SettleADebt R006 PASS-02
Federal mortgage escrow disbursement and post-payoff return or credit
The two operative events are different. For a covered escrow arrangement, the disbursement duty concerns paying the relevant tax, insurance, or other property charge by its applicable deadline. The post-payoff duty concerns amounts remaining in escrow within the servicer’s control after payment of the mortgage loan in full. A servicing transfer, a payoff quotation, a scheduled final installment, and a statement that a loan has been paid are not interchangeable proof of those events. The findings below preserve those distinctions. uscode.house.gov+2
The principal conclusions are:
- Ordinary timely disbursement: §1024.17(k)(1)–(2) requires timely disbursement and necessary advances while the borrower’s payment is not more than 30 days overdue. The operative disbursement deadline is the deadline to avoid a penalty on the escrowed charge.
- More-than-30-days-overdue insurance branch: §1024.17(k)(5) restricts obtaining force-placed insurance. It does not create an unconditional obligation to advance every escrowed charge in every delinquent-loan situation.
- Post-payoff return: §1024.34(b)(1) requires return to the borrower of remaining controlled escrow funds within 20 days, excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays, of payment in full, unless the paragraph (b)(2) exception applies.
- New escrow credit: that exception requires borrower agreement, controlled remaining funds, credit to an escrow account for a new mortgage loan as of the new loan’s settlement date, and at least one of the three specified lender relationships. Same-servicer status alone does not satisfy all these conditions. govinfo.gov+4
1. Research status, date, and foundation boundaries
Actual public-source check: October 27, 2026, America/Los_Angeles. The research clock checks were 14:56:17 PDT and 15:07:28 PDT, corresponding to 21:56:17 UTC and 22:07:28 UTC. These are access/check times, not legal effective dates or an individual deadline calculation.
This pass freshly examined its own primary authorities. The supplied account of the P01 coordinator review is background only. I did not access its local files, packets, hashes, saved brief, or original response. Its reported “Actual UI6Pro” provenance remains user-supplied provenance; I have not independently inspected a model-selection UI or replaced that account with a model self-description.
The P01 source and application holds remain intact. Nothing here reopens its notice findings or relies on the separately running, unreviewed R008 report.
Version conclusions
The House texts successfully retrieved state that they contain laws in effect through Public Law 119-124, October 15, 2026. The current preliminary §2605 route failed. That failure does not negate the successfully retrieved statute or establish the absence of later legislation.
The eCFR bodies for §§1024.17 and 1024.34 were successfully retrieved. The later returned displays state that Title 12 was current through October 23, 2026. An earlier §1024.17 response displayed October 22. Those are returned currency labels for the title, not assertions that these particular sections were amended on those dates. The relevant January 1, 2026 annual CFR text was also read. Its August 2026 production footer is not an amendment effective date. ecfr.gov+4
The current codifications contain the target duties. The bounded amendment search did not supply a later amendment displacing them. A complete session-law, publication-lag, correction, or judicial-status audit through October 27 was not established. No proposed, future-effective, withdrawn, stayed, or vacated material is used here as presently operative law.
2. Operative comparison matrix
“Covered” in this table incorporates the scope qualifications developed in the claim register. It is not a finding about any actual loan.
| Provision and legal layer |
Product/account predicate |
Responsible actor and event |
Governing time or performance standard |
Conditional limits |
| 12 USC2605(g), first sentence — statute |
A federally related mortgage loan whose terms require payments to the servicer for escrow covering taxes, insurance premiums, or other property charges |
Servicer; an escrowed charge becomes due |
Pay from escrow in a timely manner as the charges become due |
The statutory sentence does not itself state the regulation’s 30-day qualifier. Read with the applicable regulations; do not erase other applicable law. |
| §1024.17(k)(1)–(2) — regulation |
Covered federally related mortgage loan with the required escrow-payment predicate |
Servicer; an escrow disbursement must be made |
On or before the deadline to avoid a penalty; advance funds when necessary |
Express condition: borrower’s payment is not more than 30 days overdue. Advance recovery is subject to paragraph (f). |
| §1024.17(k)(3)–(4) — regulation |
Property-tax escrow where the taxing jurisdiction offers annual and installment choices |
Servicer choosing the payment basis/date |
Installments are required if neither an annual discount nor an installment charge exists; otherwise annual payment is permitted for the specified benefit |
An individual voluntary agreement may change the basis/date, while preserving (k)(1)–(2). Loan approval or terms cannot be conditioned on that agreement. |
| §1024.17(k)(5) — regulation |
Hazard-insurance escrow; mortgage payment more than 30 days overdue |
Servicer considering force-placed insurance |
Force-placement is restricted unless the specified inability condition exists |
Insufficient escrow funds alone are not inability. A qualifying small servicer has a narrower cost-comparison exception, subject to §1024.37. |
| §1024.34(a) — regulation |
A Subpart C mortgage loan whose terms require escrow payments to the servicer |
Servicer paying taxes, premiums, or other property charges |
Timely payment, expressly governed by §1024.17(k) |
Subpart C excludes open-end home-equity lines. Its principal-residence and small-servicer exceptions for other sections do not generally exempt §34. |
| 12 USC2605(g), second sentence — statute |
Balance in the described escrow account within servicer control at payoff |
Servicer; loan is paid off |
Prompt return within 20 business days, or credit to a similar account for a new mortgage loan with the same lender |
Preserve the statutory wording separately from §34’s implementing conditions. |
| §1024.34(b)(1) — regulation |
Amounts remaining in escrow within servicer control; covered mortgage loan paid in full |
Servicer returns funds to borrower |
Within 20 days, excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays, of payment in full |
Paragraph (b)(2) is the express exception. The rule addresses remaining amounts, not merely an annual-analysis “surplus.” |
| §1024.34(b)(2) — regulation and official comments |
Controlled remaining escrow; borrower agreement; new mortgage loan and its escrow account; qualifying lender relationship |
Servicer elects to credit the new escrow |
Credit as of the new loan’s settlement date |
One of the three relationship branches is necessary. Agreement can be oral or written. Refund under (b)(1) remains permissible. |
Authorities: §2605(g); §§1024.17(k), 1024.30–.31, 1024.34; comments 34(b)(1)-1 and 34(b)(2)-1 through -2. uscode.house.gov+5
The new-escrow exception’s complete relationship alternatives
All common conditions must hold. The three relationship branches are alternatives, not three cumulative requirements.
| Branch |
Exact relationship the new lender must satisfy |
What does not establish that relationship |
| §34(b)(2)(i) |
It was also the lender to whom the prior mortgage loan was initially payable. |
Similar branding, a shared address, or a statement that the transaction is a refinance. |
| §34(b)(2)(ii) |
It is the owner or assignee of the prior mortgage loan. |
Servicing the prior loan, collecting payments, or being identified in a notice without establishing the underlying relationship. |
| §34(b)(2)(iii) |
It uses the same servicer that serviced the prior mortgage loan to service the new mortgage loan. |
Same-servicer status without borrower agreement or without actual qualifying credit to the new escrow account. |
The final-rule explanation expressly declined a broader exception allowing credit to any new lender merely because the borrower consents. It also explains that the exception does not import the refund rule’s 20-day period; its operative credit date is settlement. This is a historical final-rule explanation of the adopted provision, not proposed text substituted for the current rule. ecfr.gov+1
3. Source register
Reading conventions
- F: freshly read body text in this pass.
- F-selected: specified clauses or passages read; no whole-document claim.
- D: discovery only; not substantive support.
- X: failed retrieval.
- Check date D: 2026-10-27, America/Los_Angeles, for every row.
- HTML pages have no printed page or PDF index. PDF indexes below are zero-based.
- Multiple publications of the same regulation are version comparisons, not independent legal corroboration.
- All PDF reading in this pass was parsed text. No PDF page pixels, screenshots, or model-form images were inspected.
