CFPB Convenes Small Business Mortgage Panel and Updates Mortgage Disclosure Prototypes

CFPB Mortgage Origination

On February 21, the CFPB announced the formation of a small business panel to provide feedback on the Bureau’s mortgage disclosure form initiatives, as required under the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. That law requires that federal agencies gather small business input to help the agencies fulfill the related legal requirement that regulations avoid significant economic impact on a substantial number of small firms. The panel will provide feedback on small business compliance burdens related to the CFPB’s proposed mortgage disclosures and related proposed regulations. The CFPB’s announcement included the release of several documents that will be shared with the panel, including a detailed overview of the mortgage disclosure proposals under consideration, a fact sheet summarizing the review process, and an outline of questions the panel will address. In a related blog post, the CFPB also sought public comment on the proposals to be considered by the small business panel. The formation of the panel follows the CFPB’s recent release of another round of prototype integrated mortgage disclosures. After several rounds of previous testing, the CFPB provides in this most recent release a prototype loan estimate and settlement disclosure. At this stage, the CFPB no longer is offering multiple versions to compare, but is still testing the prototypes in person while seeking broader public feedback online. The CFPB promises that this is the last round of testing before it turns to crafting a proposed rule.