Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (FHA Requirements)
Have you revised your Quality Control Program yet to meet the new reporting requirements for HMDA? If not, it could play a part in your ability to sell loans to certain government agencies. FHA in particular requires that a lender’s Quality Control Program be compliant with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act’s reporting requirements. The Quality Control Program should ensure that the information you are reporting is accurate and that the report itself is not only correct but is made timely. With the passing of the new HMDA regulation which became effective at the beginning of 2018, and for those lenders that became exempt from reporting the expanded data fields with the passage of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, you should ensure that your current Quality Control Program has been revised to meet the applicable HMDA reporting requirements.
At Regulatory Solutions, we provide services to meet all of your HMDA needs. We are capable of not only ensuring that your Quality Control Program meets the reporting requirements for federal agencies and federal regulations, but can also perform full HMDA scrubs.
HMDA – Action Taken
We are now almost two months into the new HMDA regulation and there have been several questions as to reporting the action taken. Specifically, when to report an application as being withdrawn or file being closed for incompleteness. While this data point existed under the old HMDA regulation, it can still be confusing.
First there are applications that must be reported as being withdrawn. Under the new HMDA regulation, withdrawn is reported when the application is expressly withdrawn by the applicant before a credit decision was made. An application is also reported as withdrawn if the financial institution provides conditional approval that specifies underwriting conditions which must be met and the applicant withdraws the application before satisfying all of the specified underwriting and credit worthiness conditions. An application would still be considered as being “withdrawn” if the financial institution made a counteroffer which the borrower agreed to and the loan was subsequently conditionally approved with underwriting conditions but the borrower later withdraws before satisfying those conditions.
When do you report an application as being closed for incompleteness? This part of the HMDA regulation coincides with ECOA. While the HMDA regulation itself does not necessarily require a notice to be sent regarding missing information, for an application to be considered as “file closed for incompleteness”, however a written notice of incompleteness as described under Regulation B 12 CFR 1002.9 (c)(2) must be sent to the applicant. If the applicant fails to respond to the written notice, there is no further action needed on the part of the financial institution and the action taken would be “file closed for incompleteness”. If an oral request for additional information is made by the financial institution and, if the application remains incomplete after the oral request is made, then a written notice denying the application based on the application being incomplete must be sent. In this instance, the file is denied for incompleteness instead of being closed for incompleteness. There are some financial institutions that provide both the notice of incompleteness under Regulation B, and then send an notice of denial for incompleteness. In this circumstance, reporting the application as closed for incompleteness or denied is left entirely up to the financial institution. As always, remember to document your file accordingly.
For more information on our HMDA services please contact Regulatory Solutions at contact@regulatorysol.com or Toll Free 855.734.7655.
Automated Underwriting System (AUS) Requirements
Now that it is 2018, financial institutions will have to report the name of the Automated Underwriting System (AUS) and the results that were generated as part of their HMDA data. This data point allows a financial institution to not only use the already well established AUSs, but to also report if they used one that they developed themselves. If this is the case, this system must meet all of the elements of the AUS definition. According to the CFPB’s Small Entity Compliance Guide, an AUS is: i) developed by a securitizer, Federal government insurer, or Federal government guarantor of Closed-End Mortgage Loans or Open-End Lines of Credit; and ii) provides results that address both the applicant’s credit risk and whether the loan is eligible to be originated, purchased, insured, or guaranteed by the securitizer.
It is important to note that this data point is required to be reported if an AUS was used to evaluate the loan. The intention of the financial institution, whether to sell or to keep it as part of their portfolio, will not affect this reporting requirement. That being said, using an AUS is not a requirement for generating a loan. If one was not used in evaluating the application, then this data point can be reported as “not applicable” on your HMDA LAR. The other two circumstances in which “not applicable” can be reported is if you are reporting on a purchased loan or if the applicants are not natural persons.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
HMDA 2018 Requires Reporting Of Total Dwelling Units
When reporting your HMDA data in 2018, you will now have to report the total number of individual dwelling units for the property that is securing the loan. This data point will always be answered with a number as this is one of the few data points where “not applicable” cannot be reported. When you are dealing with an application that did not end in origination, then the institution should rely on the best information that was available at the time action was taken.
When the loan is secured by a manufactured home community, the data point should include the total number of manufactured home sites that can be occupied. It does not matter if the units are already occupied when you are reporting this data point. When you are reporting on a loan that is secured by only one manufactured home and it is located in a manufactured home community, then this data point should be listed as being “1”.
If the loan is secured by a condominium, then the total number of individual units should be reported on your HMDA LAR. If such things such as manager apartments, vehicle pads, site-built homes, or other rental spaces are considered under the financial institutions underwriting guidelines, then they should also be included in the total of units.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Debt-to-Income Ratio New HMDA Reporting Requirement
Another addition to what must be collected as part of your HMDA data in 2018 is the borrower’s debt-to-income ratio. This must be reported if the DTI ratio was relied upon when the financial institution made their credit decision. This does not mean that in order for this data point to be reportable it had to be a deciding factor when the financial institution made their credit decision. The DTI ratio merely had to have been considered during the credit decision process.
On your HMDA LAR, this data point can be reported as being “not applicable” in a number of circumstances. One instance is if the DTI ratio was not relied upon when the credit decision was made. “Not applicable” can also occur when you are reporting on a purchased loan and for applications that were closed for incompleteness or withdrawn before a credit decision could be made. Another occasion where “not applicable” is reported on your HMDA LAR is when the applicant and the co-applicant are not natural persons. It is important to note that when reporting the DTI ratio, what is securing the loan will also affect what you report on your HMDA LAR. When the loan is secured by a multifamily dwelling, this data point should be reported as “not applicable”.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Discount Points, Lender Credits, and Interest Rate New HMDA Regs
For the new HMDA regulation, a financial institution will now have to report more information in regards to the terms of the loan. This includes such information as the total discount points, lender credits and the interest rate.
The total discount points that are paid to the creditor to reduce the interest rate can be found on page 2 of the Closing Disclosure on Line A.01. If there were no discount points paid, then this data point should be left blank. The other data point that can be found on the Closing Disclosure is the total of lender credits which is on page 2 Line J. Like with the discount points, if there were no lender credits, this data point should be left blank. If a revised Closing Disclosure was issued, then the revised amounts should be reported on the HMDA LAR.
Both of these data points are to be reported as “not applicable” in the same circumstances. The first is if the application did not end in origination. The second circumstance is if the loan or application is not subject to Regulation Z. The last instance is if it is a purchased loan with an application that was received prior to the effective date of Regulation Z.
Another item that must be reported as part of your HMDA data is the interest rate. This data point must be reported for loans that originated and for those that are approved but not accepted. For applications that were denied, withdrawn or closed for incompleteness, this data point should be reported as being “not applicable”.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Origination Charges Just One New HMDA Reporting Requirement.
The new HMDA regulation that will take effect in 2018 will require a financial institution to report a myriad of new information. One of these new data points is the total origination charges that are considered borrower paid either at or before closing. This information can be found on page 2 of the Closing Disclosure in Line A. In the case where a corrected Closing Disclosure was delivered and the total charges that are borrower paid have changed, then the corrected amount should be reported on the HMDA LAR.
This is a relatively straight forward addition to the HMDA LAR and there are a few circumstances where this data point will be reported as being “not applicable”. This will occur if the application did not result in origination or if the transaction itself is not subject to Regulation Z. Another reason that this would be “not applicable” is if it is a purchased loan with an application that was received prior to the effective date of Regulation Z.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Mortgage Loan Originator NMLS Identifier
Starting in 2018, an institution will report the NMLS ID for the mortgage loan originator. This is a unique number that is assigned to a loan originator through the National Mortgage Licensing System & Registry. The loan officer does not necessarily have to have one in order to provide loan originating services. If they are not required to have a NMLS ID number and they have not obtained one, then this data point should be reported as being “not applicable”.
There are some instances where the loan officer has obtained a NMLS ID but can originate a loan without one as it is not required by the state. The NMLS ID number should be reported on the HMDA LAR regardless of this, unless the transaction falls into one of two categories. First, if it is a purchased loan that is subject to 12 CFR 1026.36(g) (consumer credit transaction secured by a dwelling) and was originated prior to January 10, 2014. The other is if it is a purchased loan not subject to 12 CFR 1026.36(g) and it was originated prior to January 1, 2018. In these instances, this data point should be reported as being “not applicable”.
There are times when there is more than one loan officer associated with that particular transaction. If this occurs, the financial institution should report the NMLS ID of the loan officer who had the primary responsibility for the transaction as of the date of action taken.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Reporting of the Introductory Rate Period New HMDA Regulation
Under the new HMDA regulation, an institution must now report the introductory interest rate period. If there is one involved in the transaction, you must report the number of months from the day the loan closed until the first day that the interest rate may change. If the introductory interest rate period is measured in days, then the institution should report the number of whole months that the period meets and disregard any of the remainder. For instance, if the introductory interest rate period is 40 days, then the institution should report the term as being “1” on their HMDA LAR. If the period is less than one whole month, then the institution should still report the period as being “1”.
There are circumstances where “not applicable” will be reported on the HMDA LAR. One instance is with preferred rates. This data point is not required to be reported when the introductory interest rate period is based on preferred rates. That is unless the terms of the loan provide that the preferred rate will expire at a defined time. Preferred rates occur when the terms of the loan state that the initial rate is fixed but that it may increase or decrease if a certain event occurs, for example if an employee of the financial institution decides to find other employment. The other instance where this data point is reported as “not applicable” is when you are reporting on a fixed rate transaction.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.
Institutions Will Report Prepayment Penalty Term In 2018
Come 2018, an institution will have to report the term of the prepayment penalty on their HMDA LAR. There are several instances where this data point should be reported as “not applicable”. This is when the application is not subject to Regulation Z, it is for a reverse mortgage, when it is a purchased loan, and if the transaction does not involve a prepayment penalty. If there is a prepayment penalty, then the term must be reported in months.
For more information on HMDA regulations, 2018 data point changes or our HMDA compliance services, please call Rhonda Wannemuehler or Betsy Reynolds at 855-734-7655.