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Many bankers have relied on the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) for years as an inexpensive source for the disclosure booklets required for adjustable-rate mortgages. The booklet is frequently referred to as the Consumer Handbook for Adjustable-Rate Mortgages, or CHARM Booklet. Recently it came to my attention that the CHARM Booklet is no longer available through the FRB’s website since the underlying regulation, Regulation Z, has been transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). However,

On February 15 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) published a final rule that formalizes a test for determining whether a given practice has an unjustified discriminatory effect, leading to liability under the Fair Housing Act. The final rule is effective on March 18, 2013. The regulation formalizes HUD’s long-held interpretation of the availability of “discriminatory effects” liability under the Fair Housing Act and to provide nationwide consistency in the application of that

On January 23, 2013 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council published proposed guidance entitled “Social Media: Consumer Compliance Risk Management Guidance’’ (guidance). Upon completion of the guidance, and after consideration of comments received from the public, the federal financial institution regulatory agencies will issue it as supervisory guidance to the institutions that they regulate. Those institutions will be expected to use the guidance in their efforts to ensure that their policies and procedures provide oversight

On January 23, 2013 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the settlement of a case that alleged that the bank required a loan applicant with disabilities to provide unnecessary documentation to establish he would continue receiving disability income for three years before they would approve his mortgage loan. The applicant submitted documentation from the Social Security Administration as part of his mortgage application. Additional documentation was not needed because Social Security award

On February 6, 2013 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the settlement of a case that alleged that the lender violated the Fair Housing Act by requiring a home loan applicant on paid maternity leave to return to work before the lender would approve a home loan. HUD’s complaint alleged that because the lender required the woman, a Navy veteran, to return to work before approving the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)-