Supplementary Supporting Statement for TILA-RESPA Integration

Regulation Z - Supplementary Supporting Statement for TILA-RESPA.pdf

Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z) 12 CFR 1026

Supplementary Supporting Statement for TILA-RESPA Integration

OMB: 3170-0015

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CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION BUREAU
INFORMATION COLLECTION REQUEST – SUPPORTING STATEMENT
TRUTH IN LENDING ACT (REGULATION Z) 12 CFR 1026
(OMB CONTROL NUMBER: 3170-0015)
The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (CFPB) is providing a supplement to its previous
supporting statement for Regulation Z. This supplement addresses the information collection
requirements in Regulation Z that are affected by the CFPB’s proposed changes as described below.
A. JUSTIFICATION
1. Circumstances Necessitating the Data Collection
The Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., was enacted to foster comparison
credit shopping and informed credit decision making by requiring accurate disclosure of the costs and
terms of credit to consumers. Creditors are subject to disclosure and other requirements that apply to
open-end credit (e.g., revolving credit or credit lines) and closed-end credit (e.g., installment financing).
TILA imposes disclosure requirements on all types of creditors in connection with consumer credit,
including mortgage companies, finance companies, retailers, and credit card issuers, to ensure that
consumers are fully apprised of the terms of financing prior to consummation of the transaction and, in
some instances, during the loan term. Regulation Z was previously implemented by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) at 12 CFR 226. In light of the general transfer of the
Board’s rulemaking authority for TILA to the CFPB, the CFPB adopted an interim final rule (Interim
Final Rule) recodifying the Board’s Regulation Z at 12 CFR 1026. The CFPB enforces TILA as to
certain creditors and advertisers. TILA also contains a private right of action for consumers.
Although Regulation Z has historically implemented provisions of TILA, the Dodd-Frank Act
amended TILA and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) to mandate specifically that the
CFPB establish a single, integrated disclosure (including real estate settlement cost statements) that
includes the disclosure requirements of TILA and RESPA for mortgage loan transactions subject to both
or either provisions of law. 15 U.S.C. 1604(a); 12 U.S.C. 2603(a). Required disclosures under RESPA
include a good faith estimate of settlement costs (RESPA GFE), a special information booklet, and an
itemization of settlement charges imposed upon the borrower and the seller. The implementing
regulations for RESPA have historically been published in Regulation X, 12 CFR 1024.
Through a proposed rule published in the Federal Register in August 2012, the CFPB is
proposing to amend Regulation Z to implement certain provisions of RESPA in order integrate the
disclosures required by TILA and RESPA, as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB enforces
RESPA as to certain lenders, mortgage brokers, and settlement agents. As set forth more fully below, the
CFPB believes the following aspects of the proposed rule are information collection requirements under
the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA).1
1

Under the proposal, these information collection requirements apply to closed-end transactions secured by real property,
other than reverse mortgages subject to § 1026.33. Construction-only loans, vacant-land loans, and loans secured by more
than 25 acres are subject to the integrated disclosure provisions although these transactions are currently exempt from RESPA

Recordkeeping
The CFPB is proposing 12 CFR 1026.25(c), which contains record retention requirements related
to the integrated TILA and RESPA disclosures. Generally, that provision requires creditors to retain
evidence of compliance with the integrated disclosure provisions of Regulation Z for three years after
consummation of the transaction, except that the creditor must retain copies of the integrated disclosures
provided to consumers three business days prior to consummation, and all documents related to such
disclosures, for five years after consummation (see #7, below). The CFPB is also proposing to require
creditors to retain evidence of compliance with the integrated disclosure provisions in electronic,
machine readable format. The CFPB believes that this proposed electronic data retention requirement
will ensure that records associated with the integrated disclosures are readily available for examination,
which is necessary to both prevent circumvention of and facilitate compliance with TILA, and may also
facilitate compliance with TILA by easing the burden of examinations. The information is not reported
to the CFPB, but may be requested as part of an investigation.
Disclosure
The CFPB is proposing to implement in Regulation Z certain additional disclosures derived from
the following statutory provisions under TILA, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, in 12 CFR 1026.19,
1026.37, 1026.38, and 1026.39: 15 U.S.C. 1638(a)(16) through (a)(19), 1638(b)(4), 1639c(g)(2), (g)(3),
and (h), and 1639d(h) and (j)(1)(A). In addition, the CFPB is proposing to implement in Regulation Z
certain disclosures derived from the following statutory provisions under RESPA in 12 CFR 1026.19,
1026.37, and 1026.38: 12 U.S.C. 2603 and 2604. Specifically, the proposed rule requires disclosures be
provided to consumers within three business days after receipt of the consumer’s mortgage loan
application (the Loan Estimate), to replace the “early” TILA disclosure and the RESPA GFE, and at least
three business days prior to consummation (the Closing Disclosure), to replace the “final” TILA
disclosure and RESPA settlement statement.
The proposal would require the development, implementation, and continuing use of new,
integrated Loan Estimate forms for closed-end mortgage transactions subject to the proposed rule and the
generation and provision of additional Loan Estimates in particular transactions as a result of increases in
the closing costs that were included in the initial Loan Estimate.2 In addition, the proposal would require
the development, implementation, and continuing use of new, integrated Closing Disclosure forms for
closed-end mortgage transactions subject to the proposed rule.