Table S — Sources, bounds, versions, and limits
| Source ID |
Issuer, title, and complete literal HTTPS URLs |
Exact material read; page/index bounds |
Version, effective predicate, jurisdiction |
Access mode and currentness limits |
| R006-P2-S001 |
U.S. House, Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 12 USC2605, Servicing of mortgage loans and administration of escrow accounts. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t12/s2605/. Failed preliminary route: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title12-section2605&num=0&edition=prelim |
Complete (g), (i)(2)–(3), relevant amendment/effective-date notes. Adjacent provisions appeared in retrieval; they are not a full remedies or servicing-errors investigation. HTML; page/index N/A. |
Compilation through PL119-124, 2026-10-15. Payoff sentence added by PL111-203 §1463(d), enacted 2010-07-21. Effective-date note refers to implementing regulations or the statutory fallback; implementing final rule in S015 is effective 2014-01-10. U.S. federal. |
D; F + X. Successful version retained; preliminary route returned 404. No complete later-session-law audit. |
| R006-P2-S002 |
House/OLRC, 12 USC2602, Definitions, and 12 USC2606, Exempted transactions. https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t12/s2602/; https://uscode.house.gov/us/usc/119-124/t12/s2606/ |
§2602(1), (5), relevant source notes; complete §2606(a)–(b). HTML; page/index N/A. |
Both label laws through 2026-10-15. Statutory scope and exemptions; application depends on loan/transaction predicates. U.S. federal. |
D; F. Chapter-related source group; no individual purpose, lien, lender, or geography determination. uscode.house.gov+1 |
| R006-P2-S003 |
CFPB, Regulation X §§1024.2 and 1024.5. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/2/; https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/5/ |
§2(a); necessary definitions of business day, federally related mortgage loan, lender, servicer, servicing, settlement, State, and related terms; complete §5(a)–(d), including embedded comment 5(c)(1)-1. HTML. |
Agency pages label themselves current. Individual amendment-effective dates are not independently established from that label. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected for §2; F for §5. General Regulation Z, underwriting, and state-law gateways not rerun. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+2 |
| R006-P2-S004 |
CFPB, Regulation Z §1026.3, Exempt transactions. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/3/ |
§3(a)(1)–(2) and complete displayed commentary to 3(a), including primary purpose, factors, rental-property branches, refinancing, agriculture, and organizational/trust distinctions. Reliance here is limited to the purpose cross-reference in §1024.5(b)(2). HTML. |
Agency-current presentation; U.S. federal. No comprehensive TILA coverage conclusion. |
D; F-selected. Reading §3(a)(2) does not import every Regulation Z organizational exemption into RESPA. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
| R006-P2-S005 |
CFPB, §1024.17, Escrow accounts, and official interpretations. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/17/; https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/interp-17/ |
Complete necessary (a), (b), (f), (k)(1)–(5), (l); relevant (i)(4)(ii)–(iii). Complete comments 17(k)(5)(ii)(A)-1.i–iii and 17(k)(5)(ii)(C)-1. Other accounting text encountered is outside the substantive analysis except necessary cross-references. HTML. |
Agency-current presentation, compared with S013–S014. New §17(k)(5) belongs to the 2013 final rule; older (k)(1)–(4) were not all newly created then. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected, with complete target clauses/comments. No model/Public Guidance Document was used. Full annual/initial analysis remains held. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+2 |
| R006-P2-S006 |
CFPB, §1024.30, Scope, with embedded interpretations. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/30/ |
Complete (a)–(d); comments 30(b)-1, 30(c)(2)-1, and 30(d)-1 through -3. HTML. |
Agency-current presentation. Successor provision effective 2018-04-19, checked in S016. U.S. federal. |
D; F. No Farm Credit entity, successor, personal liability, or principal-residence finding. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
| R006-P2-S007 |
CFPB, §1024.31, Definitions, and official interpretations. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/31/; https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/interp-31/ |
Necessary definitions, including day, delinquency, hazard insurance, mortgage loan, master/subservicer, confirmed successor, and all five successor categories; all four delinquency comments. HTML. |
Agency-current label. Delinquency addition’s general effective date is 2017-10-19; successor additions 2018-04-19, S016. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected. The supplied P01 hold concerning the page’s COVID definition is preserved; that definition is not used here. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+1 |
| R006-P2-S008 |
CFPB, §1024.32, General disclosure requirements, with embedded interpretations. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/32/ |
Complete (a)–(c); comments 32(c)(1)-1, 32(c)(2)-1–2, and 32(c)(4)-1. HTML. |
Agency-current presentation; subsection (c) effective 2018-04-19, S016. U.S. federal. |
D; F. Disclosure and acknowledgment conditions read; no form completed or inspected as an image. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
| R006-P2-S009 |
CFPB, §1024.34, Timely escrow payments and treatment of escrow account balances, and official interpretations. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/34/; https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/interp-34/ |
Complete section and all three comments: 34(b)(1)-1; 34(b)(2)-1 and -2. HTML. |
Agency-current presentation; adopted final rule effective 2014-01-10, S015. U.S. federal. |
D; F. No actual payoff, balance, control, agreement, or settlement-credit finding. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+1 |
| R006-P2-S010 |
CFPB, §1024.37, Force-placed insurance. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1024/37/ |
Complete (a)(1), (a)(2)(i)–(iii) and comment 37(a)(2)(iii)-1. Later text appeared incidentally; not a complete §37 investigation. HTML. |
Agency-current presentation; U.S. federal. Used only to complete §17(k)(5)’s definition cross-reference. |
D; F-selected. Full force-placement notice, charging, cancellation, and refund duties remain held. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
| R006-P2-S011 |
CFPB, §1026.41(e)(4), Small servicers, and necessary seller-financer cross-reference. https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/41/; https://www.consumerfinance.gov/rules-policy/regulations/1026/36/ |
Complete §41(e)(4)(i)–(iii), comments 41(e)(4)(ii)-1–4 and (iii)-1–5; complete §36(a)(5), comment 36(a)(5)-1 and incorporated comment 36(a)(4)-2. HTML. |
Agency-current presentations. These are cross-referenced qualification rules, not loan-approval authority. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected. No portfolio count, affiliate determination, nonprofit verification, seller-financing decision, or full Regulation Z gateway audit. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+1 |
| R006-P2-S012 |
HUD regulation, eCFR 24 CFR266.5, Definitions. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-24/subtitle-B/chapter-II/subchapter-B/part-266/subpart-A/section-266.5 |
Complete Housing finance agency or HFA definition. Other definitions were not used. HTML. |
Returned Title 24 currency: 2026-10-23; title-wide last-amended label 2026-08-20. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected. Government eCFR is authoritative but unofficial; no HFA roster or entity inquiry. ecfr.gov |
| R006-P2-S013 |
OFR/GPO, 2026 annual CFR, Title 12, Chapter X, Part 1024. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title12-vol8/pdf/CFR-2026-title12-vol8-sec1024-17.pdf; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title12-vol8/pdf/CFR-2026-title12-vol8-sec1024-34.pdf; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR-2026-title12-vol8/pdf/CFR-2026-title12-vol8-part1024.pdf |
§17 selected (a)/(b) definitions, printed 692–694, section-PDF indexes 0–2; complete (k)/(l), printed 699–701, indexes 7–9. Complete §34, printed 706, its section-PDF index 0. Full-part official comments §17, printed 755–756, indexes 81–82; §34 comments, printed 758, index 84. |
January 1, 2026 edition. U.S. federal official annual codification. |
D; F-selected parsed text. Section PDFs and full-part PDF are the same edition, not independent corroboration. No full 110-page part read; no pixels inspected. August production footer is not substantive currency. govinfo.gov+3 |
| R006-P2-S014 |
OFR/GPO eCFR, §§1024.17 and 1024.34. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1024/subpart-B/section-1024.17; https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1024/subpart-C/section-1024.34. Initial §34 route: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-12/chapter-X/part-1024/section-1024.34 |
§17(a)/(b), complete (k)/(l), relevant statement boundary; complete §34(a)–(b). HTML. |
Later returned displays current through 2026-10-23; earlier §17 display 2026-10-22. U.S. federal. |
D; F; initial §34 route X, later body recovered. Authoritative but unofficial eCFR, not the annual official CFR edition. No complete October 24–27 publication-lag audit. ecfr.gov+2 |
| R006-P2-S015 |
CFPB final rule, Mortgage Servicing Rules Under RESPA (Regulation X), 78 FR10696. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2013-02-14/pdf/2013-01248.pdf |
Effective-date block, printed 10696, index 0; selected final §17(k)(5) explanation, printed 10714 and 10716, indexes 18 and 20; §34 explanation, printed 10734–10736, indexes 38–40; §34 official comments, printed 10888, index 192. |
Published 2013-02-14, effective 2014-01-10. U.S. federal. Historical final-rule publication; relevant adopted rules remain in retrieved current codifications. |
D; F-selected parsed text. Not a full 204-page read. Proposal descriptions and rejected alternatives are not treated as current rules. Preamble miscites do not override the codified text. govinfo.gov+4 |
| R006-P2-S016 |
CFPB final rule, Amendments to the 2013 Mortgage Rules, 81 FR72160. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2016-10-19/pdf/2016-18901.pdf; https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/10/19/2016-18901/amendments-to-the-2013-mortgage-rules-under-the-real-estate-settlement-procedures-act-regulation-x |
Effective-date block, printed 72160, index 0; instructions 4–6 and instruction 7’s effective-date introduction, printed 72370–72371, indexes 210–211. Current complete successor/disclosure text separately read in S006–S008. |
Published 2016-10-19; general effectiveness 2017-10-19; identified successor provisions 2018-04-19. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected parsed PDF and HTML. Not a full 242-page rule read. No R008 analysis imported. govinfo.gov+1 |
| R006-P2-S017 |
OCC, Real Estate Lending Escrow Accounts, final rule and heading correction. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-05-19/pdf/2026-10036.pdf; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-06-29/pdf/C1-2026-10036.pdf; https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/19/2026-10036/real-estate-lending-escrow-accounts; https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/06/29/C1-2026-10036/real-estate-lending-escrow-accounts |
Final-rule dates, printed 29340, index 0; complete amendatory text, printed 29347, index 7; complete OCC correction item, printed 38991, index 0. |
Published 2026-05-19, stated effective date 2026-06-18; correction 2026-06-29. Amends 12 CFR Parts 34 and 160. U.S. federal. |
D; F-selected. Used only to distinguish a related recent final rule from changes to Part 1024. Fees, interest, bank powers, preemption, and later judicial status are not decided. Incidental case citations were not used as holdings. govinfo.gov+2 |
| R006-P2-S018 |
Discovery-only materials not used as authority: OCC proposed escrow rule; CFPB servicing examination procedures. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/30/2025-23988/real-estate-lending-escrow-accounts; https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_mortgage-servicing-exam-procedures_2026-07.pdf |
Search-result discovery only; no complete body read, no PDF page/image inspection, no substantive reliance. |
Proposal/examination material distinguished from operative statutory, regulatory, and official-interpretation text. |
D; discovery only. The later OCC final rule was read in S017. No examination-manual, bulletin, circular, advisory, or guidance-status proposition is adopted from these hits. federalregister.gov+1 |
4. Atomic claim register
Status legend: S statutory text; R regulatory text; I official interpretation; H historical final-rule explanation or effective-date evidence; INF stated inference; U unresolved application or authority question. “Current” references remain subject to the source-version limits above.
