The Texas Legislature recently passed Senate Joint Resolution 60 (S.J.R. 60), a joint resolution proposing amendments to the Texas Constitution that would change provisions governing Texas Home Equity lending. S.J.R. 60 will be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2017, and, if approved, will take effect January 1, 2018. With regard to the amendments proposed by S.J.R. 60, this memorandum discusses the following: (i) changes with substantive effect (Major Changes); (ii) changes with less substantive effect (Minor Changes); (iii) potential implementation issues—including our view that the changes will create a twelve-day window from January 1, 2018, to January 12, 2018, during which home equity loans cannot close (Implementation Issues); and (iv) an assessment of the likelihood of approval (Likelihood of Passage). For reference, the text of S.J.R. 60 is reprinted in an addendum to this memorandum.

In the June 1, 2017 issue of the Federal Register (82 FR 25246, click here) the CFPB published the above referenced Notice of Assessment (the Notice) of the ATR/QM Rule (§1026.43 of Regulation Z), and is requesting public comment on its plans for assessing this Rule as well as certain recommendations and information that may be useful in conducting the planned assessment. Comments must be received by the CFPB on or before: July 31, 2017. You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB–2017–0014, by any of the following methods.

On May 31, 2017, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (collectively herein, the “agencies”), jointly issued an advisory (click here) to inform insured depository institutions and bank holding companies (collectively herein, the “regulated institutions”) of two existing options that may address appraiser shortages, particularly in rural areas: temporary practice permits and temporary waivers. In summary, the advisory provides as follows: