Right of Rescission (3-Business-Day)
TILA rescission deadline (US).
Written and maintained by Paul Clark, Redmoon Software · Rules last verified · Sources
These calculators are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal, financial, or professional advice.
How the Right of Rescission (3-Business-Day) works
The Right of Rescission calculator finds the deadline of the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA) three-business-day window to cancel certain home-secured loans. It applies the TILA-specific definition of a business day, which is unusual and easy to get wrong by hand.
For rescission, a business day is every calendar day except Sundays and federal public holidays — which means Saturdays count. The clock starts the day after the latest of loan closing, delivery of the material TILA disclosures, and delivery of the two notices of the right to rescind.
Worked example
If all conditions are met on a Thursday, the three business days are Friday, Saturday, and Monday (Sunday is excluded), so the right to cancel expires at midnight Monday. A federal holiday in that stretch pushes the deadline a further day.
Frequently asked questions
Do Saturdays count toward the three business days?
Yes. Under TILA’s definition, only Sundays and federal legal public holidays are excluded, so Saturdays are counted — a key difference from a normal Monday-to-Friday business week.
When does the rescission clock start?
The day after the latest of three events: consummation of the loan, delivery of the truth-in-lending disclosures, and delivery of both copies of the notice of the right to rescind.
Is this legal advice?
No. This is general information about how the deadline is counted. Confirm the specifics of any transaction with qualified counsel.
What if the lender never gave me the notice of the right to rescind?
Then the three-day clock generally never started. Where the required notice or the material Truth in Lending disclosures were not delivered, or were materially wrong, the right of rescission can extend for up to three years from consummation, or until the property is sold, whichever comes first. That is a significantly different position from a missed three-day window and it is worth taking advice on rather than assuming the right has gone.
Does the notice have to arrive within three business days, or just be sent?
Sent. The notice must be delivered or placed in the mail by midnight of the third business day; it does not have to reach the creditor by then. Because dispatch is the operative act, keep evidence of the date and method you sent it.
What this calculator does not do
A limitation you know about costs far less than one you find after the deadline. These are the specific things this tool cannot work out for you.
- Regulation Z counts Saturday as a business day for rescission. That is unusual and is the single most common source of a wrong answer here.
- The clock starts on the latest of consummation, delivery of the notice of the right to rescind, and delivery of the material TILA disclosures — not simply on signing day.
- Purchase-money mortgages and refinancings with the original creditor are generally not rescindable. The calculator computes the window; it does not decide whether you have the right.
Where these rules come from
The periods this calculator applies are taken from the primary sources below rather than from secondary summaries. Verify against them before relying on a date that matters.
- 15 U.S.C. § 1635 (Truth in Lending Act)
The right to rescind certain credit transactions secured by a principal dwelling.
- 12 CFR § 1026.23 (Regulation Z)
Three business days, counting Saturdays but not Sundays or federal legal holidays.