coverage, because the CFPB believes that excluding these transactions would deprive consumers of the benefit of enhanced
disclosures. However, the CFPB believes that the number of such transactions is negligible as compared to the entire
mortgage market.
2
The proposal also provides that, if the creditor permits a consumer to shop for a settlement service, the creditor shall provide
the consumer with a written list identifying available providers of that service and stating that the consumer may choose a
different provider for that service. Accordingly, creditors must comply with this additional requirement in certain transactions
where consumers are permitted to shop for settlement services. This is an existing requirement under current Regulation X,
12 CFR 1024 app. C, but is not specifically itemized as a separate information collection under Regulation X. Because the
timing of this requirement coincides with the provision of the initial Loan Estimate to consumers, the burden associated with
the written list of providers requirement under the proposed rule is included in the burden calculation for the Loan Estimate.

2

The CFPB is proposing that the integrated disclosures described above serve as model forms for
transactions subject to TILA, and standard forms for transactions subject to both TILA and RESPA.
2. Use of the Information
Federal and State enforcement agencies and private litigants use records retained under the
requirement of Regulation Z to ascertain whether accurate and complete disclosures of the cost of credit
have been provided to consumers prior to consummation of the credit obligation and, in some instances,
during the loan term. The information is also used to determine whether other actions required under
TILA have been met. The information retained provides the primary evidence of law violations in TILA
enforcement actions brought by Federal agencies. Without the Regulation Z recordkeeping requirement,
the agencies’ ability to enforce TILA would be significantly impaired. Under the proposed rule, Federal
and State enforcement agencies would similarly use Regulation Z to determine compliance with certain
provisions of RESPA.
As noted above, consumers rely on the disclosures required by TILA and Regulation Z to shop
among options and to facilitate informed credit decision making. Without this information, consumers
would be hindered in their ability to assess the true costs and terms of financing offered. Additionally,
enforcement agencies and private litigants need the information in these disclosures to enforce TILA
and Regulation Z. See 15 U.S.C. 1607, 1640. Under the proposed rule, consumers would also rely on
the disclosures required by Regulation Z to understand their estimated and final settlement costs.
3. Use of Information Technology
Regulation Z contains rules to establish uniform standards for using electronic communication to
deliver disclosures required under Regulation Z, within the context of the Electronic Signatures in Global
and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), 15 U.S.C. 7001 et seq. 12 CFR 1026.5(a)(1)(iii), 1026.17(a)(1).
These rules enable businesses to utilize electronic disclosures and compliance, consistent with the
requirements of ESIGN. Use of such electronic communications is also consistent with the Government
Paperwork Elimination Act (GPEA), Title XVII of Pub. L. 105-277, codified at 44 U.S.C. 3504, note.
ESIGN and GPEA serve to reduce businesses’ compliance burden related to Federal requirements,
including Regulation Z, by enabling businesses to use more efficient electronic media for disclosures and
compliance.
Regulation Z also permits creditors to retain records on microfilm or microfiche or any other
method that reproduces records accurately, including computer programs. Creditors need only retain
enough information to reconstruct the required disclosure or other records. Comment 25(a)-2.
As noted above, the CFPB is proposing to require creditors to retain evidence of compliance
with the integrated disclosure provisions in electronic, machine readable format.
4. Efforts to Identify Duplication
The proposed recordkeeping requirement of Regulation Z preserves the information used by the
creditor in making disclosures (and underlying calculations) of the terms of consumer credit and other
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required actions. The creditor is the only source of this information. No other Federal law mandates
these disclosures and other required actions. No State law known to the CFPB imposes these
requirements, although some States may have other rules applicable to consumer credit transactions.
Similarly, the proposed disclosures required by TILA and Regulation Z are not otherwise
required, except as noted below with respect to RESPA and Regulation X. Although some credit cost
information is contained in contractual documents, the information is not standardized. As a result,
consumers cannot use it efficiently to shop or to appreciate fully the credit terms they are considering.
The creditor is the only source of this information. No other Federal law mandates these disclosures
other than as noted below. State laws do not duplicate these requirements, although some States may
have other rules applicable to consumer credit transactions.
As noted above, the CFPB is proposing to implement in Regulation Z certain disclosure
requirements under TILA and RESPA to reduce the number of overlapping disclosures that consumers
currently receive under those two statutes.
5. Efforts to Minimize Burdens on Small Entities
