Code of Federal Regulations citations

The Code of Federal Regulations is where federal administrative laws are codified, which are also referred to as “rules.” The Code of Federal Regulations is written by federal agencies authorized by Congress to clarify the statutes that Congress passes. There are 50 titles in the Code of Federal Regulations and most of my readers will be interested in Title 12 - Banks and Banking, including mortgage banking. All of the regulations written by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are found in chapter 10 of title 12.

Note that if you see a citation referencing U.S.C. instead of C.F.R. you are looking at a citation for the United States Code, not the Code of Federal Regulations. The U.S.C. designation refers to the codification into statutes of acts passed by Congress. This article only addresses regulations.

Deciphering the citation is easy once you understand how it is derived

In citations, the Code of Federal Regulations is abbreviated C.F.R. or sometimes just CFR. The C.F.R. is preceded by the particular title, followed by the part, section, paragraph, and subparagraph designations.

Our example regulation, 12 C.F.R. § 1026.36(d)(1) was written by the Bureau so we know it is in title 12, chapter 10. It also comes from part 1026 which is referred to as Regulation Z. The § symbol stands for “section” though it refers to the number following the period, which follows the part. Fortunately, the Bureau followed the Federal Reserve’s numbering and naming scheme making identifying the regulation by number or letter easy. The part number, in this case, 1026, is composed of two elements: a) the 10 is the chapter of title 12, and b) the 26 is the 26th letter of the alphabet, Z. When writing the citation, the title comes before the “C.F.R.” and the part comes afterward, so 12 C.F.R. § 1026 is title 12, chapter 10, letter 26. The chapter and letter are described together as part 1026 for Reg. Z.

Using the same code you can easily decipher that the regulations written by the Bureau for HMDA found in Reg. C are cited as 12 C.F.R. § 1003, because C is the third letter of the alphabet (chapter 10, letter 03). Similarly, we know that 12 C.F.R. § 1024 refers to Reg. X, because X is the 24th letter of the alphabet.

Looking back to our original citation, 12 C.F.R. § 1026.36(d)(1), we can now add that we are looking at section 36 because the 36 follows the period. Paragraphs within sections are further delimited by parenthesis. So we want subparagraph 1 of paragraph d. We read this as “twelve CFR section ten twenty-six point thirty-six dee one.” In a hierarchical table it breaks down like this:

  Title 12
    Part 1026 (Chapter 10 Reg Z – 26)
      Section 36
        Paragraph d
          Subparagraph 1

The order of things - How new rules are published

1. The Federal Register first publishes new and amended regulations.
2. The eCFR is an unofficial compilation of regulations published in the Federal Register. The eCFR is published by the National Archives and Records Administration's Office of the Federal Register and the Government Printing Office. The eCFR contains all 50 titles of the Code of Federal Regulations.

• Note that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s eRegulations are another unofficial compilation generated by a tool designed by the Bureau and 18F. 18F is an office in the federal government’s General Services Administration headquartered at 18th and F streets in Washington D.C. 18F’s mission is to help other federal agencies build, buy, and share efficient and easy-to-use digital services.

1. Annually, the Official Code of Federal Regulations is compiled and published by the Government Printing Office.