Last reviewed: 7 October 2026
Home › Mortgage help › Your Home Loan Toolkit booklet
The special information booklet (Your Home Loan Toolkit), explained
Federal rules require a lender or broker to give you a booklet in most purchase-loan applications. This page sets out who must give it, by when and where the rules say it is not required.
What this term means: The special information booklet is the booklet required by section 5 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act “to help consumers applying for federally related mortgage loans understand the nature and cost of real estate settlement services.”[2] The CFPB’s current version is titled “Your Home Loan Toolkit.”[1]
What the rules require
Two regulations impose this duty: Regulation Z at 12 CFR § 1026.19(g), which covers consumer credit secured by real property or a cooperative unit, and Regulation X at 12 CFR § 1024.6, which covers federally related mortgage loans. Their wording differs in places, such as the cover-title rule: Regulation X requires the words “settlement costs” in the cover title.[2][3]
| Element | What the regulations say |
|---|---|
| Who gets it | A consumer who applies for a consumer credit transaction secured by real property or a cooperative unit (Regulation Z), or a person for whom the lender receives or prepares a written application for a federally related mortgage loan (Regulation X).[2][3] |
| When | Delivered or placed in the mail not later than three business days after the application is received. If the lender denies the application before the end of the three-business-day period, it need not provide the booklet.[2][3] |
| If you use a mortgage broker | The mortgage broker provides the booklet and the creditor need not do so.[2][3] |
| Joint applicants | When two or more people apply together, Regulation X says the lender complies by providing a copy to one of them.[3] |
| Home equity lines of credit | A creditor or broker that provides the brochure “When Your Home is On the Line: What You Should Know About Home Equity Lines of Credit,” or any successor brochure issued by the CFPB, is deemed to comply.[2][3] |
| Transactions where it is not required | Regulation Z says the booklet need not be provided where the purpose is not the purchase of a one-to-four family residential property, “including, but not limited to” refinancing transactions, closed-end loans secured by a subordinate lien, and reverse mortgages. Regulation X lists the same three categories and “any other federally related mortgage loan whose purpose is not the purchase of a 1- to 4-family residential property.”[2][3] |
| Changes to the booklet | A creditor may not change, delete from or add to the booklet except as the regulations allow. Regulation Z permits a cover in any form with any artwork, provided the title appearing on the cover is not changed. Regulation X permits a cover in any form with any artwork, provided the words “settlement costs” are used in the title. Under both, names, addresses and telephone numbers of the creditor or lender or others may appear on the cover, but no discussion of the booklet’s subjects may appear there.[2][3] |
What the CFPB says in plain language
- The CFPB describes “Your Home Loan Toolkit” as a booklet that takes you “from budgeting to closing with worksheets, checklists, and conversation starters,” and says you will get a copy when you apply for a home purchase mortgage but can also download one in advance.[1]
For when the Loan Estimate and Closing Disclosure arrive, see the TRID timeline.
How to verify this yourself
Read § 1026.19(g) and § 1024.6 in the eCFR (references 2 and 3) and the CFPB page (reference 1). The date your lender or broker sent the booklet is your own record of whether the three-business-day deadline was met. To check the person you are working with, use our guide to verifying a loan officer’s NMLS license. Our published standard covers how we check loan originators, and the Register shows that method; neither reviews a lender’s or servicer’s handling of your loan.
What this page does not cover
This page does not describe what the booklet says on each page, and it does not cover the Loan Estimate or Closing Disclosure themselves. The CFPB page does not carry a review date. This page is general information, not legal advice, and it does not compare lenders, loan products or rates. It was last reviewed 7 October 2026.
Your next step
A written question to the lender or broker would show when the booklet was sent, and the CFPB publishes the current booklet on its Know Before You Owe page. Then return to the Mortgage help library for related guides.