TILA and Regulation Z recordkeeping and disclosure requirements are imposed on all creditors.
The recordkeeping requirement is mandated by Regulation Z. The disclosure requirements are
mandated jointly by TILA and Regulation Z. The CFPB is proposing additional disclosure requirements
mandated by RESPA and the Dodd-Frank Act.
Most lenders today use some degree of computerization in their business, and Regulation Z
permits businesses to rely on computer support, among other alternatives, to meet their recordkeeping
and disclosure requirements. This flexibility yields reduced recordkeeping and disclosure costs. (See #3
above.) As noted, the CFPB is proposing to require creditors to retain evidence of compliance with the
integrated disclosure requirements in machine readable, electronic format. A standard electronic record
format across the mortgage origination industry may increase efficiency in the origination and
supervision processes, reducing industry costs in the long term, and reducing costs to consumers.
Moreover, as noted previously, Regulation Z provides model forms and clauses that may be used
in compliance with its requirements. Correct use of these forms and clauses insulates a creditor from
liability as to proper format. The CFPB is proposing that the integrated disclosures serve as model forms
for transactions subject to TILA, and standard forms for transactions subject to both TILA and RESPA.
6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection and Obstacles to Burden Reduction
The current record retention period of two years under Regulation Z supports private actions and
regulatory enforcement actions. If the retention period were shortened, consumers who sue under TILA,
and the administrative agencies, might find that creditor records needed to prove violations of TILA no
longer exist.
The CFPB is proposing to require creditors to retain evidence of compliance with the integrated
disclosure provisions of Regulation Z for three years after consummation of the transaction, except that
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creditors must retain the Closing Disclosure and all documents related to the Closing Disclosure for five
years after consummation (see #7, below). The CFPB is also proposing to require creditors to retain
evidence of compliance with the integrated disclosure provisions in electronic, machine readable format.
As noted, the disclosure requirements are needed to facilitate comparison cost shopping and to
spur informed credit decision making. Without these requirements, consumers may not have access to
this critical information or may not receive it in a timely fashion on in an easily-understand manner.
Their right to sue under TILA would be undermined, and enforcement agencies could not fulfill their
mandate to enforce TILA and RESPA.
7. Circumstances Requiring Special Information Collection
The proposed rule would adopt a retention requirement of five years after consummation for the
Closing Disclosure and all documents related to the Closing Disclosure, consistent with the requirements
of existing Regulation X. While § 1026.25 of Regulation Z generally requires creditors to retain
evidence of compliance with TILA for two years after the date disclosures are required to be made or
action is required to be taken, current Regulation X (12 CFR § 1024.10(e)) requires lenders to retain each
completed RESPA settlement statement and related documents for five years after settlement, unless the
lender disposes of its interest in the mortgage and does not service the mortgage. If the lender disposes
of its interest and does not service the mortgage, current Regulation X requires the lender to provide the
lender’s copy of the RESPA settlement statement to the owner or servicer of the mortgage as part of the
transfer of the loan file. The owner or servicer to whom the files are transferred must retain the RESPA
settlement statement for the remainder of the five-year period.
The CFPB is proposing a retention requirement of five years after consummation because the
Closing Disclosure serves an important purpose as both the record of all fees associated with the
transaction and as part of the official disbursement record and may be needed for five years after the
transaction. For example, State and local laws related to transactions involving real property may depend
on the information being available for five years. Additionally, the current five-year recordkeeping
requirement under Regulation X has been in effect since 1992.3 The CFPB is unaware of any problems
caused by the five year requirement under current Regulation X and does not believe the time period
should be shortened without evidence that the rule is not operating as intended, is unnecessary, or
otherwise harms consumers. Thus, it appears that requiring creditors to retain copies of the Closing
Disclosure for five years is appropriate. The CFPB believes that this requirement will ensure that records
associated with the integrated disclosures are kept long enough to facilitate compliance with both TILA
and RESPA and will also enable accurate supervision.
The proposed rule also requires that if a creditor sells, transfers, or otherwise disposes of its
interest in a mortgage and does not service the mortgage, the creditor shall provide a copy of the Closing
Disclosure to the owner or servicer of the mortgage as a part of the transfer of the loan file. Such owner
or servicer shall retain such disclosures for the remainder of the five-year period. The CFPB recognizes
that this proposed requirement is different from the current requirements under Regulation X, which do
3

