The CFPB has announced that it is amending the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act’s implementing regulations to allow electronic registration filings.
The Dodd-Frank Act transferred rulemaking authority over the ILSA from HUD to the CFPB. The ILSA requires certain developers to register their subdivisions plans and provide disclosures to consumers regarding the lots or condominiums being purchased. The amendments to Regulations J and Regulation L permit developers to submit registration filings electronically in addition to the current paper filing procedure. The CFBP also launched a new webpage dedicated to the ILSA and which includes instructions for electronic filings.
These amendments mark the first rulemaking from the CFPB related to the ILSA. The regulations will become effective, and the electronic filing option will become available, 30 days after publication in the Federal Register. The regulations were finalized by the CFPB without notice and comment based on the CFPB’s position that notice and comment was not required under the Administrative Procedure Act because the amendments relate only to agency procedure and practice.
The CFPB has been working to implement an electronic registration system since at least the spring of 2013. Electronic filing likely will make the registration process easier for developers. The move away from paper filings also allows the CFPB to track and quantify data concerning registrations, such as quantifying the number of lots registered in each state or identifying trends in a certain geographic area.