Table C-A — Scope, actors, accounts, and disclosure limits
| Claim ID |
Precise claim |
Source and pinpoint |
Trigger, conditions, exceptions, and limits |
Status |
| R006-P2-C001 |
Statutory FRML coverage requires the residential real-property/lien predicate and a specified federal connection; a secured debt is not covered merely because it is called a mortgage. |
S002, §2602(1)(A)–(B). |
First or subordinate lien; principally one-to-four-family residential property; temporary-financing exclusion and chapter exemptions matter. |
S |
| R006-P2-C002 |
Regulation X’s FRML definition includes specified manufactured-home, dealer/broker, reverse-mortgage, and funded land-contract arrangements. |
S003, §2(b), FRML definition (1)–(3). |
The real-property and federal-connection conditions still apply. Property outside the defined “State” territory is excluded; a home-only chattel lien is not automatically covered. |
R |
| R006-P2-C003 |
Primarily business, commercial, or agricultural credit is exempt; §2606 separately excludes credit to governments and their agencies or instrumentalities. |
S002 §2606(a)–(b); S003 §5(b)(2); S004 §3(a)(1), comments 3(a)-1, -3–6, -8. |
Purpose is not established by residential collateral or a disclosure’s label. No general importation of all Regulation Z exemptions. |
S/R/I |
| R006-P2-C004 |
The temporary-financing exclusion has express construction/permanent-financing exceptions. |
S003 §5(b)(3). |
Same-lender permanent financing/conversion, first-user financing, permanent commitments, and the specified construction term rule matter; bridge/swing loans are separately excluded. |
R |
| R006-P2-C005 |
Vacant-land credit is generally excluded, subject to the specified construction or manufactured-home placement conditions. |
S003 §5(b)(4). |
The rule specifies use of proceeds and a two-year condition; collateral and intended improvements remain factual predicates. |
R |
| R006-P2-C006 |
The assumption exemption depends on the lender’s express approval right; an assumption requiring and obtaining permission is covered as stated in §5(b)(5). |
S003 §5(b)(5). |
This is a transaction rule, not proof that ongoing duties on an existing covered loan vanish. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C007 |
A conversion consistent with the original instrument and requiring no new note falls within §5(b)(6). |
S003 §5(b)(6). |
Do not equate an exempt conversion event with payment in full or extinguishment of escrow duties. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C008 |
The secondary-market exemption expressly preserves §2605 and Subpart C. |
S003 §5(b)(7). |
Table funding and the specified initial dealer assignment are not secondary-market transactions under this clause. A loan sale alone does not remove §34. |
R |
| R006-P2-C009 |
Section 5(d)’s partial exemptions list particular disclosure sections; they do not list §17 or §34. |
S003 §5(d)(1)–(2). |
No comprehensive TRID or §1026.3(h) eligibility analysis is necessary to identify that limit. |
R |
| R006-P2-C010 |
Section 34’s Subpart C “mortgage loan” excludes open-end home-equity lines; §17 and statutory §2605(g) require their own scope analysis. |
S005 §17(a); S007 §31 “Mortgage loan”; S001 §2605(g); S015 p.10714. |
Do not apply §34 wholesale to a HELOC, or assume its exclusion eliminates every statutory/§17 escrow duty. Statute-only HELOC timing interpretation remains held. |
S/R/H; U application |
| R006-P2-C011 |
Section 30(b)’s small-servicer, reverse-mortgage, and qualified-lender exemptions expressly concern §§38–41, subject to §41(j). |
S006 §30(b). |
They are not a general exemption from §34. The distinct §17(k)(5)(iii) exception must be tested separately. |
R |
| R006-P2-C012 |
The principal-residence restriction in §30(c)(2) names §§39–41, not §34. |
S006 §30(c)(2). |
A second residence is not excluded from §34 solely for that reason; business-purpose and other scope exclusions still matter. |
R |
| R006-P2-C013 |
A servicer is the responsible servicing actor; a maker or holder falls within that role when it also services. |
S001 §2605(i)(2)–(3); S003 §2 “Servicer” and “Servicing.” |
Ownership alone is not the servicing function. Receiving periodic payments, handling escrow, and required remittances are relevant functions. |
S/R |
| R006-P2-C014 |
Statutory and regulatory servicer exclusions are actor-and-event-specific, not a blanket exemption for government-backed loans. |
S001 §2605(i)(2)(A)–(B); S003 §2 “Servicer,” (1)–(3). |
Statute names FDIC/RTC asset functions and specified GSE/agency transfers after cause termination, bankruptcy, or conservatorship/receivership events. Regulation includes its separately stated FDIC/NCUA and named agency/GSE conditions. |
S/R |
| R006-P2-C015 |
Master servicing and subservicing describe servicing rights and performance; neither term alone proves ownership of the debt. |
S007 §31 “Master servicer,” “Subservicer.” |
A master may service directly or through a subservicer. Actual responsibility/control is unexamined. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C016 |
A confirmed successor is treated as a borrower for §17 and Subpart C without being required to assume the debt. |
S006 §30(d), comments 30(d)-1–3. |
This does not determine contractual liability under state law or eliminate applicable duties to the transferor borrower. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C017 |
Confirmation requires the successor’s identity and ownership interest, plus a qualifying §31 transfer category. |
S007 §31 successor definitions. |
Categories cover specified death/survivorship transfers, a relative after death, spouse/children, specified marital transfers, and an inter vivos trust retaining the borrower as beneficiary without transferring occupancy rights. No actual succession decided. |
R |
| R006-P2-C018 |
Section 32 governs required disclosures’ form and permitted combination; it does not itself prove payment of money. |
S008 §32(a)–(b). |
Clear, conspicuous, retainable writing; electronic delivery subject to E-Sign; non-English permitted with English on request; combinations subject to stated prohibitions. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C019 |
Section 32(c) permits limited disclosure treatment for a nonliable confirmed successor after a compliant optional notice and separate acknowledgment form. |
S008 §32(c)(1)–(4), associated comments. |
Assumption/returned acknowledgment, revocation, additional-copy requests, and delivery of the same specific disclosure to another borrower affect the stated disclosure branches. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C020 |
Those disclosure exceptions do not textually suspend substantive escrow disbursement or return duties. |
S008 §32(c)(2), (4), compared with S009 §34. |
Inference from the provisions’ objects: written disclosures/live contact differ from paying or returning funds. Competing recipients and ownership of proceeds remain unresolved. |
INF/U |
| R006-P2-C021 |
Section 17’s escrow definition looks to an account established or controlled by the servicer on the borrower’s behalf for the specified charges. |
S005 §17(b), “Escrow account.” |
Includes voluntarily agreed charges and trust/reserve/impound labels; excludes an account under the borrower’s total control. A reserve’s name is insufficient. |
R |
| R006-P2-C022 |
A discretionary monthly payment is not necessarily part of escrow. |
S005 §17(l). |
It enters escrow if lender-required as specified or the servicer elects to place it there. If only discretionary items are collected and no escrow is established, §17 does not apply on that basis. |
R |
| R006-P2-C023 |
Section 2605(g)’s first sentence, §34(a), and §17(k)(1) use a contractual required-payment predicate. Section 34(b) does not repeat §34(a)’s required-payment language. |
S001 §2605(g); S005 §17(k)(1); S009 §34(a)–(b); S015 pp.10734–35. |
Voluntary creation, an obligation to fund an existing account, and the post-payoff residual must be distinguished. These provisions do not establish that every loan must have escrow. |
S/R/H |
The scope and actor findings rest on the statutory definitions and exemptions and the freshly read regulatory clauses, including their conditions. uscode.house.gov+9
Table C-B — Disbursement, advances, taxes, delinquency, and limited insurance interaction
| Claim ID |
Precise claim |
Source and pinpoint |
Trigger, conditions, exceptions, and limits |
Status |
| R006-P2-C024 |
The borrower’s monthly escrow payment due date, the payee’s deadline, and the actual disbursement date are different facts. |
S005 §17(b), “Payment due date,” “Disbursement date,” “Penalty.” |
A penalty is the payee’s late charge; an added installment-plan fee is not that defined penalty. A mortgage due date or notice alone does not establish the tax/insurance deadline. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C025 |
