The FDIC created thisgreat side-by-side chart that details how MDIA widened and strengthened the disclosure requirements.
With all the important compliance work we're going to have to do, I didn't want you heading down alleyways that are no longer relevant.
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Here are a few things kicking around my in-box.
- Prescreened offers are important. Just ask this mortgage company that forgot to include the all-important prescreen opt-out notice.  A mistake that cost them $20,000.
- NCUA issued a legal opinion recently offering guidance to a credit union that was trying to offer loan servicing and collection services to a non-profit entity.  It is an interesting read, as it brings up a credit union's charitable donation powers in a way that had not occurred to me. The letter also offers guidance relating to nonmember services and CUSOs.
- FinCEN issued a ruling to issue guidance on this situation: what do you do when four customers/members get together to have an armored car service to deliver cash to your institution in amounts greater than $10,000? Well, I won't answer that question, because it is fairly complicated - and the ruling does a good job of walking you through the process. But here's a great idea for training: ask a group of tellers how they would treat the transaction, and see if the come up with the same answer as FinCEN. (Just don't tell them that it was my idea.)
- The OCC has issued an updated version of its "Other Consumer Protection Laws and and Regulations. While not every reg in the massive document apply to federal credit unions, many do. And there are audit checklists for each one. Two words for this, my friends. Good stuff.
Have a great weekend, everyone.