Lenders have to provide borrowers a Truth in Lending disclosure statement. It has handy information like the loan amount, the annual percentage rate (APR), finance charges, late fees, prepayment penalties, payment schedule and the total amount you'll pay.
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS AND TOLERANCES
In any closed-end credit transaction, TILA requires disclosure of the total finance charge, which is the sum of all charges, expressed as a dollar amount, that meet the regulatory definition of finance charge.
Common Violations
A common Regulation Z violation is understating finance charges for closed-end residential mortgage loans by more than the $100 tolerance permitted under Section 18(d).
Regulation Z requires mortgage issuers, credit card companies and other lenders to provide written disclosure of important credit terms, such as interest rate and other financing charges, abstain from certain unfair practices and to respond to borrower complaints about errors in periodic billings.
The Truth in Lending Act, or TILA, also known as regulation Z, requires lenders to disclose information about all charges and fees associated with a loan.
What Must Be Disclosed Under Regulation Z? Federal Regulation Z requires mortgage issuers, credit card companies, and other lenders to provide consumers with written disclosure of important credit terms. 1 Information includes details about interest rates and how financing charges are calculated.
Regulation Z generally prohibits a card issuer from opening a credit card account for a consumer, or increasing the credit limit applicable to a credit card account, unless the card issuer considers the consumer's ability to make the required payments under the terms of such account.
Creditors with assets of less than $2.336 billion (including assets of certain affiliates) on December 31, 2021, are exempt from the requirement to establish escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgage loans in 2022 if other provisions of Regulation Z are also met.
Reg Z trigger terms: The amount or percentage of any down payment (e.g., $1,000 down), The number of payments or period of repayment (e.g., 60 months financing), The amount of any payment (e.g., $400 per month), or.
Certain types of loans are not subject to Regulation Z, including federal student loans, loans for business, commercial, agricultural, or organizational use, loans above a certain amount, loans for public utility services, and securities or commodities offered by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Final answer: Under Regulation Z, 'B) Low monthly payments' and 'D) Only $10,000 down' are considered trigger items because they detail specific terms of the loan, which requires additional disclosures such as APR and terms of repayment.
Examples of Regulation Z requirements include mortgage lenders using standardized loan estimate forms, providing a cooling-off period, and only recommending loans that fit borrowers' best interests.
Regulation Z was amended on September 14, 1996 to incorporate changes to the TILA. Specifically, the revisions limit lenders' liability for disclosure errors in real estate secured loans consummated after September 30, 1995. The Economic Growth and Regulatory Paperwork Reduction Act of 1996 further amended TILA.
Under Regulation Z, a finance charge does not include a charge imposed by a financial institution for paying items that overdraw an account unless, as is typically the case for overdraft lines of credit, the payment of such items and the imposition of the charge are previously agreed upon in writing.
Some examples of violations are the improper disclosure of the amount financed, finance charge, payment schedule, total of payments, annual percentage rate, and security interest disclosures.
With certain exceptions, Regulation Z requires creditors to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer's ability to repay any residential mortgage loan, and loans that meet Regulation Z's requirements for “qualified mortgages” (QMs) obtain certain protections from liability.
Whenever the creditor changes the consumer's billing cycle, it must give a change-in-terms notice if the change either affects any of the terms required to be disclosed under § 1026.6(a) or increases the minimum payment, unless an exception under § 1026.9(c)(1)(ii) applies; for example, the creditor must give advance ...
The regulation covers topics such as:
Annual percentage rates. Credit card disclosures. Periodic statements. Mortgage loan disclosures.
Common Violation #1: Discrimination on a prohibited basis in a credit transaction.
The TILA-RESPA rule provides consumer protections and limits the amount of any increase in the borrower's cash-to-close amount. Even the slightest change obligates the lender to issue a revised closing disclosure, but certain changes do not trigger a new 3-day waiting period after the new disclosure.
Total of payments, Payment schedule, Prepayment/late payment penalties, If applicable to the transaction: (1) Total sales cost, (2) Demand feature, (3) Security interest, (4) Insurance, (5) Required deposit, and (6) Reference to contract.
Triggering terms need not be stated explicitly; additional disclosures are still required if the term may be readily determined from the advertisement. For example, if the advertisement says “80 percent financing available,” the statement is indicating a 20 percent down payment is required (a triggering term).