The CFPB has announced that with regard to the collection in 2018 of the expanded data fields under the revised Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) rules, the CFPB does not intend to require data resubmission unless data errors are material, and does not intend to assess penalties with respect to errors in the data collected in 2018.

As we reported previously, in October 2015 the CFPB adopted significant changes to the HMDA rules that significantly expanded the amount of information that must be collected and reported, and the institutions that are required to collect and report data. Most of the data collection changes are effective January 1, 2018. In announcing the approach to enforcement, the CFPB acknowledged the significant systems and operational challenges faced by the industry in implementing the changes.

The CFPB also noted that any examinations of 2018 HMDA data will be diagnostic to help institutions identify compliance weaknesses, and indicated that it will credit good faith compliance efforts. This approach was expected by the industry, as it is consistent with the approach taken by the CFPB with the implementation of other significant mortgage rules. The FDIC and OCC also issued similar statements.

Significantly, the CFPB also announced that it intends to engage in a rulemaking to reconsider various aspects of the revised HMDA rules, such as the institutions that are subject to the rules, including the related transactional coverage tests, and the discretionary data points that were added to the statutory data points by the CFPB.  While the industry has pressed for a reconsideration of various requirements, and the Trump administration has signaled it was receptive to considering changes, this is the first public announcement by the CFPB that it will reconsider the revisions made to the HMDA rules.