12 C.F.R. § 1024.31

Definitions

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For purposes of this subpart:

Confirmed successor in interest means a successor in interest once a servicer has confirmed the successor in interest's identity and ownership interest in a property that secures a mortgage loan subject to this subpart.

Consumer reporting agency has the meaning set forth in section 603 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681a.

Day means calendar day.

Delinquency means a period of time during which a borrower and a borrower's mortgage loan obligation are delinquent. A borrower and a borrower's mortgage loan obligation are delinquent beginning on the date a periodic payment sufficient to cover principal, interest, and, if applicable, escrow becomes due and unpaid, until such time as no periodic payment is due and unpaid.

Hazard insurance means insurance on the property securing a mortgage loan that protects the property against loss caused by fire, wind, flood, earthquake, theft, falling objects, freezing, and other similar hazards for which the owner or assignee of such loan requires insurance.

Loss mitigation application means an oral or written request for a loss mitigation option that is accompanied by any information required by a servicer for evaluation for a loss mitigation option.

Loss mitigation option means an alternative to foreclosure offered by the owner or assignee of a mortgage loan that is made available through the servicer to the borrower.

Master servicer means the owner of the right to perform servicing. A master servicer may perform the servicing itself or do so through a subservicer.

Mortgage loan means any federally related mortgage loan, as that term is defined in § 1024.2 subject to the exemptions in § 1024.5(b), but does not include open-end lines of credit (home equity plans).

Qualified written request means a written correspondence from the borrower to the servicer that includes, or otherwise enables the servicer to identify, the name and account of the borrower, and either:

(1) States the reasons the borrower believes the account is in error; or

(2) Provides sufficient detail to the servicer regarding information relating to the servicing of the mortgage loan sought by the borrower.

Reverse mortgage transaction has the meaning set forth in 12 CFR 1026.33(a).

Service provider means any party retained by a servicer that interacts with a borrower or provides a service to the servicer for which a borrower may incur a fee.

Subservicer means a servicer that does not own the right to perform servicing, but that performs servicing on behalf of the master servicer.

Successor in interest means a person to whom an ownership interest in a property securing a mortgage loan subject to this subpart is transferred from a borrower, provided that the transfer is:

(1) A transfer by devise, descent, or operation of law on the death of a joint tenant or tenant by the entirety;

(2) A transfer to a relative resulting from the death of a borrower;

(3) A transfer where the spouse or children of the borrower become an owner of the property;

(4) A transfer resulting from a decree of a dissolution of marriage, legal separation agreement, or from an incidental property settlement agreement, by which the spouse of the borrower becomes an owner of the property; or

(5) A transfer into an inter vivos trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary and which does not relate to a transfer of rights of occupancy in the property.

Transferee servicer means a servicer that obtains or will obtain the right to perform servicing pursuant to an agreement or understanding.

Transferor servicer means a servicer, including a table-funding mortgage broker or dealer on a first- lien dealer loan, that transfers or will transfer the right to perform servicing pursuant to an agreement or understanding.

[78 FR 10876, Feb. 14, 2013, as amended at 81 FR 72370, Oct. 19, 2016; 86 FR 34899, June 30, 2021; 90 FR 20792, May 16, 2025]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 52 cases (35 in the last 5 years), 2014–2026 · leading case: Tara Keen v. Robert Helson, 930 F.3d 799 (6th Cir. 2019).

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Tara Keen v. Robert Helson, 930 F.3d 799 (6th Cir. 2019). “§ 2605 ; see also 12 C.F.R. §§ 1024.31 , 1024.41. Keen alleged that Ocwen failed to properly *802 review her requests before it foreclosed on her house.”

Coppola v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (In re Coppola), 596 B.R. 140 (Bankr. D.N.J. 2018). “12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 ("Definitions") does not have a new definition for "servicer" or "servicing" (amplifying or supplanting 12 C.”

Bank of New York Mellon v. Brooks, 169 A.3d 667 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2017). “” 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 . A “loss mitigation option means an alternative to foreclosure offered by the owner or assignee of a mortgage loan that is made available through the servicer to the borrower.”

Sheely v. Bank of Am., N.A., 36 F. Supp. 3d 1364 (N.D. Ga. 2014). “” 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 (e)(2) (2013). And servicing is defined narrowly: “receiving any scheduled periodic payments from a borrower pursuant to the terms of any loan .”

Mauk (N.D. Ohio 2025). · cites it 7× “12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 . From the outset, the CFPB explained its rationale for this expanded coverage: Successors in interest are a particularly vulnerable group of consumers, who often must make complex financial decisions with limited information during a period of extreme…”

Zenell L. Pugh (Bankr. E.D. Wis. 2019). · cites it 6× “What is the Nature of the Debtor’s Interest in the Property and Rights Under the Note? The debtor asserts that the bank should treat him as a borrower because he is a “successor in interest,” as defined by 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 . ECF Doc. No. 48. That definition follows: For…”

Bennett v. The Fed. Sav. Bank (D. Idaho 2023). · cites it 5× “Given the statutory definition of subservicer includes “performing servicing on behalf of the master servicer,” 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 , TFSB is a master servicer not only by its own admission in their motion (Dkt.”

Walker v. PHH Mortg. Corp. (S.D. Fla. 2023). · cites it 3× “” 12 CFR § 1024.31 . Here, Walker has alleged that she received an ownership interest in the property securing a mortgage loan on July 9, 2021, which was transferred to her by descent from her mother, the borrower, after her mother died intestate on June 14, 2020.”

PNC Bank, N.A. v. Seneca Leandro View, LLC (Pa. Super. Ct. 2026). · cites it 3× “3 and 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 , which implement RESPA, expressly exclude open-end lines of credit); id.”

Bowler v. Wells Fargo Bank NA (D. Ariz. 2020). · cites it 2× “See 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 15 (“Mortgage loan means any federally related mortgage loan, as that term is defined in § 16 1024.”

Herrmann v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (W.D. Va. 2021). · cites it 2× “”1 12 C.F.R. § 1024.31 . Thus, Regulation X appears to narrow the definition of a mortgage loan under RESPA to exclude home equity loans.”

Parsley v. Rushmore Loan Mgmt. Servs. LLC (S.D.W. Va 2025). · cites it 2× “§ 2605 ; see also 12 C.F.R. §§ 1024.31 , 1024.41. Under Regulation X, a successor in interest is “a person to whom an ownership interest in a property securing a mortgage loan .”

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