57 FR 49600, 49607 (Nov. 2, 1992).

5

not require a creditor to maintain these documents if the creditor disposes of its interest in the mortgage
loan and does not service the mortgage loan. However, the CFPB believes that the current requirement
provides little practical benefit to creditors, because other provisions of Regulations Z and X require
creditors to maintain records of compliance for several years, even if the creditor transfers, sells, or
otherwise disposes of its interest in the mortgage loan.
8. Consultation Outside the Agency
In August 2012, the CFPB published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register for
public comment. The comment period with respect to the PRA analysis will end on November 6, 2012.
Prior to issuing the proposed rule, the CFPB consulted with other Federal agencies consistent with
section 1022 of the Dodd-Frank Act and consulted with affected small entities through a Small Business
Review Panel convened under Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act. The Bureau also
consulted with other stakeholders, including roundtables with industry representatives and consumer
advocacy groups.
9. Payments or Gifts to Respondents
Not applicable.
10. & 11. Assurances of Confidentiality/Justification for Sensitive Questions
The required recordkeeping and disclosures also contain private financial information about
persons who use consumer credit that is protected by the Right to Financial Privacy Act, 12 U.S.C. 3401
et seq. Such records may also constitute confidential customer lists. Any of these records provided to
the CFPB would be covered by the protections of the CFPB’s rules on Disclosure of Records and
Information, 12 CFR Part 1070, and by the exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C.
552(b), as applicable.
12. Estimated Burden of Information Collection
Under the proposed rule, the CFPB would account for the paperwork burden associated with
Regulation Z for the following respondents pursuant to its administrative enforcement authority: insured
depository institutions with more than $10 billion in total assets, their depository institution affiliates, and
certain nondepository institutions. The CFPB estimates it has 2,643 total respondents (128 depository
institutions and affiliates and 2,515 nondepository institutions).4 The CFPB and the FTC generally have
joint enforcement authority over nondepository institutions. To prevent double-counting the same
population, the CFPB has allocated to itself half of the estimated burden to nondepository institutions.
The CFPB calculates labor costs by applying appropriate hourly cost figures to the burden hours
described below. The hourly rates used are based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for depository and
4

The CFPB has administrative enforcement authority over 154 depository institutions and depository affiliates. The CFPB
estimates that 26 of these entities did not originate any closed-end mortgages in 2010 and excludes these entities for the
purposes of this PRA analysis.

6

nondepository credit intermediators. To obtain fully-loaded hourly rates, the CFPB divides hourly wages
by 67.5%.5 The fully-loaded hourly labor cost by occupation is given below.

Occupation
Attorneys
Compliance officers
Loan officers
Training and development specialists
Computer and IT staff

