Government and Regulatory

Government and regulatory pages explain the mortgage rules and definitions that shape how loans are offered, reviewed, and disclosed. These terms matter because program structure and consumer-protection rules influence what lenders can do and what borrowers should expect.

Start Here by Borrower Question

What This Section Covers

Start with Ability to Repay, Qualified Mortgage (QM), and Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan (HPML) to understand how borrower-protection rules affect underwriting, pricing, and liability. Then use Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Federal Housing Administration (FHA), FHA Case Number, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE), Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Government-Sponsored Enterprise (GSE), Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Agency Mortgage, Conforming Loan Limit, County Loan Limit, Loan-Level Price Adjustment (LLPA), and Area Median Income (AMI) to separate agencies, program identifiers, market entities, pricing frameworks, loan-size limits, and eligibility benchmarks from the mortgage products borrowers see.

Then read Regulation Z, Regulation X, Truth in Lending Act (TILA), Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), TRID, Mortgage Application Trigger, Loan Estimate Timing, Your Home Loan Toolkit, Business Day, Intent to Proceed, Closing Disclosure Waiting Period, Consummation, Changed Circumstance, Revised Loan Estimate, 10% Cumulative Tolerance, Zero-Tolerance Charges, and Tolerance Cure to see how mortgage disclosures and settlement rules reach borrowers through the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure.

For pricing, fee, and origination safeguards, compare Mortgage Loan Originator, NMLS ID, SAFE Act, Loan Originator Compensation Rule, Points and Fees Test, High-Cost Mortgage, Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA), and Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan (HPML) before assuming all expensive mortgage labels or originator labels mean the same thing.

For closing-service choice and referral relationships, start with Settlement Service Provider, then use Written List of Service Providers, Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure, Required Use Under RESPA, and RESPA Kickback with Settlement Agent and Title Company.

This section also explains Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), Fair Housing Act, and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) so borrowers can connect the mortgage process to fair-lending, credit-reporting, housing-access, and reporting rules that sit behind application handling.

It also covers borrower-protection terms such as Adverse Action Notice, Right of Rescission, Notice of Right to Cancel, Homeowners Protection Act (HPA), Appraisal Independence, Appraisal Copy Rule, and Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) so readers can connect denials, post-closing cancellation rights, PMI-removal rules, valuation safeguards, appraisal-copy rights, and military-service protections to the legal framework behind them.

For post-closing servicing and default issues, continue with Notice of Error, Request for Information, Qualified Written Request, Early Intervention Notice, Continuity of Contact, Loss Mitigation Acknowledgment Notice, Dual Tracking, Loss Mitigation Appeal, and Force-Placed Insurance Notice.