The servicer must disburse by the deadline to avoid a penalty while the borrower’s payment is not more than 30 days overdue. |
S005/S014 §17(k)(1); S009 §34(a). |
The wording includes the exactly-30-days branch. No individual overdue calculation is made. |
R |
| R006-P2-C026 |
Insufficient funds do not excuse the required advance under §17(k)(2) when its payment-status condition holds. |
S005/S013 §17(k)(2). |
Advance enough to make the required timely disbursement; repayment is governed by paragraph (f), not assumed immediate reimbursement. |
R |
| R006-P2-C027 |
Advance recovery requires attention to the deficiency-analysis provisions. |
S005 §17(b) “Deficiency”; §17(f)(1), (k)(2). |
Paragraph (f)(1)(ii) expressly requires analysis of the deficiency before seeking repayment of advances not resulting from borrower payment default. Full accounting remains held. |
R |
| R006-P2-C028 |
Paragraph (f)(4) distinguishes deficiency size and payment status. |
S005 §17(f)(4)(i)–(iii). |
Below one monthly escrow payment: allow it, require repayment within 30 days, or use two or more equal monthly payments. At least one monthly payment: allow it or use two or more equal monthly payments. Current-status conditions apply; otherwise the stated loan-document recovery branch matters. |
R |
| R006-P2-C029 |
For Subpart C, delinquency begins when the sufficient periodic principal/interest/escrow payment becomes due and unpaid, despite a late-fee grace period. |
S007 §31; delinquency comments 1–4. |
Application of funds and a servicer’s payment tolerance can matter. Contract acceleration rights are not decided. This definition is not uncritically exported outside its stated subpart. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C030 |
The statute’s timely-payment sentence does not contain the regulation’s express 30-day qualifier. |
S001 §2605(g); S005 §17(k)(1)–(2). |
The regulatory ordinary-payment branch cannot be enlarged beyond its condition; failure of that condition is not a finding that all statutory, contractual, or other duties disappear. |
S/R; U broader application |
| R006-P2-C031 |
When annual and installment property-tax payments are offered, no annual discount plus no installment charge requires installment disbursement. |
S005/S014 §17(k)(3). |
Both absence conditions matter; the general timely-payment/advance rules remain relevant. |
R |
| R006-P2-C032 |
An annual discount or an installment charge permits annual lump-sum disbursement for the stated benefit. |
S005/S013 §17(k)(3). |
RESPA does not require that annual choice. Following a known borrower preference is encouraged, not mandated by this clause. |
R |
| R006-P2-C033 |
An individual mutual voluntary agreement may alter the tax disbursement basis or date under §17(k)(4). |
S005/S014 §17(k)(4). |
It must preserve (k)(1)–(2). Loan approval and loan terms cannot be conditioned on the borrower’s agreement. |
R |
| R006-P2-C034 |
For the more-than-30-days-overdue hazard-insurance branch, §17(k)(5) restricts force-placement; it is not an unconditional advance mandate for all charges or circumstances. |
S005 §17(k)(5)(i); S015 pp.10714, 10716. |
Existing hazard escrow and contemplated force-placement matter. The final explanation expressly preserves the distinction from ordinary (k)(1). |
R/H |
| R006-P2-C035 |
The specified inability exists only with a reasonable basis to believe coverage was canceled/not renewed for a reason other than nonpayment, or the property is vacant. |
S005/S014 §17(k)(5)(ii)(A). |
A delinquency label alone does not supply those facts. Insurance coverage for actual damage is not established. |
R |
| R006-P2-C036 |
An insufficient escrow balance is expressly not inability to disburse hazard premiums for this branch. |
S005/S013 §17(k)(5)(ii)(B). |
The separate small-servicer exception is tested on its own terms. |
R |
| R006-P2-C037 |
Official examples of a reasonable cancellation/nonrenewal basis include borrower cancellation without other-coverage notice, insurer cancellation/nonrenewal notice before payment is due, and no payment notice by policy expiration. |
S005/S013, comment 17(k)(5)(ii)(A)-1.i–iii. |
These are examples under the stated reasonable-basis standard, not a general permission to ignore contradictory information. |
I |
| R006-P2-C038 |
Hazard-insurance advances may be recouped unless applicable law prohibits it; month-to-month advances have additional conditions. |
S005 §17(k)(5)(ii)(C); comment 17(k)(5)(ii)(C)-1. |
Monthly advancement must be permitted by state/other law and accepted by the insurer. No actual reimbursement amount is established. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C039 |
A qualifying small servicer may use §17(k)(5)(iii) only when borrower cost of force-placed insurance is less than the required escrow disbursement comparator. |
S005/S013 §17(k)(5)(iii). |
Equality is insufficient. Section 37 still applies. This does not generally excuse taxes, ordinary advances, or payoff refunds. |
R |
| R006-P2-C040 |
Small-servicer status has three alternative routes: the qualifying 5,000-or-fewer owner/originator-affiliate route, the HFA route, or the specified nonprofit route. |
S011 §41(e)(4)(ii); comments (ii)-1–4. |
For the nonprofit route, the required creditor/originator relationship differs from the owner-or-originator route. Marketing labels and headcount alone are insufficient. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C041 |
Small-servicer counting has specified exclusions and timing rules. |
S011 §41(e)(4)(iii); comments (iii)-1–5. |
Exclusions include qualifying uncompensated nonaffiliate servicing, reverse mortgages, timeshares, and qualifying seller-financer transactions. January 1/rest-of-year evaluation and the stated six-month-or-next-January-1 compliance transition must be preserved. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C042 |
The cross-referenced HFA is a public body, agency, or instrumentality created by the specified state/local legislative act and empowered to finance the described housing activities. |
S012 §266.5 “Housing finance agency or HFA.” |
No particular organization’s qualification is inferred or investigated. |
R |
| R006-P2-C043 |
The seller-financer exclusion in the small-servicer count requires all §36(a)(5) criteria. |
S011 §41(e)(4)(iii)(D); §36(a)(5), relevant comments. |
Natural person/estate/trust; only one property in a 12-month period; required ownership/security; no specified ordinary-business construction; no negative amortization; qualifying fixed/adjustable-rate terms. No underwriting or seller eligibility decision. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C044 |
Section 37’s defined force-placed insurance excludes three specified insurance categories. |
S010 §37(a)(1)–(2), comment (a)(2)(iii)-1. |
Exclusions: Flood Disaster Protection Act-required hazard insurance; borrower-obtained coverage renewed under §17(k); and borrower-obtained coverage renewed at servicer discretion with agreement. Full insurance-law application held. |
R/I |
| R006-P2-C045 |
A disbursement failure, penalty, lapse, or property loss is not interchangeable proof of the others or of recoverable relief. |
S001 §2605(g); S005 §17(k); S007 hazard definition; S010 §37(a). |
Inference/limit: establish the applicable duty and event separately from insurance coverage, causation, loss, and remedies. No damages amount, automatic reimbursement, or liability finding is made. |
INF/U |
The disbursement rules and complete relevant comments support these conditional branches. The final-rule explanation is particularly material to C034’s limit. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau+10
Table C-C — Payoff, remaining funds, new-account credit, and version findings
| Claim ID |
Precise claim |
Source and pinpoint |
Trigger, conditions, exceptions, and limits |
Status |
| R006-P2-C046 |
The statute requires prompt return of the controlled balance within 20 business days or credit to a similar account for a new mortgage loan with the same lender. |
S001 §2605(g), second sentence. |
Preserve this statutory formulation separately from the regulation’s detailed implementation. |
S |
| R006-P2-C047 |
Section 34(b)(1) requires return to the borrower of any remaining controlled escrow amounts within the stated 20-day period. |
S009/S013/S014 §34(b)(1). |
Exclude legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays; trigger is payment of the mortgage loan in full; exception is (b)(2). It is not 20 calendar days. |
R |
| R006-P2-C048 |
A scheduled final installment, sent payment, payoff quotation, release document, servicing change, or notice alone does not establish the required payment-in-full event. |
