Pub. 8 2018-2019 Issue 6

6 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S T wenty-eighteen was a rather exciting year for banking compliance. The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA) provided immense relief to community banks and also proved that ac- ronyms don’t really have to be that short. Updates to the TILA/ RESPA Integrated Disclosures (TRID) and the HomeMortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) have kept everyone on their toes try- ing to guess what those pesky grey areas mean. Bank officers learned the true meaning of who a “beneficial owner” really is. And not unlike like a Peach from Super Mario, those ever pres- ent flood regulations have been saved once again from lapse. With those show-stoppers, I think I can speak for all of us when I say that twenty-nineteen has a lot to live up to. Though, it does look as though the new year will not disappoint! Major twenty-nineteen provisions set to take effect in the 2019 in- clude: expansion of the Same-Day National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) rules; adjustments to the Truth In Lending (TIL) annual thresholds; the Prepaid Account Rule Amendments; and Amendments to Regulations CC (Reg. CC). First up on this star-studded agenda are the NACHA ex- pansions. In a nut-shell, this expansion to the Same-Day rules was implemented to enable faster funds availability for ACH transactions, elongate Same-Day ACH processing hours, and increase per-transaction dollar limitations. After the initial adoption of the Same-Day rules, the NACHA voting mem- bership approved the aforementioned new set of rules which take effect in three separate phases. Each separate phase has a separate effective date. The first phase of the expanded rules provides enhanced access to same-day ACH transactions. It allows Same-Day ACH transactions to be submitted for an additional two hours each and every business day. This phase becomes effective on September 20, 2019. The second phase of the expanded rules ups the per-transaction dollar limit from$25,000 to $100,000. This means that a single Same-Day ACH transaction will be limited to not being over $100,000. Any ACH transactions over that $100,000 limit won’t be rejected, though. They will just be processed for next-day settlement rather than Same-Day processing. This phase becomes effective on March 20, 2020. The third and final phase increases the speed of funds avail- ability for certain, specific Same-Day ACH transactions and certain next-day ACH credits. This phase becomes effective on September 18, 2020. Next on the agenda is the set of TIL threshold adjustments. Now, for seasoned compliance professionals, you know a TIL adjustment is not all that novel. However, they are important and worth mentioning. These adjustments affect open-end consumer credit plans under the CARD Act in that the ad- justed dollar amount for the safe harbor in respect to a first violation penalty fee will increase to $28 – up $1 from $27. Under that same CARD Act umbrella, the safe harbor for a subsequent violation penalty fee will also increase $1 to $39. For HOEPA loans, the adjusted total loan threshold will be $21,459, and the adjusted points-and-fees dollar trigger will be $1,077. Finally, the threshold adjustments for qualified mortgages are as follows: The maximum thresholds for total points and fees in 2019 will be 3 percent of the total loan amount for a loan greater than or equal to $107,747; $3,232 for a loan amount greater than or equal to $64,648 but less than $107,747; 5 percent of the total loan amount for a loan greater than or equal to $21,549 but less What to Expect Next BY SARAH SAUCEDA ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL