Pursuant to the provisions of 02-029 Code Me. R. ch. 119, §§ 4 & 5 and 02-030 Code Me. R. ch. 250, §§ 4 & 5, we have been providing the following documents:
- ME Alternative Mortgage Transaction Disclosure – Construction (Cx17637)
- ME Alternative Mortgage Transaction Disclosure – Buydown (Cx17638)
- ME Alternative Mortgage Transaction Disclosure – Balloon (Cx17670)
In a joint rule of the Maine Bureau of Financial Institutions and the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection, the disclosure requirements for these documents were repealed and replaced with rules which better conform to Federal Regulations D and Z, which no longer require separate disclosures. The Bureaus’ explained this decision as follows:
“The federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 authorized the creation of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (‘CFPB’). The purpose of the CFPB is to promote fairness and transparency for mortgages and other consumer financial products. The CFPB was given authority over federal consumer laws including the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act of 1982 (‘AMTPA’) and the federal Truth-in-Lending Act (‘TILA’). Since its inception, the CFPB has promulgated new consumer protections for mortgage borrowers. The CFPB has issued Regulation D, 12 C.F.R. §§ 1004.1-1004.4, to implement AMTPA and has made numerous changes to TILA regulations. The new federal protections found in TILA and TILA regulations have been incorporated into Maine law in Article VIII-A of the Consumer Credit Code and include a requirement that creditors consider a consumer’s repayment ability, qualified mortgage incentives, restrictions on high-cost mortgages, and new integrated mortgage loan disclosure requirements under TILA and RESPA (the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act). Given those new federal regulations, the Bureau of Financial Institutions and the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection find it appropriate to update their Joint Rule so that it is substantially aligned with Regulation D. This effort to align State with federal law and thereby ease compliance burdens is made pursuant to the Bureaus’ broad authority to prohibit, by rule or order, acts or practices in connection with residential mortgages that are unfair, deceptive, or designed to evade truth-in-lending laws. . .
. . . Regulation D works in conjunction with the new TILA regulations to protect borrowers in alternative mortgage transactions. Aligning Maine’s alternative mortgage regulations with the federal regulations will level the playing field for State and federal financial institutions, while protecting Maine consumers in a manner similar to that of the CFPB.” (a copy of the joint rule can be downloaded directly at: https://www.maine.gov/pfr/financialinstitutions/regulations/doc/Reg19FINALADOPTEDRULE.docx)
Because these documents are not required by state law, they will no longer print as generic documents and will be removed from our standard packages. Clients who are currently assigned to these documents, with custom print configurations, will continue to receive them under their specified print settings.
These changes will be in effect on March 14, 2019. If you have any questions or concerns about these changes, please contact Client Support at 1.800.497.3584.
DR 281609