The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau today issued an interim final rule to address certain challenges related to the 2016 servicing amendments. The rule — which takes effect on Oct. 19 — gives mortgage servicers a 10-day window to notify borrowers that have requested that communication cease under federal debt collection law about their foreclosure options.
Under the final servicing rule issued in 2016, servicers were required to notify consumers who had requested ceased communications of their foreclosure options every 45 days. However, the rule stipulated that servicers could not send more than one notice within 180 days, effectively requiring servicers to provide the next notice exactly 180 days from the prior issuance, regardless of whether or not that date fell on a holiday or weekend. The 10-day window established by the interim final rule is meant to provide servicers with greater flexibility to meet the notification requirements.
The bureau today also issued a proposal related to the timing for servicers sending periodic statements to borrowers in bankruptcy. The proposal would replace the single-billing-cycle exemption with a single-statement exemption, and would be effective April 19, 2018.
