For purposes of this subpart:
Confirmed successor in interest means a successor in interest once a servicer has confirmed the successor in interest’s identity and ownership interest in a property that secures a mortgage loan subject to this subpart.
Consumer reporting agency has the meaning set forth in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681a.
Editor's Note: Effective 8/31/2021, the following new definition is added:
COVID-19-related hardship means a financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the national emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic declared in Proclamation 9994 on March 13, 2020 (beginning on March 1, 2020) and continued on February 24, 2021, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C.1622(d)).
Day means calendar day.
Delinquency means a period of time during which a borrower and a borrower’s mortgage loan obligation are delinquent. A borrower and a borrower’s mortgage loan obligation are delinquent beginning on the date a periodic payment sufficient to cover principal, interest, and, if applicable, escrow becomes due and unpaid, until such time as no periodic payment is due and unpaid.
1. Length of delinquency. A borrower’s delinquency begins on the date an amount sufficient to cover a periodic payment of principal, interest, and, if applicable, escrow becomes due and unpaid, and lasts until such time as no periodic payment is due and unpaid, even if the borrower is afforded a period after the due date to pay before the servicer assesses a late fee.
2. Application of funds. If a servicer applies payments to the oldest outstanding periodic payment, a payment by a delinquent borrower advances the date the borrower’s delinquency began. For example, assume a borrower’s mortgage loan obligation provides that a periodic payment sufficient to cover principal, interest, and escrow is due on the first of each month. The borrower fails to make a payment on January 1 or on any day in January, and on January 31 the borrower is 30 days delinquent. On February 3, the borrower makes a periodic payment. The servicer applies the payment it received on February 3 to the outstanding January payment. On February 4, the borrower is three days delinquent.
3. Payment tolerance. For any given billing cycle for which a borrower’s payment is less than the periodic payment due, if a servicer chooses not to treat a borrower as delinquent for purposes of any section of subpart C, that borrower is not delinquent as defined in § 1024.31.
4. Creditor’s contract rights. This subpart does not prevent a creditor from exercising a right provided by a mortgage loan contract to accelerate payment for a breach of that contract. Failure to pay the amount due after the creditor accelerates the mortgage loan obligation in accordance with the mortgage loan contract would begin or continue delinquency.
Hazard insurance means insurance on the property securing a mortgage loan that protects the property against loss caused by fire, wind, flood, earthquake, theft, falling objects, freezing, and other similar hazards for which the owner or assignee of such loan requires insurance.
Loss mitigation application means an oral or written request for a loss mitigation option that is accompanied by any information required by a servicer for evaluation for a loss mitigation.
1. Borrower's representative. A loss mitigation application is deemed to be submitted by a borrower if the loss mitigation application is submitted by an agent of the borrower. Servicers may undertake reasonable procedures to determine if a person that claims to be an agent of a borrower has authority from the borrower to act on the borrower's behalf.
Loss mitigation option means an alternative to foreclosure offered by the owner or assignee of a mortgage loan that is made available through the servicer to the borrower.
1. Types of loss mitigation options. Loss mitigation options include temporary and long- term relief, including options that allow borrowers who are behind on their mortgage payments to remain in their homes or to leave their homes without a foreclosure, such as, without limitation, refinancing, trial or permanent modification, repayment of the amount owed over an extended period of time, forbearance of future payments, short-sale, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, and loss mitigation programs sponsored by a locality, a State, or the Federal government.
2. Available through the servicer. A loss mitigation option available through the servicer refers to an option for which a borrower may apply, even if the borrower ultimately does not qualify for such option.
Master servicer means the owner of the right to perform servicing. A master servicer may perform the servicing itself or do so through a subservicer.
Mortgage loan means any federally related mortgage loan, as that term is defined in § 1024.2 subject to the exemptions in § 1024.5(b), but does not include open-end lines of credit (home equity plans).
Qualified written request means a written correspondence from the borrower to the servicer that includes, or otherwise enables the servicer to identify, the name and account of the borrower, and either:
(1) States the reasons the borrower believes the account is in error; or
(2) Provides sufficient detail to the servicer regarding information relating to the servicing of the mortgage loan sought by the borrower.
1. A qualified written request is a written notice a borrower provides to request a servicer either correct an error relating to the servicing of a mortgage loan or to request information relating to the servicing of the mortgage loan. A qualified written request is not required to include both types of requests. For example, a qualified written request may request information relating to the servicing of a mortgage loan but not assert that an error relating to the servicing of a loan has occurred.
2. A qualified written request is just one form that a written notice of error or information request may take. Thus, the error resolution and information request requirements in §§ 1024.35 and 1024.36 apply as set forth in those sections irrespective of whether the servicer receives a qualified written request.
Reverse mortgage transaction has the meaning set forth in 12 CFR 1026.33(a).
Service provider means any party retained by a servicer that interacts with a borrower or provides a service to the servicer for which a borrower may incur a fee.
1. Service providers may include attorneys retained to represent a servicer or an owner or assignee of a mortgage loan in a foreclosure proceeding, as well as other professionals retained to provide appraisals or inspections of properties.
Subservicer means a servicer that does not own the right to perform servicing, but that performs servicing on behalf of the master servicer.
Successor in interest means a person to whom an ownership interest in a property securing a mortgage loan subject to this subpart is transferred from a borrower, provided that the transfer is:
(1) A transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety;
(2) A transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower;
(3) A transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner of the property;
(4) A transfer resulting from a decree of a dissolution of marriage, legal separation agreement, or from an incidental property settlement agreement, by which the spouse of the borrower becomes an owner of the property; or
(5) A transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property.
1. Joint tenants and tenants by the entirety. If a borrower who has an ownership interest as a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety in a property securing a mortgage loan subject to this subpart dies, a surviving joint tenant or tenant by the entirety with a right of survivorship in the property is a successor in interest as defined in § 1024.31.
2. Beneficiaries of inter vivos trusts. In the event of a transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property, the beneficiaries of the inter vivos trust rather than the inter vivos trust itself are considered to be the successors in interest for purposes of § 1024.31. For example, assume Borrower A transfers her home into such an inter vivos trust for the benefit of her spouse and herself. As of the transfer date, Borrower A and her spouse would be considered successors in interest and, upon confirmation, would be borrowers for purposes of certain provisions of Regulation X. If the lender has not released Borrower A from the loan obligation, Borrower A would also remain a borrower more generally for purposes of Regulation X.
Transferee servicer means a servicer that obtains or will obtain the right to perform servicing pursuant to an agreement or understanding.
Transferor servicer means a servicer, including a table-funding mortgage broker or dealer on a first- lien dealer loan, that transfers or will transfer the right to perform servicing pursuant to an agreement or understanding.
This page includes amendments effective August 31, 2021. They are shown in this color.