Request for Information Regarding the HMDA Rule Assessment, 66220-66229 [2021-25330]
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Proposed Rules
Federal Register
Vol. 86, No. 222
Monday, November 22, 2021
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed
issuance of rules and regulations. The
purpose of these notices is to give interested
persons an opportunity to participate in the
rule making prior to the adoption of the final
rules.
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL
PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1003
[Docket No. CFPB–2021–0018]
Request for Information Regarding the
HMDA Rule Assessment
Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
ACTION: Notification of assessment;
request for public comment.
AGENCY:
The Bureau of Consumer
Financial Protection (Bureau) is
conducting an assessment of the 2015
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
Rule and related amendments in
accordance with section 1022(d) of the
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and
Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank
Act). The Bureau is requesting public
comment on its plans for the assessment
as well as certain recommendations and
information that may be useful in
conducting the planned assessment.
DATES: Comments must be received on
or before January 21, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments,
identified by Docket No. CFPB–2021–
0018, by any of the following methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal:
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Email: 2021-HMDA-RFI@cfpb.gov.
• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier:
Comment Intake—HMDA Assessment,
Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection, 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552. Please note that
due to circumstances associated with
the COVID–19 pandemic, the Bureau
discourages the submission of
comments by hand delivery, mail, or
courier.
Instructions: The Bureau encourages
the early submission of comments. All
submissions should include document
title and docket number. Because paper
mail in the Washington, DC, area and at
the Bureau is subject to delay,
commenters are encouraged to submit
comments electronically. In general, all
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SUMMARY:
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comments received will be posted
without change to https://
www.regulations.gov. In addition, once
the Bureau’s headquarters reopens,
comments will be available for public
inspection and copying at 1700 G Street
NW, Washington, DC 20552, on official
business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. At that
time, you can make an appointment to
inspect the documents by telephoning
202–435–7275.
All comments, including attachments
and other supporting materials, will
become part of the public record and
subject to public disclosure. Proprietary
information or sensitive personal
information, such as account numbers
or Social Security numbers, or names of
other individuals, should not be
included. Comments will not be edited
to remove any identifying or contact
information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katherine LoPiccalo, Economist,
Research; Patrick Orr, Policy Analyst,
Markets; Shaakira Gold-Ramirez,
Counsel, or Alexandra Reimelt, Senior
Counsel, Regulations; Division of
Research, Markets, and Regulations at
202–435–7700. If you require this
document in an alternative electronic
format, please contact CFPB_
Accessibility@cfpb.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
For over 45 years, the Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (HMDA) has provided
the public with information about how
financial institutions are serving the
housing needs of their communities.
Public officials use the information
available through HMDA to develop and
allocate housing and community
development investments, to respond to
market failures when necessary, and to
monitor whether financial institutions
may be engaging in discriminatory
lending practices. The data are used by
the mortgage industry to inform
business practices, and by local
communities to ensure that lenders are
serving the needs of individual
neighborhoods. To maintain the data’s
usefulness in serving its goals, HMDA
and its implementing Regulation C have
been updated and expanded over time
in response to the changing needs of
homeowners and the evolution of the
mortgage market.
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The Bureau is conducting a voluntary
assessment of the final rule on HMDA
the Bureau issued in October 2015 (2015
HMDA Final Rule) 1 and related
amendments (collectively, the HMDA
Rule) in order to evaluate the
effectiveness of the HMDA Rule in
meeting its stated goals and the
purposes and objectives of the DoddFrank Act. Section 1022(d) of the DoddFrank Act requires the Bureau to
conduct an assessment of each
significant rule or order adopted by the
Bureau under Federal consumer
financial law.2 While the Bureau
determined that the HMDA Rule is not
a significant rule for purposes of section
1022(d), the Bureau considers the
HMDA Rule to be of sufficient
importance to support the Bureau
conducting a voluntary assessment that
complies with the requirements of a
Dodd-Frank Act assessment. Pursuant to
those requirements, the Bureau must
publish a report of the assessment not
later than five years after the effective
date of such rule or order. The
assessment must address, among other
relevant factors, the rule or order’s
effectiveness in meeting the purposes
and objectives of title X of the DoddFrank Act and the specific goals stated
by the Bureau. The assessment also
must reflect available evidence and any
data that the Bureau reasonably may
collect. Before publishing a report of its
assessment, the Bureau must invite
public comment on recommendations
for modifying, expanding, or
eliminating the significant rule or
order.3
To assess the effectiveness of the
HMDA Rule, the Bureau intends to
focus its evaluation on the following
primary topic areas: (1) Institutional
coverage and transactional coverage; (2)
data points; (3) benefits of the new data
and disclosure requirements; 4 and (4)
operational and compliance costs. The
Bureau recognizes that it faces
challenges in its assessment, as it may
be difficult to quantify certain
components such as the benefits of the
1 Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C); 80 FR
6612766128 (Oct. 28, 2015).
