No, we do not believe a flood certificate must always be pulled ten days before a loan closing. However, we are unaware of any specific exceptions to Regulation H’s requirement to deliver special flood hazard notices within a reasonable time.

Regulation H requires that delivery of notice of special flood hazards be provided to borrowers within a “reasonable time” before the completion of the transaction. As you noted, the OCC’s Comptroller’s Handbook states that ten days is considered a reasonable time interval. But the handbook also states that “what constitutes ‘reasonable’ notice will necessarily vary according to the circumstances of particular transactions.” It goes on to explain that “a borrower should receive notice timely enough to ensure that . . . the borrower has the opportunity to become aware of the borrower’s responsibilities under the NFIP; and . . . the borrower can purchase flood insurance before completion of the loan transaction.”

Thus, if you are giving your borrowers enough notice to become aware of their National Flood Insurance Program responsibilities and to purchase flood insurance before closing, we believe you are complying with the notice requirement, and we do not believe that you must always provide special flood hazard notices at least ten days prior to origination. While providing notice on a loan’s closing day is unlikely to be viewed as complying with the notice timing requirement, you may be able to explain to examiners the necessity of a reasonable notice period of under ten days for a HELOC, refinancing, or commercial loan that needs to close in an interval shorter than ten days.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Regulation H, 12 CFR 22.9(a) (“When a national bank or Federal savings association makes, increases, extends, or renews a loan secured by a building or a mobile home located or to be located in a special flood hazard area, the bank or savings association shall mail or deliver a written notice to the borrower and to the servicer in all cases whether or not flood insurance is available under the Act for the collateral securing the loan.”)

• Regulation H, 12 CFR 22.9(c) (“The national bank or Federal savings association shall provide the notice required by paragraph (a) of this section to the borrower within a reasonable time before the completion of the transaction, and to the servicer as promptly as practicable after the bank or savings association provides notice to the borrower and in any event no later than the time the bank or savings association provides other similar notices to the servicer concerning hazard insurance and taxes. Notice to the servicer may be made electronically or may take the form of a copy of the notice to the borrower.”)

• OCC, Comptroller’s Handbook, Flood Disaster Protection Act (Interagency) (August 2019), page 18 (“Delivery of the notice of special flood hazards must take place within a ‘reasonable time’ before the completion of the transaction. What constitutes ‘reasonable’ notice will necessarily vary according to the circumstances of particular transactions. An institution should bear in mind, however, that a borrower should receive notice timely enough to ensure that

• the borrower has the opportunity to become aware of the borrower’s responsibilities under the NFIP; and

• where applicable, the borrower can purchase flood insurance before completion of the loan transaction.

       The Agencies generally regard 10 days as a ‘reasonable’ time interval.”)

• Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance, 74 Fed. Reg. 35914, 35930 (July 21, 2009) (“What constitutes ‘reasonable’ notice will necessarily vary according to the circumstances of particular transactions. . . . In light of these considerations, the final question and answer does not establish a fixed time period during which a lender must provide the notice to the borrower.”)