Depository
Institutions
$114
$44
$45
$38
$53

Nondepository
Institutions
$113
$49
$47
$40
$58

A. Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure
The integrated Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure would result in certain one-time and
ongoing costs to covered persons. The CFPB believes that many of the costs of complying with these
requirements would be common across the two disclosures, and therefore discusses them together here.
For purposes of the PRA, the one-time burdens are allocated equally across the Loan Estimate and the
Closing Disclosure.
Under the proposed rule, responsibility for delivering the Loan Estimate would lie with the
creditor. The CFPB believes that in some circumstances the Loan Estimate may be delivered by a
mortgage broker acting on behalf of the creditor, as is currently the case with the RESPA GFE. In
addition, the CFPB is proposing two alternatives for provision of the Closing Disclosure. Under the first
alternative, the creditor would be solely responsible for providing the disclosure to the consumer. Under
the second alternative, the creditor and the settlement agent would be jointly responsible. Although
respondents under PRA for Regulation Z also include mortgage brokers and settlement agents, for
purposes of the PRA analysis, the CFPB assumes that the creditor takes on the obligation to deliver the
Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure. Accordingly, there is minimal burden attributed to brokers
and settlement agents.
i. One-time burden
Reviewing the regulation
The CFPB estimates that, for each covered person, one attorney and one compliance officer
would each take seven hours to read and review the sections of the proposed rule that describe the
required contents of the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure, based on the length of the sections. The
burden allocated to the CFPB for depository and nondepository institutions is therefore
7*2*1,386=19,000 hours (rounded to the nearest 1,000). Based on the respective labor cost of attorneys
and compliance officers, the associated labor cost is roughly $1.6 million.
5

Bureau of Labor Statistics data indicate that in Q4 2010 wages accounted for 67.5% of the total cost of compensation for
credit intermediation and related activities.

7

Training
Covered persons would incur one-time costs associated with training employees to use new forms
and any new compliance software and systems. The CFPB estimates that each loan officer or other loan
originator will need to receive two hours of training, and that one trainer could train ten loan officers at a
time, for an additional one hour of trainer time per ten hours of trainee time. The CFPB estimates that
there are approximately 35,000 loan officers at the depository institutions under the CFPB’s jurisdiction
and 21,000 at nondepository institutions that would need training. Based on the CFPB’s allocation of
45,500 trainees, the time for trainers and trainees is (45,500*1.1*2) =100,100 hours. Based on the
respective labor cost of loan officers and trainers, the associated labor cost is roughly $4.4 million.
Software and information technology
Covered persons6 who maintain their own software and compliance systems would incur onetime costs to adapt their software and compliance systems to produce the new forms. 7 Based on
information provided by creditors and by software vendors, the CFPB believes that, in general, larger
creditors develop and maintain their own compliance software and systems, while smaller creditors
primarily rely on software and compliance systems provided by outside vendors. The CFPB estimates
that the top 20 creditors typically maintain their own systems, while 95 percent of smaller creditors rely
on vendors.
The use of vendors would substantially mitigate the costs of revising software and compliance
systems, as the efforts of a single vendor would address the needs of a large number of creditors. Based
on discussions with a leading origination technology provider, the CFPB believes that these updates,
however, would likely be included in regular annual updates, and therefore the costs would not be
directly passed on to the client creditors. Based on small entities that participated in the Small Business
Review Panel process, the CFPB estimates that smaller creditors that maintain their own compliance
software and systems would incur costs of roughly $100,000 to determine what changes need to be made
and to update their systems to comply with the proposal. Larger creditors with proprietary systems
would need to revise their compliance software and systems. Based on information from conversations
6

For the reasons discussed above, the CFPB is assuming that the creditor will bear the costs of revising software and
compliance systems for purposes of this analysis. If, instead, settlement agents bore those costs with respect to the Closing
Disclosure, the costs would likely be similar although borne by different parties. Two major vendors currently provide
software services to the vast majority of small mortgage originators to produce the RESPA GFE and initial TILA disclosures.
RESPA settlement statements are currently issued by settlement agents using software provided by a different, but similarly
small, set of vendors; however, the CFPB understands that the originators’ systems are capable of producing the RESPA
settlement statements. As a result, the CFPB believes that it is reasonable to measure costs assuming that the originators’
vendors will provide both the Loan Estimate and the Closing Disclosure to their clients under existing contracts. Were the
current software providers for settlement agents to have to update their systems (under the second alternative or under other
contractual arrangements), those vendors would have to incur the stated costs.
7
In addition to changing the format of the required forms, the new proposed forms include numerous new disclosures that are
required by the Dodd-Frank Act. The CFPB believes that this additional information would be added to the forms as part of
the process of adapting software and compliance systems to produce the new forms, and therefore does not provide separate
estimates for the costs of adding this additional information.