2 12 U.S.C. 5512(d).
3 12 U.S.C. 5512(d).
4 The Bureau considers an evaluation of the
balancing test used to determine whether and how
HMDA data should be modified prior to its
disclosure to the public to protect applicant and
borrower privacy to be outside the scope of its
assessment of the HMDA Rule.
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HMDA Rule. The Bureau also
recognizes that, across stakeholders,
there is interest and disagreement over
certain aspects of the HMDA Rule,
including thresholds. The Bureau has
revised the institutional and
transactional coverage thresholds that
determine whether financial institutions
are required to collect, record, and
report any HMDA data on closed-end
mortgage loans or open-end lines of
credit in recent years. The Bureau also
recently published a study on
thresholds that analyzed differences in
lending patterns for lenders below and
above the 100-loan closed-end threshold
set by the 2020 HMDA Final Rule.5 The
Bureau is inviting public comment on
these and other relevant issues as part
of its HMDA assessment. The Bureau
views the assessment as an opportunity
to evaluate whether prior HMDA
rulemakings have improved upon the
data collected, reduced unnecessary
burden on financial institutions, and
streamlined and modernized the
manner in which financial institutions
collect and report HMDA data. The
Bureau welcomes comments from
stakeholders, in particular information
and data that would produce a more
robust evaluation of the costs and
benefits of the HMDA Rule.
Section 1094 of the Dodd-Frank Act
amended HMDA and transferred HMDA
rulemaking authority and other
functions from the Board of Governors
of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to
the Bureau. In the 2015 HMDA Final
Rule, the Bureau implemented the
Dodd-Frank Act amendments to HMDA
and made other changes to Regulation
C. Most of the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
took effect on January 1, 2018.6 The
Bureau issued another final rule in 2017
(2017 HMDA Final Rule) amending
certain requirements adopted in the
2015 HMDA Final Rule.7 Most of the
2017 HMDA Final Rule provisions also
took effect on January 1, 2018. The
Bureau issued an interpretive and
procedural rule in 2018 (2018 HMDA
Rule) to implement and clarify the
requirements of section 104(a) of the
Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief,
5 ‘‘A Brief Note on General Lending Patterns of
Small to Medium Size Closed-end HMDA
Reporters,’’ HMDA Data Point, June 14, 2021,
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/
research-reports/a-brief-note-on-general-lendingpatterns-small-to-medium-size-closed-end-hmdareporters/.
6 80 FR 66128, 66256–57 (Oct. 28, 2015). The
amendments to the institutional coverage criteria
for depository institutions took effect on January 1,
2017. 12 CFR 1003.2(g)(1)(v)(A). The quarterly
reporting requirements for certain larger-volume
institutions took effect on January 1, 2020. 12 CFR
1003.5(a)(1)(ii).
7 Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C); 82 FR
43088 (Sept. 13, 2017).
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and Consumer Protection Act
(EGRRCPA), which was enacted in May
2018 and amended HMDA by adding
partial exemptions from certain
reporting requirements.8 Additionally,
the Bureau issued final rules in 2019
and 2020 (2019 and 2020 HMDA Final
Rules, respectively) that amended
certain aspects of Regulation C after
most of the 2015 HMDA Final Rule took
effect.9
For purposes of this request for
information (RFI) and the assessment,
except as otherwise noted, the Bureau
refers to the 2015 HMDA Final Rule and
the subsequent HMDA rules issued in
2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 collectively
as ‘‘the HMDA Rule’’.10 Additionally,
the Bureau believes that, based on the
modifications to reporting requirements
adopted in the 2017, 2018, 2019, and
the 2020 rules, it may be difficult to
isolate the separate effects of each of the
2015 HMDA Final Rule and the related
subsequent rules during this
assessment. The Bureau has determined
that considering all of these rules
together will facilitate a more
meaningful assessment of the HMDA
Rule. Specifically, the Bureau is
incorporating into the assessment all
rules that implicate calendar-year
HMDA data beginning with data
collected in 2018 through data collected
in 2021.
As discussed in more detail in part
III.B, the Bureau has determined that the
HMDA Rule is not a significant rule for
purposes of section 1022(d) and
therefore the Bureau is not required to
conduct an assessment under the DoddFrank Act. However, the Bureau
considers the HMDA Rule to be of
sufficient importance to support the
Bureau conducting a voluntary
assessment. In this document, the
Bureau is requesting public comment on
the issues identified below regarding the
HMDA Rule as part of the planned
voluntary assessment.
