Any national banking association may make real estate loans, subject to the lawset forth at 12 USC 371 and 12 CFR 34. Those loans generally can be defined asloans primarily secured by real property. However, the law does recognizedifferent types of real estate loans.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) (12 USC 2601 et seq.) (the act) became effective on June 20, 1975. The act requires lenders, mortgage brokers, or servicers of home loans to provide borrowers with pertinent and timely disclosures regarding the nature and costs of the real estate settlement process. The act also protects borrowers against certain abusive practices, such as kickbacks, and places limitations upon the use of escrow accounts.

The "Retail Lending Examination Procedures" are structured to accommodate ongoing supervision of all types of retail lending products and operations, and more comprehensive examinations of high-risk operations or larger, more complex operations. Examiners have the flexibility to add or delete procedures based on the characteristics of a bank's retail lending activities and the identified risks or areas of concern.

This section sets forth guidance for examiners reviewing bank nondepositinvestment product retail sales operations, including bank-related marketingand promotional activities. Examiners will review a bank's programs forconsistency with the Interagency Statement on Retail Sales of NondepositInvestment Products, dated February 15, 1994 (interagency Statement).

It is usually impractical or impossible to review all items or files when examining an area of bank operations, especially if the volume of information is large. Examiners use sampling to observe a random subset to learn about the multitude of items from which they are drawn. Upon drawing statistical inferences from this subset, they can state with a certain level of confidence that the inferences apply to the population as a whole.

The strategic plan describes the OCC's strategic goals and objectives for carrying out its mission during the next five years. The plan provides a road map for how the OCC will ensure a safe and sound system of national banks and federal savings associations (collectively, banks); promote equal access to financial services and fair treatment of bank customers; maintain a flexible legal and regulatory framework that enables a strong, competitive system of banks; and field a competent, highly motivated, and diverse workforce. Equally important, the plan explains the internal and external...

The TILA, 15 USC 1601 et seq., was enacted on May 29, 1968, as title I of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (Public Law 90-321). The TILA, implemented by Regulation Z (12 CFR 226), became effective July 1, 1969.