View Rule

In January 2013, the CFPB issued final mortgage servicing rules implementing numerous provisions of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act, as amended by title XIV of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.  The CFPB has since made various corrections, clarifications, and other amendments to the January 2013, rules.  On April 9, 2021, the CFPB proposed amendments to the mortgage servicing early intervention and loss mitigation-related provisions in Regulation X, which implements RESPA.  The proposed rule aimed to ensure that mortgage borrowers are evaluated for loss mitigation before servicers initiate the foreclosure process and to avert, to the extent possible, a foreclosure crisis when the COVID-19 forbearances end.  The Bureau issued a final rule in June 2021, to amend Regulation X to assist mortgage borrowers affected by the COVID-19 emergency.  The final rule establishes temporarily procedural safeguards to help ensure that borrowers have a meaningful opportunity to be reviewed for loss mitigation before the servicer can make the first notice or filing required for foreclosure on certain mortgages.  In addition, the final rule temporarily permits mortgage servicers to offer certain loan modifications made available to borrowers experiencing a COVID-19-related hardship based on the evaluation of an incomplete application.  The Bureau also finalized certain temporary amendments to the early intervention and reasonable diligence obligations that Regulation X imposes on mortgage servicers.