8 Public Law 115–174, 132 stat. 1296 (2018);
Partial Exemptions from the Requirements of the
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Under the Economic
Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer
Protection Act (Regulation C), 83 FR 45325 (Sept.
7, 2018). The 2018 HMDA Rule did not amend the
text of Regulation C. The Bureau later incorporated
the interpretations and procedures from the 2018
HMDA Rule into Regulation C in the 2019 HMDA
Final Rule.
9 Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C), 84 FR
57946 (Oct. 29, 2019); Home Mortgage Disclosure
(Regulation C), 85 FR 28364 (May 12, 2020).
10 Certain provisions in the 2020 HMDA Final
Rule that would not go into effect until January
2022, such as the increase in the open-end coverage
threshold, are not being considered under this
assessment.
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II. The Assessment Process
Assessments are for informational
purposes only and are not part of any
formal or informal rulemaking
proceedings under the Administrative
Procedure Act. The Bureau plans to
consider relevant comments, available
data, and any other relevant information
as it conducts the assessment and
prepares an assessment report. The
Bureau does not, however, expect that it
will respond in the assessment report to
each comment received pursuant to this
document. Furthermore, the Bureau
does not anticipate that the assessment
report will include specific proposals by
the Bureau to modify any rules,
although the findings made in the
assessment may help to inform the
Bureau’s general understanding of
implementation costs and regulatory
benefits for future rulemakings.11 Upon
completion of the assessment, the
Bureau anticipates issuing an
assessment report not later than January
1, 2023.
III. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
Rule
Regulation C implements HMDA, 12
U.S.C. 2801 through 2810. Adopted in
1975, HMDA requires certain depository
institutions and for-profit nondepository
institutions to collect, report, and
disclose data about originations and
purchases of mortgage loans, as well as
mortgage loan applications that do not
result in originations (for example,
applications that are denied or
withdrawn). The purposes of HMDA are
to provide the public with loan data that
can be used: (i) To help determine
whether financial institutions are
serving the housing needs of their
communities; (ii) to assist public
officials in distributing public-sector
investment so as to attract private
investment to areas where it is needed;
and (iii) to assist in identifying possible
discriminatory lending patterns and
enforcing antidiscrimination statutes.12
In 2010, Congress enacted the DoddFrank Act, which amended HMDA and
transferred HMDA rulemaking authority
and other functions from the Board to
the Bureau.13 Among other changes, the
Dodd-Frank Act expanded the scope of
information relating to mortgage
applications and loans that institutions
11 The Bureau announces its rulemaking plans in
semiannual updates of its rulemaking agenda,
which are posted as part of the Federal
Government’s Unified Agenda of Regulatory and
Deregulatory Actions. The current Unified Agenda
can be found here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/
do/eAgendaMain.
12 12 CFR 1003.1.
13 Public Law 111–203, 124 stat. 1376, 1980,
2035–38, 2097–101 (2010).
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must compile, maintain, and report
under HMDA. This introduction to part
III provides a high-level overview of
each of the rules. The major provisions
of the HMDA Rule are discussed in
more detail in part III.A, below.14
In the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, the
Bureau implemented the Dodd-Frank
Act amendments to HMDA and made
other changes to Regulation C. The 2015
HMDA Final Rule modified the types of
institutions and transactions subject to
Regulation C, including by adopting
new loan volume thresholds for
determining which institutions are
covered under Regulation C and must
report HMDA data for their closed-end
mortgage loans and open-end lines of
credit (coverage thresholds,
collectively). The 2015 HMDA Final
Rule also modified the types of data that
institutions are required to collect and
report by adding new data points to
Regulation C and revising certain preexisting data points. Additionally, the
2015 HMDA Final Rule revised the
processes for financial institutions to
report and disclose the required data
and the determination of which data
would be publicly disclosed.15
In August 2017, the Bureau issued the
2017 HMDA Final Rule, which made
technical corrections to, and clarified
certain requirements adopted by, the
2015 HMDA Final Rule. This rule also
increased temporarily the open-end
coverage threshold for calendar years
2018 and 2019.
