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Oregon Department of Revenue
Message Regarding Oregon First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account Program
The Oregon DOR provided a community outreach message about the Oregon First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account program.
Dear Financial Institutions,
The Oregon Department of Revenue (DOR) wants to let you know about important changes to the First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account program, effective January 1, 2025.
About the Program
Oregon allows a personal income tax subtraction for amounts deposited during the tax year into a designated First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account, along with any earnings on those deposits. Funds in the account must be used within 10 years of opening the account to pay qualifying costs associated with purchasing a single-family home.
Key Change to the Program
Beginning in 2025, taxpayers can open a First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account at any financial institution. To participate in the program, the account holder will open an account and complete a designation form available on the DOR website. Financial institutions do not have to treat these accounts differently in any way from other accounts opened at the institution; an account’s status as a First-time Home Buyer Savings Account will now be handled between the account holder and DOR.
Important Note for Financial Institutions
We kindly request that financial institutions do not turn away customers inquiring about this program, as these accounts no longer require any additional reporting or action from financial institutions. Instead, once they successfully open an account, please direct them to our website. Taxpayers will find detailed information about the program, including frequently asked questions and necessary forms.
Website: Oregon Department of Revenue – First-Time Home Buyer Savings Account
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Regulators Release Updates to Rulemaking Agenda
The Federal Financial Regulators recently released the ‘Fall’ update to their rulemaking agendas.
CFPB
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has 13 items listed on its rulemaking agenda. Several of the items listed have implications for credit unions and have not had final rules issued.
Fees for Instantaneously Declined Transactions – The CFPB released a proposed rule in January 2024 which would prohibit charging fees for instantaneously declined transactions. The CFPB is looking to issue a final rule in December 2024.
Fair Credit Reporting Act Rulemaking – The CFPB is considering whether to amend Regulation V. The proposal would regulate many activities of data brokers and even take into consideration whether medical debt is necessary or appropriate for creditors to take into consideration when make credit decisions. The CFPB is targeting December 2024 for the proposed rule to be issued.
Mortgage Closing Costs – The CFPB released a request for information related to mortgage closing costs and is considering whether rulemaking or guidance to address mortgage refinancing and closing costs are warranted. Prerule activity is slated to run to June 2025.
Mortgage Servicing - The CFPB issued a proposed rule on July 10, 2024, to amend the existing RESPA mortgage servicing requirements. The proposed amendments would streamline existing requirements when borrowers seek payment assistance in times of distress, add safeguards when borrowers seek help, and revise existing requirements with respect to borrower assistance. The proposed rule would also require servicers to provide certain communications in languages other than English, such as when a borrower is seeking payment assistance with their mortgage. The CFPB is targeting July 2025 for the final rule to be issued.
Regulation AA – The CFPB is considering whether to issue regulations regarding the inclusion or enforcement of certain provisions in contracts for consumer financial products or services that were previously prohibited under Regulation AA. The unified agenda shows a December 2024 date for the proposed rule.
Customer Service Rule – The CFPB is considering whether to issue regulations to prohibit certain misleading practices involving automated customer service systems to make it easier to reach a customer service representative. Prerule activities are scheduled through October 2025.
Remittance Transfers Under Regulation E - The CFPB issued a proposed rule in September 2024 which would make changes to the model forms for remittance transfers to provide consumers with information about inquires that may be directed to the CFPB and the State agency that licenses or charters the remittance transfer provider. The CFPB is looking at issuing the final rule in March 2025.
NCUA
The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) has 16 items listed on its rulemaking agenda. Of the rulemaking that has not had a final rule issued, the ones that stand out include:
Procedures for Monitoring Bank Secrecy Act Compliance – Companion to FinCEN proposed rule which would implement Section 6101 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act). The proposed rule would amend credit unions’ AML requirements by explicitly requiring credit unions to establish, implement, and maintain effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed AML/CFT and review and incorporate the government-wide AML/CFT priorities into the credit union’s risk-based programs. FinCEN is targeting April 2025 to issue the final rule.
