The mortgage servicing industry has witnessed historic change in recent years and another historic change is just around the corner. In late 2014, the CFPB published a proposed rule concerning amendments to the Bureau's 2013 Mortgage Servicing Rules under RESPA and TILA. These proposed amendments address, among other things, many issues related to providing monthly periodic billing statements to customers who are in bankruptcy. The proposed rule applies to all financial institutions, regardless of size, that originate and hold or originate and sell (servicing retained) loans secured by a consumer's principal residence.

The types of issues addressed in the amendments include:

  • Which customers in bankruptcy are exempt from receiving monthly billing statements;
  • Modifications that must be made to the form of billing statement sent to customers in bankruptcy;
  • How to properly disclose the components of the "amount due" in a billing statement sent to a customer in bankruptcy;
  • Treatment of post-petition fees and charges in a billing statement; and
  • Disclosures required for pre-petition arrearages, post-petition balances and payments on those amounts. 

The CFPB is expected to issue a final rule on these topics soon; perhaps as early as July 2016. Have you started considering how you will comply with these requirements? 

Lindquist & Vennum's Consumer Financial Services Group welcomes the opportunity to partner with you and assist your operation in implementing these challenging rules. With more than 50 years of combined in-house legal experience, we understand the difficulties that financial institutions and mortgage servicers face when implementing this type of regulatory requirement. Our prior in-house experience with some of the nation's largest financial institutions enables us to provide you with practical legal advice from a unique perspective.

We are prepared to discuss the details of this complex regulation with you and provide insights on what you can do now to help prepare your institution for these changes. 

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.