The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released a new online tool to help creditors determine which properties are located in a rural or underserved area. The tool aids in determining the exemption for requiring escrow accounts for higher-priced mortgages. Regulation Z provides that if “During any of the three preceding calendar years, the creditor extended more than 50 percent of its total covered transactions, as defined by §1026.43(b)(1), secured by a first lien, on properties that are located in counties that are either “rural” or “underserved,” as set forth in paragraph (b)(2)(iv) of this section.”.

The tool can be used to manually check up to ten addresses at a time. It can also be used to upload and check a CSV-formatted file of addresses.

However, the tool is not applicable to the exemption from the § 1026.35(c)(4) requirement for an additional appraisal for higher-priced mortgages, which is based on “rural county” and not “rural area.”