Digital Assets and Related Technologies – The NCUA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in 2021 to gather information on a wide range of issues pertaining to decentralized finance and cryptocurrencies as they relate to the credit union industry. The NCUA will review the comments and determine if any proposals should be forthcoming. According to the Unified Agenda, the NCUA is expected to publish a proposed rule around October 2025.
Incentive-Based Compensation Arrangements - The NCUA, along with the other federal financial institution regulators, are looking to issue a third proposed rule to implement section 956 of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 956 requires the regulators to issue regulations and guidelines prohibiting incentive-based compensation arrangements which encourage inappropriate risks. The shows a possible October 2025 for a third notice of proposed rulemaking.
Investment and Deposit Activities – The NCUA is considering issuing a proposed rule to modernize and improve the NCUA’s investment rule and provide regulatory relief. The NCUA believes there may be certain provisions in part 703 that are overly restrictive and unnecessary from a safety and soundness perspective. The unified agenda shows a possible May 2025 date for the proposed rule.
Chartering and Field of Membership (FOM) Regulations – The NCUA’s Advancing Communities through Credit, Education, Stability, and Support (ACCESS) initiative is designed to refresh and modernize regulations, policies, and programs in support of greater financial inclusion within the NCUA and the credit union system. The NCUA issued the proposed rule to amend its chartering and FOM regulations. The proposed amendments would remove outdated requirements, simplify the charter approval process, and clarify regulatory language. The final rule was expected to be released in December 2024.
Records Preservation Program and Appendices – The NCUA issued a request for information on ways it can improve and update its records preservation program regulations and accompanying guidelines. Prerule activity was scheduled to end December 2024.
Accuracy of Advertising and Notice of Insured Status – The NCUA is considering a proposed rule to amend the rules governing the use of the NCUA’s official sign and official advertising statement to reflect how members do business with insured credit unions today, including through digital and mobile channels. The unified agenda shows a possible May 2025 date for the proposed rule.
Executive Compensation Transparency – The NCUA is considering issuing a proposed rule to require federal credit unions to provide information on executive compensation to their members. The proposed rule would require similar information to what state-chartered credit unions provide under IRS Form 990. The unified agenda shows a possible January 2025 date for the proposed rule.
FinCEN
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has several major rulemaking items on its agenda that credit unions should be aware of.
Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism Programs – On June 28, 2024, FinCEN issued a proposed rule to implement Section 6101 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AML Act). The proposed rule would amend credit unions’ AML requirements by explicitly requiring credit unions to establish, implement, and maintain effective, risk-based, and reasonably designed AML/CFT and review and incorporate the government-wide AML/CFT priorities into the credit union’s risk-based programs. FinCEN is targeting March 2025 to issue the final rule.
Revisions to Customer Due Diligence Requirements for Financial Institutions – Part 3 of the BOI changes. The proposed rule is scheduled to come out in April 2025 and would update the CDD requirements for credit unions in light of the other 2 pieces of rulemaking. Due to ongoing litigation, the requirement for businesses to provide their BOI information to FinCEN is voluntary.
Implementation of Special Measure Regarding Convertible Virtual Currency Mixing – In October 2023, FinCEN issued a proposed rule which would require financial institutions that know, suspect, or have reason to suspect that a transaction involves CVC mixing to keep record of the transaction and report the information to FinCEN within 30 calendar days. The unified agenda shows a potential date for the final rule to be issued September 2025.
Updating Whistleblower Incentives and Protections – FinCEN intends to issue a proposed rule to establish a whistleblower award program for eligible individuals that provide information regarding certain violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and U.S. economic sanctions. The unified agenda shows a potential March 2025 date for the proposed rule.
Cooperative Information Sharing Under Sections 314(a) and 314(b); Protection of Shared Information – FinCEN is considering issuing this rulemaking to strengthen the regulation implementing the statutory safe harbor that allows eligible financial institutions to cooperatively share information regarding activities that may involve terrorists acts and money laundering.