S009 §34(b)(1); S001 §2605(g). |
Inference: actual receipt/application and satisfaction facts are separate and unexamined. No individual clock is started here. |
INF/U |
| R006-P2-C049 |
The relevant residual is not automatically the annual-analysis “surplus,” a projected balance, or the total ever deposited. |
S005 §17(b) definitions; S009 §34(b)(1). |
A genuine zero residual supplies no positive amount to return under this clause. A shortage/deficiency label does not prove the payoff residual or validate deductions. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C050 |
Section 34(b) expressly concerns escrow within the servicer’s control. |
S009 §34(b)(1)–(2). |
Third-party custody alone neither proves nor disproves control. Funds genuinely outside that control are not brought within this clause merely by an escrow label; other rights remain held. |
R/INF/U |
| R006-P2-C051 |
Section 34(b)(1) does not prohibit netting remaining escrow against the outstanding mortgage balance. |
S009/S013 comment 34(b)(1)-1. |
This is distinct from credit to a new escrow. It does not prove the correctness or authorization of any actual payoff accounting under all applicable law. |
I/U |
| R006-P2-C052 |
The new-account exception requires borrower agreement, controlled residual funds, a new mortgage loan’s escrow, and credit as of settlement. |
S009/S014 §34(b)(2). |
These common conditions accompany, rather than replace, one qualifying lender relationship. |
R |
| R006-P2-C053 |
The original-payee branch requires the new lender also to have been the lender to whom the prior mortgage was initially payable. |
S009 §34(b)(2)(i). |
An actual original-payee relationship is necessary; branding or servicing is not substituted. |
R |
| R006-P2-C054 |
The owner/assignee branch requires the new lender to be owner or assignee of the prior mortgage loan. |
S009 §34(b)(2)(ii). |
No assignment validity, standing, title, or secured-right conclusion follows from the rule or a notice. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C055 |
The same-servicer branch concerns the new lender’s use of the prior loan’s servicer to service the new loan. |
S009 §34(b)(2)(iii). |
Common conditions, especially agreement and settlement credit, remain necessary. |
R |
| R006-P2-C056 |
The three relationship branches are alternatives; agreement with an otherwise nonqualifying relationship does not create a fourth branch. |
S009 §34(b)(2)(i)–(iii); S015 p.10736. |
No inference of automatic rollover from either consent alone or a shared servicer alone. |
R/H |
| R006-P2-C057 |
Borrower agreement may be oral or written. |
S009/S013 comment 34(b)(2)-2. |
Absence of a signed form alone does not establish absence of agreement. A general contract label alone does not prove agreement to this disposition. |
I/INF |
| R006-P2-C058 |
A servicer may always satisfy §34(b) by the prescribed refund instead of electing new-escrow credit. |
S009/S013 comment 34(b)(2)-1. |
Qualification for the exception does not make credit mandatory or give an automatic entitlement to a rollover. |
I |
| R006-P2-C059 |
The credit exception’s operative date is new-loan settlement, not an imported 20-day-after-payoff credit deadline. |
S009 §34(b)(2); S015 p.10736. |
The final explanation recognizes that disposition can be later than the ordinary refund period with the required agreement. No additional maximum interval is invented. |
R/H |
| R006-P2-C060 |
Permission to use the exception is different from proof of consent, qualifying relationships, or an actual ledger credit. |
S009 §34(b)(2); comments 34(b)(2)-1–2. |
Inference: the provision does not approve a new loan, authorize this researcher to alter accounts, or establish that any transaction occurred. Failed/canceled settlement consequences remain unresolved. |
INF/U |
| R006-P2-C061 |
The read §34 text/comments do not specify a general mailed-check-deemed-returned rule. |
S009 complete §34 and comments; S005 §17(b) “Delivery”; S008 §32. |
Section 17’s document-delivery definition and §32 disclosure rules are not silently converted into proof that funds were returned. Actual delivery/receipt and any further applicable law remain held. |
Textual limit/U |
| R006-P2-C062 |
The separate short-year escrow-statement timing does not extend the payoff-refund period. |
S005/S014 §17(i)(4)(ii)–(iii), compared with §34(b)(1). |
The statement clauses use their own 60-day triggers for servicing transfer/payoff funds. They are different duties; full statement compliance is not investigated. |
R/INF |
| R006-P2-C063 |
Access date, compilation currency, annual-edition date, and amendment-effective date are different facts. |
S001–S003, S013–S014; failure log. |
October 27 access does not establish that every source incorporates every development through October 27. |
Method finding |
| R006-P2-C064 |
The 2013 final servicing rule states an effective date of January 10, 2014. |
S015 p.10696; S001 amendment/effective notes. |
The 2010 enactment date is not substituted for that implementing effective date; older §17 provisions predate the final rule. No retroactive application determined. |
S/H |
| R006-P2-C065 |
The 2016 rule distinguishes its general October 19, 2017 effective date from the specified April 19, 2018 successor provisions. |
S016 pp.72160, 72370–71. |
Current successor treatment is not assumed for an unspecified historical event. |
H |
| R006-P2-C066 |
The discovered 2026 OCC final rule amends Parts 34 and 160, not the target Part 1024 clauses; its June correction concerns the heading. |
S017 pp.29347 and 38991. |
No decision here about bank compensation, fees, interest, preemption, or later judicial treatment. A related proposal is not applied as law. |
R/H; scope limit |
The payoff and credit conclusions are supported by the complete §34 text and all its official comments, compared with the statute and the final-rule explanation. uscode.house.gov+9
5. What the rules do—and what remains to be proved
Disbursement facts
A contract requiring monthly principal, interest, and escrow payments establishes one possible funding obligation. It does not, by itself, establish when a taxing authority or insurer must receive or recognize a particular payment. A generic audit therefore separates:
- the borrower’s payment due date and payment status;
- the escrowed charge and its applicable deadline;
- the servicer’s actual disbursement;
- any required advance;
- any penalty, lapse, or other consequence.
That separation follows from §17’s definitions and its disbursement conditions. It prevents a current monthly mortgage payment, an escrow statement, or an insurance notice from being treated as conclusive evidence of timely payment to the payee. C024–C030, C045.
For payments more than 30 days overdue, the precise result is narrower than either “the servicer must advance everything” or “the servicer has no remaining obligations.” The ordinary (k)(1)–(2) condition, the insurance-specific (k)(5) restriction, the statute, and retained contract/state-law questions must remain separate. C030, C034–C039.
Payoff and balance facts
The refund clock is stated here only as:
Within 20 days, excluding legal public holidays, Saturdays, and Sundays, of the borrower’s payment of the covered mortgage loan in full.
No actual payoff date, holiday calendar, counting convention for a disputed event, or individual deadline has been stipulated or calculated. Section 1024.2’s general office-open definition of “business day” is not substituted for §34(b)(1)’s express exclusions. C047, C061, C063.
The amount is likewise left uncalculated. A ledger would need to distinguish deposits, actual disbursements, advances, reversals, authorized adjustments, netting, returns, and any new-account credit. Those categories are diagnostic; their inclusion here does not approve a deduction or establish a refund amount. C049–C051.
Credit and consent facts
The legal condition can be expressed without a monetary equation:
Credit exception = all common conditions in §34(b)(2) + at least one relationship in (i), (ii), or (iii).
An oral agreement can satisfy the prescribed form of agreement. Whether an agreement actually occurred, what disposition it covered, and whether the credit was posted as of settlement remain different proof questions. A notification of an intended rollover is not automatically agreement or proof of performance. C052–C060.
6. Clearly hypothetical qualitative failure branches
Every row below is an abstract stipulation for testing the rule. No names, addresses, account numbers, provider identifiers, dates, balances, or actual records are supplied or entered. “Evidence needed” identifies what would matter to a later authorized application; it is not a request to obtain records.
