November 21, 2018

Agencies announce dollar thresholds in Regulations Z and M for exempt consumer credit and lease transactions

Federal Reserve Board of Governors Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection

For release at 11:00 a.m. EST

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Reserve Board and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) today announced the dollar thresholds in Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and Regulation M (Consumer Leasing) that will apply for determining exempt consumer credit and lease transactions in 2019. These thresholds are set pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) amendments to the Truth in Lending Act and the Consumer Leasing Act that require adjusting these thresholds annually based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). If there is no annual percentage increase in the CPI-W, the Federal Reserve Board and the Bureau will not adjust this exemption threshold from the prior year. However, in years following a year in which the exemption threshold was not adjusted, the threshold is calculated by applying the annual percentage change in CPI-W to the dollar amount that would have resulted, after rounding, if the decreases and any subsequent increases in the CPI-W had been taken into account. Transactions at or below the thresholds are subject to the protections of the regulations.

Based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2018, the protections of the Truth in Lending Act and the Consumer Leasing Act generally will apply to consumer credit transactions and consumer leases of $57,200 or less in 2019. However, private education loans and loans secured by real property (such as mortgages) are subject to the Truth in Lending Act regardless of the amount of the loan.

Although the Dodd-Frank Act generally transferred rulemaking authority under the Truth in Lending Act and the Consumer Leasing Act to the Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board retains authority to issue rules for certain motor vehicle dealers. Therefore, the agencies are issuing these notices jointly.

The attached notices will be published shortly in the Federal Register.