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National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
NCUA’s 2025 Supervisory Priorities
The NCUA issued Letter to Credit Unions 25-CU-01 which provides insight into the Administration's examination priorities for 2025. Credit unions continue to see signs of financial stress on balance sheets during 2024. With that economic landscape in mind, the NCUA’s primary areas of supervisory focus for 2025 are:
Credit Risk – Credit risk will remain a supervisory priority for 2025. NCUA examiners will continue to review credit unions’ lending and related risk-mitigation practices. This priority will include reviewing the sufficiency of credit union loan underwriting standards, collection programs, Allowance for Credit Losses reserves, charge-off practices, management and board reporting, and management of any concentrations of credit risk. To the extent possible, examiners will also review a credit union’s third-party risk-management practices when lending, servicing, or collection functions are outsourced.
Moreover, it is important for credit unions to work with borrowers encountering financial difficulties. These efforts are consistent with the credit union system’s statutory mission of meeting the credit and savings needs of members, especially those of modest means.
Balance Sheet Management and Risk to Earnings and Net Worth – Credit unions are exposed to various risks affecting their earnings and net worth. Among the most significant are credit, liquidity, and market risk. These risks are tied to the institution’s ability to manage its financial assets and liabilities and have a direct effect on earnings and net worth.
For credit unions, the primary market risk element is interest rate risk. Interest rate changes can affect the income credit unions generate from their lending and funding activities, which can affect the credit union’s ability to build net worth. Loan losses can also diminish a credit union’s earnings and net worth.
In evaluating a credit union’s earnings and net worth risk-management frameworks, examiners will weigh the current and prospective sources of earnings and the composition of net worth relative to the credit union’s approved plans and thresholds. This approach will help examiners focus on trends in earnings and develop a better understanding of concentration risks for both earnings and net worth.
Cybersecurity - Cybersecurity remains a top supervisory priority as cyberattacks against all industries, including credit unions and the vendors they use, become more frequent and sophisticated. The risk of a cybersecurity incident rises as dependence on networks and technology increases. A loss or compromise in confidentiality, integrity, or availability of systems or information may lead to fraud, as well as financial and reputational loss. It is thus crucial for credit unions to manage information security programs and continuity of operations plans proactively and to conduct ongoing due diligence of critical service providers.
In 2025, examiners will continue to use the information security examination procedures to assess whether a credit union has implemented robust information security programs to safeguard both members and the credit union itself. The NCUA will continue to support credit unions’ voluntary use of the Automated Cybersecurity Evaluation Toolbox to assess their cybersecurity maturity.
Consumer Financial Protection - The NCUA will continue to prioritize reviewing compliance with consumer financial protection laws and regulations during every federal credit union examination. In addition to reviewing any areas specific to your credit union identified during the risk-focused examination scoping process, in 2025 examiners will, in particular, assess your credit union’s compliance with the following consumer financial protection areas:
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Overdraft programs. Examiners will continue a review of credit union overdraft programs, including policies, procedures, disclosures, fees, account statements, member complaints, internal reviews, and websites.
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Home Mortgage Disclosure Act and Regulation C. Examiners will evaluate compliance with Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data collection and reporting policies and practices, including transaction testing, for credit unions above the reporting threshold.
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Military Lending Act. Examiners will review compliance with the Military Lending Act requirements, including policies and procedures, compliance management systems, and checking and monitoring for military status.
Exam Updates - In 2025, the NCUA will update its exam flexibility initiative to provide an extended exam cycle for credit unions over $1 billion in assets where the NCUA rated the credit union a CAMELS composite 1 or 2 with no change in CEO since the last examination. These institutions will now be eligible for a 12- to 16-month exam cycle. Additionally, the extended exam cycle for eligible federal credit unions will be shortened from 14 to 20 months to 14 to 18 months.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
CFPB Sues Vanderbilt for Setting Borrowers Up to Fail in Manufactured Home Loans
The CFPB has sued Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance for allegedly setting customers up to fail when they borrow money to buy manufactured homes. The CFPB alleges that Vanderbilt’s business model ignored red flags that the borrowers could not afford the loans. As a result of them ignoring these red flags and still making these loans, families found themselves struggling to make payments and meet basic life necessities. Vanderbilt charged borrowers additional fees and penalties when borrower loans became delinquent, with some borrowers even losing their homes. The CFPB is seeking to stop Vanderbilt’s illegal practices and obtain relief for harmed homeowners.
