A lender can close its office for an observed holiday while that date still counts toward a rescission deadline. Importing the office holiday calendar into a deadline calculation can therefore give the wrong answer.
For rescission, Regulation Z uses a specific definition of business day: calendar days other than Sundays and the legal public holidays specified in federal law. Saturdays usually count. The CFPB's official interpretation expressly distinguishes a fixed-date holiday from the day an office observes it.
A July 2026 example
Assume a fictional closed-end transaction is subject to rescission. Consummation occurs on Thursday, July 2, 2026, and every consumer entitled to rescind receives the required notice and all material disclosures that day. Assume no waiver or later event changes the calculation.
Independence Day falls on Saturday, July 4. Even if the lender observes it on Friday, July 3, the count is:
- Friday, July 3: day one. The observed office holiday counts.
- Saturday, July 4: excluded as Independence Day.
- Sunday, July 5: excluded as Sunday.
- Monday, July 6: day two.
- Tuesday, July 7: day three.
Under those assumptions, the ordinary rescission period expires at midnight on July 7. Excluding Friday merely because the office is closed would move the calculated deadline one day later.
The CFPB uses this same July 4-on-a-Saturday distinction in its commentary. The 2026 dates above apply that distinction to a worked calendar example.
Establish the starting event first
Section 1026.23(a)(3) measures the period from the last of consummation, delivery of the required rescission notice, or delivery of all material disclosures. A signing appointment alone doesn't establish that all three occurred.
Applicability also needs checking before counting. Section 1026.23(f) exempts residential mortgage transactions, including loans to acquire or construct the principal dwelling. This example assumes applicability has already been established; it isn't a calendar for every mortgage closing.
Record the deadline separately from disbursement
Keep the triggering-event dates and day-by-day count with the file's closing instructions. If the team's calendar disagrees, identify which date it excluded and why, then have the closing or compliance team resolve the difference.
Expiration alone doesn't authorize disbursement. Section 1026.23(c) also requires the creditor to be reasonably satisfied that the consumer hasn't rescinded. Confirm the lender's release instructions rather than promising a funding date from this example.