In this section

• 10% Cumulative Tolerance
  TRID rule allowing certain grouped third-party and recording charges to rise by no more than 10% in total.
• Ability-to-Repay Rule
  Federal mortgage rule requiring a reasonable, good-faith determination that a borrower can repay a covered dwelling-secured loan.
• Adverse Action Notice
  Written notice communicating an unfavorable mortgage credit decision and the principal reasons or right to request them.
• Affiliated Business Arrangement Disclosure
  RESPA disclosure revealing an ownership or financial relationship behind a settlement-service referral.
• Agency Mortgage
  Mortgage fitting a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or government-backed secondary-market channel.
• Appraisal and Valuation Copy Rule
  Federal rule requiring applicants to receive appraisals and other written valuations for covered first-lien dwelling applications.
• Appraisal Independence
  Mortgage valuation safeguard prohibiting coercion, material alteration, and conflicts that compromise independent judgment.
• Area Median Income
  Local income benchmark used to set eligibility limits for many affordable mortgage and housing-assistance programs.
• Business Day in Mortgage Disclosures
  Mortgage deadline-counting term with a general definition and a more precise calendar definition for specified federal requirements.
• Changed Circumstance
  Defined new fact or event that may permit affected Loan Estimate charges to be revised under TRID.
• Closing Disclosure Waiting Period
  Three-business-day review period between receipt of the Closing Disclosure and mortgage consummation.
• Conforming Loan Limit
  Annual loan-size boundary for mortgages eligible for standard Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac acquisition.
• Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
  Federal agency that administers and enforces consumer-finance rules affecting mortgage disclosures, servicing, and fair lending.
• Consummation
  Legal-obligation point that anchors mortgage disclosure timing and certain cancellation rights.
• Continuity of Contact in Mortgage Servicing
  Servicing requirement giving delinquent borrowers timely access to personnel who can explain account status and loss-mitigation steps.
• County Loan Limit
  Location-specific mortgage limit selected by program, year, property county, and unit count.
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
  Federal agency that administers the VA home-loan guaranty for eligible service members, veterans, and surviving spouses.
• Dual Tracking in Mortgage Servicing
  Overlap between mortgage loss-mitigation review and foreclosure activity, subject to federal procedural safeguards for covered loans.
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)
  Federal law prohibiting specified credit discrimination and governing action-taken notices and mortgage valuation copies.
• Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
  Federal law governing access to consumer reports, report accuracy, disputes, and credit-based adverse-action notices.
• Fair Housing Act
  Federal law prohibiting housing-related discrimination across mortgage advertising, lending, appraisal, and servicing.
• Fannie Mae
  Government-sponsored enterprise associated with Desktop Underwriter and a major conventional mortgage channel.
• Federal Housing Administration (FHA)
  Federal agency that insures qualifying mortgages made by approved lenders and sets the program rules behind FHA loans.
• Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA)
  Federal regulator and conservator overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
• FHA Case Number
  Unique identifier assigned to a specific property and FHA-insured mortgage transaction during loan processing.
• Force-Placed Insurance Notice
  Regulation X notice sequence used before a servicer charges for force-placed hazard insurance.
• Freddie Mac
  Government-sponsored enterprise associated with Loan Product Advisor and conventional mortgage liquidity.
• Government-Sponsored Enterprise
  Congressionally chartered company that supports mortgage-market liquidity without being a federal agency.
• High-Cost Mortgage
  HOEPA loan category triggered by specified APR, points-and-fees, or prepayment-penalty tests.
• Higher-Priced Mortgage Loan (HPML)
  Closed-end principal-dwelling mortgage whose APR exceeds the APOR benchmark by a specified margin.
• Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
  Federal framework requiring many institutions to report mortgage application, origination, and lending-pattern data.
• Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA)
  Federal TILA framework adding disclosures, counseling, and loan-term restrictions to high-cost mortgages.
• Homeowners Protection Act (HPA)
  Federal law governing disclosures, borrower-requested cancellation, and automatic termination of PMI on many conventional mortgages.
• Intent to Proceed
  Borrower instruction after receiving a Loan Estimate that permits the lender to continue and charge most application fees.
• Loan Estimate Timing
  Deadlines for issuing an early Loan Estimate after application and before mortgage consummation.
• Loan Originator Compensation Rule
  Federal mortgage rule restricting compensation based on loan terms, dual compensation, and steering incentives.
• Loss Mitigation Acknowledgment Notice
  Servicer notice confirming receipt of a mortgage-assistance application and identifying whether the submission is complete or missing required information.
• Loss Mitigation Appeal
  Borrower request for an independent review after a servicer denies an available trial or permanent loan-modification option.
• Mortgage Application Trigger
  Six-item application threshold that starts the lender's Loan Estimate delivery duties under TRID.
• Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO)
  Individual who takes a residential mortgage application and offers or negotiates loan terms for compensation or gain.
• Mortgage Points and Fees Test
  Regulatory calculation used to determine whether specified mortgage charges exceed QM or high-cost loan thresholds.
• Mortgage Servicing Early Intervention Notice
  Written servicing notice that directs a delinquent mortgage borrower to available loss-mitigation information and assistance contacts.
• Nationwide Multistate Licensing System ID (NMLS ID)
  Unique identifier assigned to a mortgage originator or company in the nationwide licensing and registration system.
• Notice of Error
  Written borrower notice requiring a mortgage servicer to investigate an asserted servicing error and explain the result.
• Notice of Right to Cancel
  Disclosure stating whether and how an eligible consumer may cancel a covered home-secured credit transaction.
• Qualified Mortgage (QM)
  Regulatory mortgage category with restricted loan features, points-and-fees limits, and defined ability-to-repay protections.
• Qualified Written Request (QWR)
  Written mortgage-servicing request that identifies the account and details an asserted error, requested information, or both.
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
  RESPA is a federal law governing important mortgage settlement practices, disclosures, and certain servicing-related rules.
• Regulation X in Mortgage Lending
  Federal rule implementing RESPA requirements for settlement services, escrow accounts, servicing, and loss mitigation.
• Regulation Z in Mortgage Lending
  Federal rule implementing TILA requirements for mortgage cost disclosures, advertising, rescission, underwriting, and servicing notices.
• Request for Information
  Written borrower request requiring a mortgage servicer to search for and provide specified servicing information.
• Required Use Under RESPA
  RESPA concept for conditioning access to property or another service on paying a particular settlement service provider.
• RESPA Kickback
  Prohibited thing of value exchanged under an agreement or understanding for referral of covered mortgage settlement-service business.
• Revised Loan Estimate
  Corrected Loan Estimate showing updated terms or charges after a permitted revision reason occurs before closing.
• Right of Rescission
  Limited right to cancel certain non-purchase credit transactions secured by a consumer's principal dwelling.
• SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act
  Federal framework for state licensing, federal registration, and unique identification of residential mortgage loan originators.
• Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
  Federal protections for eligible servicemembers with pre-service mortgages, including interest-rate and foreclosure safeguards.
• Settlement Service Provider
  Person or company performing a mortgage origination, title, closing, insurance, or other service connected with settlement.
• Tolerance Cure
  Refund and corrected disclosure used when actual mortgage charges exceed the applicable Loan Estimate tolerance.
• TRID
  TRID is the integrated mortgage disclosure framework that uses the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure for many closed-end mortgages.
• Truth in Lending Act (TILA)
  Federal consumer-credit law requiring standardized cost disclosures and establishing major mortgage protections.
• VA Certificate of Eligibility (COE)
  VA document confirming a borrower's home-loan benefit eligibility and available guaranty entitlement information.
• Written List of Service Providers
  Separate mortgage disclosure identifying available providers for each required settlement service a borrower may shop for.
• Your Home Loan Toolkit
  CFPB home-purchase booklet that helps borrowers compare Loan Estimates, closing costs, and settlement choices.
• Zero-Tolerance Charges
  Strict TRID fee category whose charges generally cannot exceed the applicable Loan Estimate baseline.