What federal law is violated if a loan originator carelessly leaves a customer’s sensitive information unattended?

The FACT Act, or Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, is designed to protect consumers from identity theft and ensure the accuracy and privacy of their credit information. Under this act, financial institutions and individuals are required to properly safeguard sensitive information to prevent unauthorized access and misuse. If a loan originator carelessly leaves a customer's sensitive information unattended, this would violate the provisions set forth by the FACT Act, which mandates that institutions take reasonable measures to protect consumer data.

In contrast, while RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) primarily deals with disclosures related to settlement services and prohibits kickbacks, HMDA (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act) focuses on reporting demographic information related to loans for fair lending purposes, and ECOA (Equal Credit Opportunity Act) addresses discrimination in lending practices, none specifically target the safeguarding of consumer data in the same way that the FACT Act does. Thus, the situational context relating to handling sensitive information aligns closely with the requirements laid out in the FACT Act.