Vanderbilt Mortgage & Finance is a nonbank financing company based in Maryville, Tenn., that originates loans for manufactured homes across the United States. The CFPB alleged that Vanderbilt failed to make reasonable, good-faith determinations of the borrower’s ability to repay the loans, as legally required.
CFPB Sues Experian for Sham Investigations of Credit Report Errors
The CFPB has moved forward to sue Experian, the nationwide consumer reporting agency, for failing to properly investigate consumer disputes. The CFPB alleges that Experian has not taken sufficient steps to intake, process, investigate, and notify consumers about consumer disputes, resulting in incorrect information on credit reports. Inaccurate information on credit reports can threaten consumers’ access to credit, employment, and housing.
Experian, based in Costa Mesa, Calif., is one of the nation’s largest credit reporting conglomerates. They are required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act to take steps to ensure consumer reports are accurate and to conduct investigations of information disputed by consumers. The CFPB alleges that Experian has violated the FCRA’s requirements for handling consumer disputes in numerous ways including:
In addition, the CFPB alleges that Experian’s faulty dispute intake procedures and failure to provide furnishers with consumer-submitted documentation, uncritical deference to furnishers’ responses to disputed information, and failure to prevent improper tradeline reinsertions also violate the Consumer Financial Protection Act’s prohibition on unfair acts or practices.
CFPB Issues Final Rule to Prohibit Creditors and Consumer Reporting Agencies Concerning Medical Debt Information
The CFPB issued a final rule to amend Regulation V concerning medical information. The FCRA prohibits creditors from considering medical information in credit eligibility determinations. The CFPB is removing a regulatory exception that previously permitted creditors to obtain and use information on medical debts notwithstanding this statutory limitation. The final rule also provides that a consumer reporting agency generally may not furnish to a creditor a consumer report containing information on medical debt that the creditor is prohibited from using.
CFPB Approves Application from Financial Data Exchange to Issue Standards for Open Banking
The CFPB issued an order recognizing Financial Data Exchange, Inc. (FDX) as a standard setting body for the CFPB’s Personal Financial Data Rights rule. The Personal Financial Data Rights rule, which was released in October 2024, requires financial institutions, credit card issuers, and other financial providers to unlock an individual’s personal financial data and transfer it to another provider at the consumer’s request for free.
FDX is a standard-setting organization, operating in the United States and Canada. It has over 200 member organizations, including depository and non-depository commercial entities; data providers and data recipients; data aggregators; service providers to open banking participants; trade and industry organizations; and other non-commercial members, including consumer groups. FDX’s stated primary purpose is to develop, improve, and maintain a common, interoperable standard for secure consumer and business access to financial records.
The CFPB approved the application, subject to a number of conditions, including:
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Mandatory reporting on market adoption: The approval order would require FDX to report to the CFPB on market use of its consensus standards and/or maintain a publicly available resource where companies can disclose their use of standards as well as any certifications of adherence to standards, for the benefit of open banking participants, regulators, and the public.
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Transparency and availability of standards: The approval order requires FDX to make freely available to the public any consensus standards that it adopts and maintains, subject to reasonable safeguards, and to ensure that non-members have the same access as members do. FDX must also make publicly available information about its standards development and issuance processes.
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Washington State Department of Financial Institutions: Division of Credit Unions (DCU)
DCU Bulletin B-25-01 – Issuing Rating for IS&T Exams
The DCU issued DCU Bulletin D-25-01 to inform credit unions that the DCU will resume issuing separate Information Systems & Technology (IS&T) composite ratings with the CAMELS rating. With the rise of cybersecurity threats, this rating should provide management with a clear measure of the overall level of risk in the credit union’s Information Security Program and help to prioritize controls to protect member information. The safety and soundness report will be modified to include the separate IS&T composite rating. The ratings detailed below will be used for the IS&T rating in the examination report. While the rating will be reflected separately in the report, we will continue to incorporate the IS&T rating under the Management component of the CAMELS rating, to maintain consistency with NCUA. IS&T composite ratings will only be given if DCU’s Information Security Examiners conduct the IS&T exam. Currently, the NCUA does not give a separate IS&T rating.
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