8

with large creditors and with software vendors, the CFPB estimates that the cost per creditor for this
category of creditor would be $1,000,000.
The total cost to covered persons who maintain their own systems is roughly $24.8 million.8
Dividing the total cost by the labor cost for software and IT staff yields an estimate of 455,000 hours.
ii. Ongoing burden
Covered persons will have ongoing costs from providing the disclosures. Based on industry
feedback, the CFPB understands that most disclosures will be generated by automated systems that use
data collected by covered entities in the normal course of business. The CFPB believes that a small
number of the disclosures in the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure would be generated using data
that may not otherwise be collected in the normal course of business, and has considered this in
calculating the ongoing burden associated with the information collection. The CFPB’s estimates also
account for the time covered persons would spend to review the forms for accuracy. The CFPB
therefore estimates that providing a Loan Estimate will take approximately 3 minutes and providing a
Closing Disclosure will take approximately 6 minutes. However, the CFPB may adjust its calculation in
a final rule if it determines that such information is collected or reviewed for accuracy in the normal
course of business or that automated sources of such data exist that would make any burden associated
with collecting that data negligible.

CFPB share of responses
CFPB share of respondents
Average frequency of response
Annual Burden (hrs):
Time per response (minutes)
Total (hours)
Annual Burden ($):
Labor costs

Loan
Estimate
17,900,000
1,386
12,917

Closing
Disclosure
4,800,000
1,386
3,464

3
895,000

6
480,000

1,375,000

$41,170,000 $22,080,000

$63,250,000

Total
22,700,000
n/a

In calculating the total burden of providing Loan Estimates and Closing Disclosures, the CFPB
assumes that Loan Estimates will be provided in response to applications for mortgages and Closing
Disclosures will be provided three business days before mortgages are consummated. The CFPB further
estimates entities will reissue on average two Loan Estimates per loan originated.
8

The CFPB assumes burden for 18 of the top 20 respondents and 68 additional respondents. The total cost is therefore
(18*$1,000,000)+(68*$100,000)=$24,800,000.

9

B. Recordkeeping
The integrated recordkeeping requirement would result in certain one-time costs to covered
persons. The CFPB believes the ongoing costs would be minimal once the appropriate technology
systems are in place.
As discussed above, the CFPB is assuming that the creditor will bear the costs of revising
software and compliance systems for purposes of this analysis.
i. One-time burden
Reviewing the regulation
The CFPB estimates that, for each covered person, one attorney and one compliance officer
would each take approximately 7.5 minutes to read and review the sections of the proposed regulation
that describe the recordkeeping requirements, based on the length the section. The burden allocated to
the CFPB for depository and nondepository institutions is therefore 0.125*2*1,386= 350 hours (rounded
to the nearest 10). Based on the respective labor cost of attorneys and compliance officers, the associated
labor cost is roughly $28,000.
Software and information technology
Based on industry feedback, the CFPB understands that firms currently rely on electronic systems
for most aspects of the mortgage loan origination process, including electronic record creation and
storage. Not all creditors currently maintain data in a machine-readable format, and those who do may
not retain it in the format that may ultimately be adopted. To comply with the proposed record retention
provisions, therefore, creditors may be required to reconfigure existing document production and
retention systems. For creditors that maintain their own compliance systems and software, the CFPB
does not believe that adding the capacity to maintain data in a standard machine readable format will
impose a substantial burden, as the only requirement will be to output existing data to a new format and
then store that data.
The CFPB believes that the one-time systems changes could be accomplished at the same time
that systems changes are carried out to comply with the new proposed Loan Estimate and Closing
Disclosure. The CFPB estimates that creditors that maintain their own compliance systems will need to
expend 40 hours of software and IT staff time to develop the capacity to export data from existing data
formats to the standard format. As discussed above, the CFPB estimates that 2,643 creditors are its
respondents for purposes of the PRA, of which 152 creditors maintain their own compliance systems. At
40 hours each, the one-time burden is an estimated 6,080 hours or approximately $348,000.
ii. Ongoing burden
The CFPB believes the ongoing costs of the recordkeeping requirement would be minimal once
the appropriate technology systems are in place.