Table E — Hypothetical branches
| Example |
Stipulated facts |
Provision-specific result versus unknown |
Evidence categories that would matter |
Adverse misclassification to avoid |
| E01 — Ordinary timely disbursement |
Covered required escrow; borrower payment not more than 30 days overdue; an escrowed tax charge is payable; servicer disburses by the applicable penalty-avoidance deadline. |
The stipulated timing satisfies that §17(k)(1) requirement. It does not establish all escrow accounting or other-law compliance. C023–C025. |
Escrow terms, payee deadline, payment status, actual disbursement evidence. |
Treating one timely payment as proof that the entire escrow account is correct. |
| E02 — Insufficient funds; delinquency facts held |
Escrow funds are insufficient, but whether the borrower’s payment is more than 30 days overdue is not established. |
If the (k)(2) status condition holds, the necessary advance is required. Without that fact, the branch cannot be selected; insurance may require separate (k)(5) analysis. C026–C030, C034. |
Payment status/application, funding shortfall, charge deadline, charge type. |
“Shortage automatically excuses payment,” or “every shortage requires an advance regardless of all other conditions.” |
| E03 — Payoff not proven |
A final scheduled installment or payoff quotation exists; actual full satisfaction is unstipulated. |
The §34(b)(1) trigger is unproved. No refund deadline is assigned. C048. |
Receipt, application, payoff satisfaction, residual escrow. |
Starting the clock from a quotation, mailing date, or contractual maturity date alone. |
| E04 — Mere servicing transfer |
Servicing changes; the debt continues; payment in full is not stipulated. |
The transfer alone does not trigger §34(b)’s payoff return. Other servicing/statement duties are distinct. C048, C062. |
Event classification and whether payoff actually occurred. |
Using P01’s transition protection as a substitute for the payoff rule. |
| E05 — Trigger established, no actual calendar |
Covered mortgage paid in full; controlled funds remain; no qualifying credit exception; no dates supplied. |
Return is due within the exact triggered period in C047. No actual date can be produced. |
Payoff event/date, applicable legal public holidays, return performance. |
“Twenty calendar days,” or an invented deadline. |
| E06 — Agreed qualifying new escrow credit |
Borrower agrees; controlled funds remain; one specified lender relationship holds; funds are credited to the new escrow as of settlement. |
The stipulated facts fit §34(b)(2)’s permitted alternative. Refund remains an available method. C052–C059. |
Agreement, relationship, settlement, actual credit. |
Treating qualifying credit as mandatory, or treating the refund clock as an additional credit deadline. |
| E07 — Same servicer without agreement |
Both loans use the same servicer, but borrower agreement is expressly absent. |
The relationship branch alone does not satisfy (b)(2). Assuming the other refund predicates, (b)(1) remains the governing return branch. C055–C057. |
Agreement or its absence; payoff/control/residual facts. |
Automatic rollover based only on operational continuity. |
| E08 — New-lender relationship unknown |
Borrower agrees to a credit, but none of the three relationship alternatives is established. |
Agreement alone cannot establish the exception. Actual qualification is unresolved. C053–C057. |
Original-payee, prior owner/assignee, or same-servicer relationship evidence. |
Treating consent as a fourth lender category or a notice as assignment proof. |
| E09 — Funds held elsewhere |
A third party physically holds the money; the servicer’s control is unstipulated. |
Physical custody does not resolve §34’s control predicate. If genuinely outside control, this clause does not itself require that servicer to return those funds. Other law remains held. C050. |
Legal and operational control; custody arrangements; actual funds location. |
Assuming “third-party-held” automatically means outside servicer control—or automatically inside it. |
| E10 — Delinquent insurance; insufficiency only |
Payment is more than 30 days overdue; hazard escrow exists; the sole claimed inability is insufficient funds; no small-servicer exception is stipulated. |
That stated reason does not satisfy §17(k)(5)(ii)’s inability test for force-placement. No universal duty to advance all charges is inferred. C034–C036. |
Insurance status, cancellation reasons, vacancy basis, contemplated force-placement. |
Equating escrow insufficiency with legal inability, or extending this insurance branch to all taxes and charges. |
| E11 — Claimed small-servicer exception |
Small-servicer status is asserted; either qualification or the strict cost comparison is unknown. |
Section 17(k)(5)(iii) cannot be established from the assertion. Even established status does not remove §34 or the remaining §37 conditions. C039–C044. |
Qualification facts, included/excluded loan counts, comparator costs, applicable §37 conditions. |
Importing the §§38–41 exemption into §34, or accepting equal cost where the text requires less. |
| E12 — Tax-payment choice |
Annual and installment choices exist; whether there is an annual discount or installment fee is unknown. |
The required choice under (k)(3) cannot be selected. A voluntary individual agreement under (k)(4), if established, must still preserve timely payment and applicable advances. C031–C033. |
Payee’s options, discount/fee terms, agreement. |
Assuming annual payment is always required, or borrower preference alone always controls. |
| E13 — “Surplus” or zero label |
A statement labels a balance “surplus,” “shortage,” or zero; payoff ledger and any netting are unstipulated. |
The label does not establish the §34 residual. Netting is not prohibited by the cited comment, but actual correctness remains unknown. C049–C051. |
Ledger components, adjustments, netting, payoff application. |
Substituting annual-analysis thresholds for the return of remaining payoff funds. |
| E14 — Product or successor misclassification |
Either an open-end product is involved, or a person is described as a successor without the regulatory confirmation predicates being established. |
Section 34’s product exclusion or §30(d)’s confirmed-successor conditions must be addressed. Other statutory/§17 duties and state-law rights remain separate. C010, C016–C020. |
Product terms; qualifying transfer category and confirmation; retained legal facts. |
Assuming all mortgage-linked products have identical §34 coverage, or denying substantive rights solely because no disclosure acknowledgment was returned. |
7. Blank generic document and process audit worksheet
This is a blank analytical worksheet, not an official form, production demand, operational instruction, or declaration that every listed document is legally required. No identifier fields are included. All observation cells remain blank.
Table A — Blank worksheet
| Audit item |
Generic question or distinction to examine |
Claim links |
Observation/evidence — blank |
| A01 |
Is the obligation within the statutory and regulatory FRML definitions? |
C001–C002 |
|
| A02 |
What establishes real-property collateral, residential characteristics, and the applicable federal connection? |
C001–C002 |
|
| A03 |
Is the primary credit purpose consumer, business, commercial, or agricultural? Is the statutory governmental-borrower exclusion relevant? |
C003 |
|
| A04 |
Do temporary-financing, vacant-land, assumption, conversion, or secondary-market provisions affect the relevant transaction? |
C004–C009 |
|
| A05 |
Is the product open-end/home-equity credit or a Subpart C mortgage loan? |
C010 |
|
| A06 |
Has a limited exception for another section been incorrectly used to exclude §34? |
C011–C012 |
|
| A07 |
What establishes the responsible servicer and any master/subservicer roles? |
C013–C015 |
|
| A08 |
Does an actor-specific statutory or regulatory servicer exclusion actually fit? |
C014 |
|
| A09 |
If relevant, are the qualifying successor category and confirmation established separately from assumption/liability? |
C016–C017 |
|
| A10 |
Does the mortgage/escrow agreement require payments for the charges in question? |
C023 |
|
| A11 |
Is the arrangement an escrow account under the relevant definition, regardless of its label? |
C021–C022 |
|
| A12 |
Who establishes or controls the account, and what is any third party’s custody role? |
C021, C050 |
|
| A13 |
What are the borrower’s contractual payment due date and actual payment/application facts? |
C024–C030 |
|
| A14 |
What separately establishes the payee’s due date and penalty-avoidance deadline? |
C024–C025 |
|
| A15 |
What shows actual tax/insurance/other-charge disbursement and recognition? |
C024–C025 |
|
| A16 |
Were available escrow funds sufficient at the relevant time? |
C026 |
|
| A17 |
If insufficient, does the applicable advance condition hold? |
C026, C034–C039 |
|
| A18 |
What analysis and repayment treatment govern any advance-related deficiency? |
C027–C028 |
|
| A19 |
Are annual/installment tax options, discounts, and additional charges distinguished? |
C031–C032 |
|
| A20 |
Was any different tax disbursement arrangement mutually and voluntarily agreed, without prohibited conditioning? |
C033 |
|
| A21 |
For the limited insurance branch, what establishes cancellation/nonrenewal reasons, vacancy, or other relevant coverage facts? |
C034–C037 |
|
| A22 |
If monthly premium advances are used, are other-law permission and insurer acceptance established? |
C038 |
|
| A23 |
If the small-servicer exception is invoked, are qualification and the strict cost comparison both established? |
C039–C043 |
|
| A24 |
Is the insurance category within the relevant force-placement definition or an exclusion? |
C044 |
|
| A25 |
What establishes actual payment in full, separately from a quotation, scheduled final installment, release, or transfer? |
C048 |
|
| A26 |
Does the escrow ledger distinguish opening funds, deposits, disbursements, advances, reversals, adjustments, netting, returns, and credits? |
C049–C051 |
|
| A27 |
What amount, if any, actually remains within servicer control after the payoff accounting? |
C047, C049–C051 |
|
| A28 |
Is the legally relevant recipient established without assuming how competing borrower/successor interests are allocated? |
C016–C020, C047 |
|
| A29 |
Is the proposed treatment a return, netting against the old debt, or credit to a new escrow? |
C051–C052 |
|
| A30 |
What establishes borrower agreement to the new-escrow credit, orally or in writing? |
C057, C060 |
|
| A31 |
Which exact lender relationship—original payee, prior owner/assignee, or same servicer—supports the exception? |
C053–C056 |
|
| A32 |
What establishes the new loan’s actual settlement and credit as of that date? |
C052, C059–C060 |
|
| A33 |
What establishes actual return/delivery of funds, separately from notice or statement delivery? |
C061–C062 |
|
| A34 |
Which state, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, contract, insurance, and competing-ownership questions remain unresolved? |
C030, C038, C045, C050, C060–C061 |
|
8. Granular coverage register
A = answered at the generic legal-rule level. P = partially answered because a stated legal/application boundary remains. U = unresolved. X = excluded by the assignment. An “A” never means an actual account, deadline, amount, or operation has been approved.
