Generally speaking, the Truth in Lending Act provides a three-year statute of limitations for violations of its disclosure requirements. Generally, the RESPA does not provide a private right of action for violations of its disclosure requirements.

The CFPB provided a brief but concise overview of the private rights of action under the TILA and RESPA in a recent letter to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as paraphrased below:

For non-high-cost mortgages:

• There is no general TILA assignee liability unless the violation is apparent on the face of the disclosure documents and the assignment is voluntary. 15 USC 1641(e).

• By statute, TILA limits statutory damages for failure to provide TILA disclosures. 15 USC 1640(a).

• Formatting errors and the like are unlikely to give rise to liability in private actions unless the formatting error “interferes with the clear and conspicuous disclosure” of one of the mandatory TILA disclosures.

• The mandatory TILA disclosures that give rise to TILA liability in private causes of action do not include either RESPA disclosures or the “new Dodd-Frank Act disclosures, including the Total Cash to Close and Total Interest Percentage.”

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Truth in Lending Act, 15 USC 1640(e) (An action claiming a violation of the TILA disclosure requirements (15 USC 1639) may be brought at any time “before the end of the 3-year period beginning on the date of the occurrence of the violation. This subsection does not bar a person from asserting a violation of this subchapter in an action to collect the debt which was brought more than one year from the date of the occurrence of the violation as a matter of defense by recoupment or set-off in such action, except as otherwise provided by State law. . . .”)

• CFPB Letter to the Mortgage Bankers Association (December 2, 2015)