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C. Summary
The ongoing and one-time hourly costs for each information collection are list below.
Loan Estimate
2,643
17,900,000

Closing
Disclosure
2,643
4,800,000

Recordkeeping
2,643
n/a

Total
2,643
22,700,000

One-Time Burden
Labor (hrs)
Labor cost ($)

287,000
$15,442,000

287,000
$15,442,000

6,400
$376,000

580,400
$31,260,000

Annual Burden
Labor (hrs)
Labor cost ($)

895,000
$41,170,000

480,000
$22,080,000

Number of respondents
Number of responses

n/a
n/a

1,375,000
$63,250,000

13. Estimated Total Annual Cost Burden to Respondents or Recordkeepers
Covered persons will incur costs associated with producing and mailing the Loan
Estimate and Closing Disclosure. The CFPB estimates the cost per disclosure is approximately
$0.80 per Loan Estimate and $0.95 per Closing Disclosure, including postage.9 The CFPB
estimates that approximately half of the disclosures will be provided electronically and
therefore will incur no cost beyond the labor costs described in #12, above. The production
and mailing costs are roughly $7.1 million for the Loan Estimate and $2.3 million for the
Closing Disclosure.10
14. Estimated Cost to the Federal Government
As the CFPB does not collect any information, the cost to the CFPB is negligible.
15. Program Changes or Adjustments
As noted above, the Dodd-Frank Act amended TILA and RESPA to mandate specifically that the
CFPB establish a single, integrated disclosure (including real estate settlement cost statements) that
includes the disclosure requirements of TILA and RESPA for mortgage loan transactions subject to both
or either provisions of law. 15 U.S.C. 1604(a); 12 U.S.C. 2603(a). Accordingly, the CFPB is proposing
to implement the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure requirements in Regulation Z to replace the
“early” TILA disclosure and RESPA GFE and the “final” TILA disclosure and RESPA settlement
9

The CFPB estimates that the cost of a Loan Estimate is typically $0.75 and that the written list identifying available service
providers would add an additional $0.10 to the initial Loan Estimate. The CFPB estimates there would be 8.3 million initial
Loan Estimates and 9.6 million Loan Estimate redisclosures annually. Therefore, the cost of producing and distributing the
Loan Estimate is (8,300,000*$0.85*0.5)+(9,600,000*$0.75*0.5)= $7,100,000 (rounded to the nearest $100,000).
10
The cost of producing and distributing for the Closing Disclosure is 4,800,000*$0.95*0.5=$2,300,000 (rounded to the
nearest $100,000).

11

statement. The integrated disclosures under the proposed rule would apply to all closed-end transactions
secured by real property or a dwelling, other than reverse mortgage transactions. The CFPB is also
proposing to implement in Regulation Z certain additional disclosures derived from statutory provisions
under TILA and RESPA, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act.
In addition, as previously discussed, the CFPB is proposing record retention requirements related
to the integrated TILA and RESPA disclosures. Generally, the CFPB is proposing to require creditors to
retain evidence of compliance with the integrated disclosure provisions of Regulation Z for three years
after consummation of the transaction, except that the creditor must retain copies of the Closing
Disclosure, and all documents related to that disclosure, for five years after consummation. The CFPB is
also proposing to require creditors to retain evidence of compliance with the integrated disclosure
provisions in electronic, machine readable format. The CFPB believes that this proposed electronic data
retention requirement will ensure that records associated with the integrated disclosures are readily
available for examination, which is necessary to both prevent circumvention of and facilitate compliance
with TILA, and may also facilitate compliance with TILA by easing the burden of examinations and
ensuring that all entities subject to TILA keep records in a standard format.
The CFPB previously estimated the ongoing burden for Regulation Z based on the assumption
that the total ongoing burden for the regulation, across all agencies, remained the same as it was before
the regulation was restated by the CFPB. The CFPB used its own methodology to estimate the one-time
and ongoing burden for the information collections that are affected by the TILA-RESPA proposal,
which may differ from the methodologies employed by other agencies.
The CFPB makes no changes to the other information collections since the last OMB approval.
16. Plans for Tabulation, Statistical Analysis, and Publication
The information collections are third-party disclosures and a recordkeeping requirement. There is
no publication of the information.
17. Display of Expiration Date
We believe that displaying the OMB expiration date is inappropriate because it could cause
confusion by leading consumers to believe that the regulation sunsets as of the expiration date.
Consumers are not likely to be aware that the CFPB intends to request renewal of OMB approval and
obtain a new expiration date before the old one expires.
18. Exceptions to the Certification Requirement
None.
Note: The following paragraph applies to all of the collections of information in this submission:
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of
information unless the collection of information displays a valid OMB control number.
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