Table K-A — Scope and disbursement coverage
| Coverage item |
Assigned subquestion or branch |
Status and claim/example links |
Exact missing authority or facts |
Next bounded permissible investigation |
| K01 |
Statutory FRML/property/federal nexus |
A: C001–C002; E14 |
No actual collateral, product, or federal-nexus facts |
None needed for the stated generic rule; application remains held. |
| K02 |
Consumer/business/agriculture/government distinctions |
A/P: C003; E14 |
Actual primary purpose and governmental-borrower status |
Public purpose-law interpretation only if a narrower generic question is later assigned. |
| K03 |
Temporary/construction/bridge branches |
A: C004 |
Actual terms, conversion commitment, first-user financing, builder facts |
Retain fact hold; no provider or loan investigation. |
| K04 |
Vacant-land branch |
A: C005 |
Intended improvements, proceeds, security, timing |
No application; public clause clarification only if needed. |
| K05 |
Assumptions and conversions |
A: C006–C007 |
Approval rights, permission, original terms, new-note facts |
Retain transaction facts as unknown. |
| K06 |
Secondary transactions and partial exemptions |
A: C008–C009 |
Actual funding/transaction structure |
No comprehensive origination gateway rerun. |
| K07 |
HELOC/open-end distinction |
A/P: C010; E14 |
Statute-only HELOC refund interpretation and actual product/escrow predicates |
A future bounded primary-law HELOC-specific inquiry; no importation of §34 now. |
| K08 |
Small-servicer exemption not transported to §34 |
A: C011, C039–C043; E11 |
Actual qualification |
None for the scope distinction; no portfolio or entity query. |
| K09 |
Principal residence/reverse/qualified lender |
A: C011–C012 |
Actual product, purpose, and any section-specific status |
Retain other regimes and factual qualification as held. |
| K10 |
Servicer/master/subservicer responsibility |
A/P: C013–C015 |
Actual performance, rights, and control arrangements |
No actual servicing-contract or entity investigation. |
| K11 |
Borrower and confirmed successor |
A/P: C016–C020; E14 |
Identity/property-interest confirmation, transfer category, competing rights |
Public successor-rule clarification only; no property or estate records. |
| K12 |
Escrow/control/voluntary-charge definition |
A/P: C021–C023; E09 |
Actual account purpose, control, agreement, required funding |
Retain account and contract facts. |
| K13 |
Mere reserve/discretionary payment |
A: C021–C022 |
Whether the lender requires it or servicer places it in escrow |
No universal reserve classification. |
| K14 |
Statute versus regulation’s contractual predicate |
A: C023, C030 |
Actual escrow-payment terms |
No contract construction for a person. |
| K15 |
Taxes, premiums, and other property charges |
A: C023–C025; E01 |
Actual charge and payee deadline |
Public generic rules only; no tax/insurance record inquiry. |
| K16 |
Due date versus actual disbursement/notice |
A/P: C024–C025; E01 |
Payee deadline and actual payment recognition |
Retain delivery/application facts and applicable payee-law questions. |
| K17 |
Sufficient escrow/ordinary timely payment |
A: C025; E01 |
Actual payment status and disbursement |
No individual compliance finding. |
| K18 |
Insufficient escrow/mandatory advance |
A: C026; E02 |
Sufficiency, delinquency, charge deadline |
None for the conditional rule; facts remain unexamined. |
| K19 |
Delinquency, grace, application, tolerance |
A/P: C029–C030; E02 |
Actual receipts, application, tolerance, contractual terms |
No default or accrual decision. |
| K20 |
Recovery of advance/necessary paragraph (f) interaction |
A/P: C027–C028 |
Analysis, deficiency size, payment status, recovery terms |
Full aggregate/annual accounting remains outside this pass. |
| K21 |
Installments where no discount or extra charge |
A: C031; E12 |
Actual taxing-jurisdiction choices |
Generic public tax-payment rules only if later specifically assigned. |
| K22 |
Discount/fee annual choice |
A: C032; E12 |
Discount/charge terms |
No tax bill or property query. |
| K23 |
Voluntary different tax basis/date |
A: C033; E12 |
Actual agreement and absence of prohibited conditioning |
No consent or contract determination. |
| K24 |
More-than-30-day insurance restriction |
A: C034; E10 |
Actual escrow, delinquency, contemplated force-placement |
Full force-placement analysis remains held. |
| K25 |
Cancellation/nonrenewal/nonpayment/vacancy |
A/P: C035, C037; E10 |
Reasons, policy status, reasonable basis, vacancy facts |
No insurer or property inquiry. |
| K26 |
Insufficiency is not inability |
A: C036; E10 |
Actual claimed inability |
None for the rule; application held. |
| K27 |
Complete relevant §17 official examples |
A: C037–C038 |
Whether actual facts match an example or another reasonable basis |
No extension of illustrative examples into conclusive presumptions. |
| K28 |
Month-to-month advances and other law |
A/P: C038 |
Insurer acceptance and applicable state/other law |
Future bounded jurisdiction-specific primary-law inquiry only. |
| K29 |
Small-servicer strict comparator and §37 condition |
A/P: C039–C044; E11 |
Qualification, costs, all remaining §37 predicates |
Separate full force-placement component if later authorized. |
| K30 |
Small-servicer count/HFA/nonprofit/seller-financer cross-references |
A/P: C040–C043 |
Actual portfolio, affiliates, organizational and transaction facts |
No roster, license, entity, tax-status, or borrower investigation. |
| K31 |
Loss/damage and coverage limitations |
P/X: C045 |
Coverage terms, actual loss, causation, remedy prerequisites |
Remedies, insurance coverage, and litigation remain expressly held. |
Table K-B — Payoff, credit, evidence, and remaining boundaries
| Coverage item |
Assigned subquestion or branch |
Status and claim/example links |
Exact missing authority or facts |
Next bounded permissible investigation |
| K32 |
Actual payment-in-full trigger |
A/P: C046–C048; E03 |
Actual receipt/application/full satisfaction |
No individual payoff inquiry or deadline. |
| K33 |
Exact 20-day exclusions |
A: C047; E05 |
Actual trigger date and applicable calendar |
No calculation without stipulated dates and calendar assumptions. |
| K34 |
Residual versus zero/surplus/shortage/deficiency |
A/P: C049; E13 |
Complete relevant payoff ledger and lawful adjustments |
Full escrow accounting and amount determination remain held. |
| K35 |
Funds within control/third-party custody |
A/P: C050; E09 |
Actual legal/operational control |
Public interpretation of the control clause only if needed; no custody records. |
| K36 |
Recipient, successor, competing interests |
A/P: C016–C020, C047 |
Actual recipient rights, estate/marital/ownership questions |
Retain state/contract and competing-claim holds. |
| K37 |
Netting against old loan |
A/P: C051; E13 |
Actual netting, authorization, accounting correctness |
No payoff-quote or balance-validation component. |
| K38 |
Payoff versus transfer, release, final scheduled installment |
A: C048, C062; E03–E04 |
Actual event facts |
P01 remains distinct; no assignment/title/release investigation. |
| K39 |
Common new-escrow conditions |
A: C052, C056–C060; E06 |
Actual agreement, funds, new loan, settlement, credit |
No operation or new-account authorization. |
| K40 |
Original-lender/payee alternative |
A/P: C053; E08 |
Actual initial-payee and new-lender relationship |
No lender or corporate record search. |
| K41 |
Prior owner/assignee alternative |
A/P: C054; E08 |
Actual ownership/assignment relationship |
Assignment validity, security, and standing held. |
| K42 |
Same-servicer alternative |
A: C055–C056; E07 |
Actual use of the same servicer for the new loan |
No automatic agreement or rollover inferred. |
| K43 |
Oral/written agreement versus proof |
A/P: C057, C060; E06–E08 |
Actual agreement, content, authority, timing |
No generic signed-form requirement invented; no consent adjudication. |
| K44 |
Credit as of settlement versus refund clock |
A: C059; E06 |
Actual settlement/credit dates |
No invented 20-day credit cap or actual calendar. |
| K45 |
Refund always permissible/credit optional |
A: C058; E06 |
Actual election/performance |
No borrower entitlement to mandatory rollover inferred. |
| K46 |
Agreement alone/new relationship unknown |
A: C056–C060; E08 |
One qualifying relationship |
Preserve exception as unestablished when its facts are unknown. |
| K47 |
Delivery/mailing versus actual return |
U/P: C061 |
Further authority on a particular return method and actual delivery/receipt facts |
Bounded published primary-law interpretation only; no individual deadline or record inquiry. |
| K48 |
Statement duty versus money-return duty |
A: C062; E04 |
Actual statement and refund performance |
Full initial/annual statement investigation remains held. |
| K49 |
Blank generic audit and models/instructions |
A/X: A01–A34 |
No populated documents; no model necessary for these conclusions |
No form inspection claimed; official accounting/model materials remain outside scope. |
| K50 |
Required qualitative failure branches |
A: E01–E14 |
No actual person/account facts supplied |
Examples remain conditional and identifier-free. |
| K51 |
Source versions/effective dates/currentness |
A/P: C063–C066; S001–S018 |
Complete post-currency publication/session-law/judicial-status audit |
Future bounded official-law update check; no docket-status query. |
| K52 |
P01 reviewed boundary and R008 separation |
