The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has updated the industry on its progress in making changes to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA). FHFA restated that their goal has been to finalize the new URLA by the summer of 2016 and implement the new form in January 2018, coinciding with the new Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collection requirements. 

More specifically, FHFA announced its decision to not include a question about language preference on the new URLA given the roll-out timeframe of the new URLA and existing unresolved issues. Instead, FHFA will take the following steps to gather data on language preferences:

• Include additional questions about access to home financing and the servicing process for LEP borrowers on the National Survey of Mortgage Originations and the American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers;
• Issue a Request for Input (RFI) to solicit feedback from stakeholders about the best ways to gather data about LEP borrowers and the languages they prefer and about the best ways for lenders and servicers to obtain the information necessary to be able to help LEP borrowers during mortgage origination and thereafter; and
• Collaborate more extensively with stakeholders at other government agencies and with industry and consumer representatives to explore ways to improve the mortgage origination and servicing experience for LEP borrowers.

FHFA believes that these measures will allow them to determine whether the URLA should be revised further or whether there are alternative methods of capturing language preferences.  FHFA indicates that they will review the information gathered and keep the industry informed as to their next steps.