On October 17, the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs released the CFPB's fall 2018 rulemaking agenda. In the preamble to the agenda, the CFPB notes that the agenda lists the regulatory matters that the agency "reasonably anticipates having under consideration during the period from October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019."

Implementing Statutory Directives. According to the CFPB, much of its rulemaking agenda focuses on implementing statutory directives. Those statutory directives include:

  • The directive by the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act ("EGRRCPA") that the CFPB engage in rulemaking to (1) exempt certain creditors with assets of $10 billion or less from certain mortgage escrow requirements under the Dodd-Frank Act, and (2) develop standards for assessing consumers' ability to repay Property Assessed Clean Energy ("PACE") financing; and
  • The Dodd-Frank Act's directive that the CFPB, prior to any public disclosure, modify or require modification of loan-level data submitted by financial institutions under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act ("HMDA") so as to protect consumer privacy interests.

Continuation of Other Rulemakings. In addition, the CFPB notes that it "is continuing certain other rulemakings described in its Spring 2018 Agenda." Those continuing rulemaking efforts include:

  • Anticipated rulemaking to reconsider the 2017 Payday, Vehicle Title, and Certain High-Cost Installment Loans Rule;
  • Anticipated rulemaking to reconsider its 2015 HMDA rule, for instance, by potentially revisiting such issues as the institutional and transactional coverage tests and the rule's discretionary data points; and
  • Anticipated rulemaking to address how to apply the 40-year-old Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") to modern collection practices.

Further Planning. The CFPB also notes that it "has a number of workstreams underway that could affect planning and prioritization of rulemaking activity, as well as the way in which it conducts rulemakings and related processes." Those workstreams include:

  • Ongoing efforts to reexamine rules that the Bureau issued to implement Dodd-Frank Act requirements concerning international remittance transfers, the assessment of consumers' ability to repay mortgage loans, and mortgage servicing;
  • Ongoing efforts to reexamine rules implementing a Dodd-Frank Act mandate to consolidate various mortgage origination disclosures under the Truth in Lending Act and Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act;
  • Ongoing efforts to reexamine the requirements of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act ("ECOA") concerning the disparate impact doctrine, in light of recent Supreme Court case law and Congressional disapproval of a prior Bureau bulletin concerning indirect auto lender compliance with ECOA and its implementing regulations; and
  • Ongoing efforts directed at determining whether rulemaking or other activities may be helpful to further clarify the meaning of "abusiveness" under section 1031 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

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