A/X: foundation statement |
P01 artifacts not accessed; R008 unreviewed |
No unreviewed report used as a legal foundation. |
| K53 |
State/local/tribal/foreign/product and contract law |
X: retained holds |
Applicable jurisdiction, product, contract, and actual facts |
Only a later expressly bounded public-law assignment could address these. |
| K54 |
Disbursement/refund/credit/filing/publication operations |
X: owner limits |
No operation authorized or evaluated |
No action, filing, contact, account change, or publication undertaken. |
9. Read and failure log
Table L — What was and was not actually accessed
| Log item |
Actual activity/result |
Consequence for this report |
| L01 — Fresh bodies |
Read the statute’s escrow clause, necessary scope/actor provisions, complete §17(k), complete §34, and relevant official interpretations through public primary sources. |
Search snippets were used for discovery, not as substitutes for the necessary operative bodies. |
| L02 — House version |
The PL119-124 routes for §§2602, 2605, and 2606 succeeded. The preliminary §2605 route returned 404. |
Successful October 15 compilation supports the cited statutory text; later compilation/currentness is not presumed. |
| L03 — eCFR recovery |
Initial direct §34 retrieval failed. The canonical Subpart C route later returned its complete body. Section 17 also returned successfully. |
Initial access failure is recorded as a route failure, not a missing rule or an enduring absence of the body. |
| L04 — Annual CFR |
Read the specified 2026 annual-CFR clauses and comments as parsed PDF text. |
Official annual edition comparison completed within stated bounds; no page-image or whole-part claim. |
| L05 — Truncated/insufficient returns |
Some combined retrievals or line-targeted openings did not expose the intended complete passage. Relevant small-servicer text, §17(f)/(k), §32, and final-rule passages were subsequently obtained in readable responses. |
A truncated result was not counted as a complete body read. |
| L06 — Historical final rules |
Selected 2013 and 2016 final-rule passages were read for adopted-rule explanation and effective dates. |
Preamble, codified regulation, and official comments remain distinct; proposals and rejected alternatives were not applied. |
| L07 — Recent related rule |
The bounded search surfaced the 2026 OCC escrow rule. Its complete amendatory text and published heading correction were read. |
It was not mistaken for an amendment of §1024.17(k) or §1024.34; broader OCC questions remain held. |
| L08 — Guidance and models |
No CFPB circular, bulletin, advisory, examination manual, or Public Guidance Document was relied upon. No model/blank form was material to the conclusions. |
No guidance-withdrawal proposition is made. A Withdrawn Guidance register check was therefore not needed for an actually used guidance item. Withdrawal would not itself establish statutory repeal. |
| L09 — Opinions and records |
No judicial opinion was necessary to the conditional conclusions. No case record, docket, status query, borrower/provider/entity/property/account search, or identifier test was conducted. |
No holding, litigation posture, standing, remedy, or later-case-history finding is claimed. |
| L10 — Supplied review background |
P01 review details were received from the user; coordinator artifacts and UI were not independently inspected. |
This pass does not claim those supplied checks as its own work or an independent review. |
| L11 — Artifacts and actions |
No local coordinator files, hashes, imported records, completed forms, filings, messages, purchases, account changes, or publications were created. |
The complete deliverable is visible in this answer; the worksheet remains blank. |
| L12 — Time |
Actual checks occurred October 27, 2026; final research clock recorded 15:07:28 PDT. |
Access time is distinguished from statutory enactment, rule effectiveness, source currency, and any individual legal clock. |
10. Question-to-claim/source crosswalk
Table Q — Assignment coverage map
| Assigned question |
Principal claims |
Principal sources |
Audit/examples/coverage |
| 1. Necessary scope, product, actor, escrow, control, payoff predicates; exclusions; no exception transport |
C001–C023, C040–C044, C048–C050 |
S001–S012; S013–S016 for version/history comparisons |
A01–A12, A23–A28; E02, E04, E09, E11, E14; K01–K14, K30, K35–K38 |
| 2. Complete timely disbursement/advance/tax choice/limited insurance interaction |
C024–C045 |
S001, S005, S007, S010–S015 |
A13–A24; E01–E02, E10–E12; K15–K31 |
| 3. Complete post-payoff return, exact count, control, recipient, residual, distinct events |
C046–C051, C061–C062 |
S001, S005–S009, S013–S015 |
A25–A29, A33; E03–E05, E09, E13–E14; K32–K38, K47–K48 |
| 4. Full new-escrow credit exception and all three alternatives |
C052–C060 |
S009, S013–S015 |
A29–A32; E06–E08; K39–K46 |
| 5. Generic document/process audit, qualitative branches, no individual calculation |
C020–C024, C045–C062 |
Relevant sources above; no account or form records |
A01–A34; E01–E14; K49–K50 |
| Source/effective-date/status standards and parent holds |
C063–C066; explicit method and limit findings |
S001–S018; L01–L12 |
K51–K54; self-check below |
11. Self-check — not independent review
Table V — Internal completeness check
| Check |
Result and specific limit |
| Necessary operative bodies and exceptions |
Complete target §17(k), §34, relevant definitions, exclusions, and official comments read; selected adjacent and historical reads identified. No unseen full-document claim. |
| Statute/regulation/comment/preamble distinction |
Preserved, including statutory “20 business days,” regulatory excluded-day wording, official oral-agreement/netting comments, and historical explanations. |
| Scope precision |
HELOC, business purpose, servicer role, principal-residence, small-servicer, successor, and controlled-escrow distinctions retained. No blanket application to every secured loan or reserve. |
| Disbursement precision |
Borrower due date, payee deadline, actual disbursement, delinquency condition, advance, tax-choice, and insurance branches separated. |
| More-than-30-day insurance limit |
The restriction on force-placement is not restated as an unconditional advance duty for all charges. |
| Payoff precision |
Actual payment in full is kept separate from scheduled maturity, notices, servicing changes, release, and accounting labels. |
| Credit exception |
All common conditions and all three alternative lender relationships addressed; oral agreement allowed; refund remains permissible; settlement timing preserved. |
| Numbers and dates |
Only sourced legal periods/thresholds stated. No legal calendar, individual deadline, refund amount, damages amount, or numerical example calculated. |
| Forms/PDFs |
No model relied upon; no completed form; parsed PDF text not represented as pixel inspection. |
| Currentness |
Successful current eCFR bodies and 2026 annual text distinguished from the House compilation and from a complete lag/status audit. |
| Hypotheticals and evidence |
Fourteen qualitative branches; generic evidence categories only; no actual or invented person/account/provider/property identifiers. |
| Foundation and review status |
Supplied P01 coordinator review respected as supplied background. This self-check is neither independent review nor component/parent acceptance. |
| Operations |
No actual escrow disbursement, refund, credit, account change, filing, contact, or publication approved or performed. |
12. Specific parent holds retained
This pass leaves the following unresolved or outside its authorized component:
- Complete escrow accounting: initial and annual statements, cushions, aggregate analysis, ongoing surplus/shortage/deficiency treatment, escrow interest, earnings, upfront funding, and calculation of balances, except the limited definitions and advance-recovery cross-references needed here.
- Other servicing regimes: full force-placed-insurance requirements; billing errors; notices of error; information requests; payoff quotations; foreclosure; loss mitigation; credit reporting; and the separately running, unreviewed R008 component.
- Actual facts and legal relationships: contract terms, receipt and application of payments, debt satisfaction, escrow control, account ownership, consent, settlement performance, ledger accuracy, assignment validity, security, title, perfection, standing, default, accrual, and amounts.
- Jurisdiction and product law: state, local, tribal, territorial, foreign, insurance, consumer/business, and product-specific law, including competing borrower/successor interests and any additional requirements concerning return methods.
- Relief and lifecycle questions: damages, causation, remedies, limitations, litigation, settlement, tax, insolvency, eligibility, tools, and all other A006 stages.
- Acceptance and operations: no A006/component/state/parent closure; no independent-review claim; no disbursement/refund/credit/operation/publication acceptance.
The remaining currentness gap is specific: the bodies retrieved support the rules and interpretations identified above, but they do not establish a complete audit of every legislative, regulatory, correction, or judicial development through the access date. The remaining application gaps are also specific: no actual payoff, control, balance, consent, relationship, delivery, or jurisdictional facts have been established.
END R006 PASS-02