In 2018, Congress enacted the
EGRRCPA.16 Section 104(a) of the
EGRRCPA amended HMDA section
304(i) by adding partial exemptions
from HMDA’s requirements for certain
insured depository institutions and
insured credit unions. The EGRRCPA
provides that an insured depository
institution or insured credit union does
not need to collect or report certain data
with respect to its closed-end mortgage
loans if it originated fewer than 500
closed-end mortgage loans in each of the
two preceding calendar years. Similarly,
the EGRRCPA provides that an insured
depository institution or insured credit
union does not need to collect or report
certain data with respect to open-end
lines of credit if it originated fewer than
500 open-end lines of credit in each of
the two preceding calendar years. In
August 2018, the Bureau issued the
2018 HMDA Rule to implement and
clarify the requirements of section
104(a) of the EGRRCPA.17
In October 2019, the Bureau issued
the 2019 HMDA Final Rule, which
extended for two years, until January 1,
2022, the temporary increase in the
open-end coverage threshold adopted by
the 2017 HMDA Final Rule. This rule
also incorporated into Regulation C the
interpretations and procedures from the
2018 HMDA Rule and implemented
further the EGRRCPA.18
In April 2020, the Bureau issued the
2020 HMDA Final Rule, which
increased the closed-end coverage
threshold effective July 1, 2020, and the
permanent level of the open-end
coverage threshold effective January 1,
2022, upon the expiration of the
temporary threshold.19
The major provisions of the HMDA
Rule are summarized below.
14 For details explaining the rationale behind each
of these provisions, refer to the preamble discussion
in each of the HMDA rules.
15 80 FR 66128 (Oct. 28, 2015). As discussed in
part III.A.4 below, the Bureau explained in the 2015
HMDA Final Rule that it interpreted HMDA, as
amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, to call for the use
of a balancing test to determine whether and how
HMDA data should be modified prior to its
disclosure to the public; the Bureau applied that
balancing test in final policy guidance issued in
December 2018 that described the loan-level HMDA
data the Bureau intended to make available to the
public. Disclosure of Loan-Level HMDA Data, 84 FR
649 (Jan. 31, 2019).
16 Public Law 115–174, 132 stat. 1296 (2018).
17 83 FR 45325 (Sept. 7, 2018).
18 84 FR 57946 (Oct. 29, 2019).
19 85 FR 28364 (May 12, 2020).
20 12 CFR 1003.2(g)(1) (definition of depository
financial institution); § 1003.2(g)(2) (definition of
nondepository financial institution).
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A. Major Provisions of the HMDA Rule
The HMDA Rule contains four major
elements: (1) Institutional coverage and
loan-volume thresholds; (2)
transactional coverage; (3) data points;
and (4) disclosure and reporting
requirements.
1. Institutional Coverage and LoanVolume Thresholds
Regulation C requires financial
institutions to report HMDA data.
Section 1003.2(g) defines financial
institution for purposes of Regulation C
and sets forth Regulation C’s
institutional coverage criteria for
depository financial institutions and
nondepository financial institutions.20
The HMDA Rule amended the Board’s
pre-existing institutional coverage
criteria that determine which
institutions meet the definition of
financial institution and are required to
report HMDA data.
The HMDA Rule includes uniform
coverage thresholds based on loan
origination volume that determine, in
part, whether institutions are required
to collect, record, and report any HMDA
data on closed-end mortgage loans or
open-end lines of credit. Under the
institutional coverage criteria set forth
in the HMDA Rule, depository
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institutions and nondepository
institutions are required to report
HMDA data if they: (1) Meet either the
closed-end or open-end coverage
threshold in each of the two preceding
calendar years, and (2) meet all of the
other applicable criteria for institutional
coverage. Financial institutions that
meet only the closed-end coverage
threshold are not required to report data
on their open-end lines of credit, and
financial institutions that meet only the
open-end coverage threshold are not
required to report data on their closedend mortgage loans.21
The Bureau has amended the levels of
the coverage thresholds several times
since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank
Act. The 2015 HMDA Final Rule set the
closed-end coverage threshold at 25
closed-end mortgage loans and the
open-end coverage threshold at 100
open-end lines of credit. As a result, an
institution that originated at least 25
closed-end mortgage loans or at least
100 open-end lines of credit in each of
the two preceding calendar years, and
met all of the other applicable criteria
for institutional coverage, met the
definition of financial institution and
was required to report HMDA data.
Prior to the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
taking effect, in the 2017 HMDA Final
Rule the Bureau increased temporarily
the open-end coverage threshold from
100 to 500 open-end lines of credit for
calendar years 2018 and 2019. In the
2019 HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau
extended the temporary increase in the
open-end coverage threshold for two
additional years, until January 1,
2022.22 Effective January 1, 2022, the
2020 HMDA Final Rule sets the openend coverage threshold at 200 open-end
lines of credit, meaning that financial
institutions originating at least 200
open-end lines of credit in each of the
two preceding calendar years must
report such data. The 2020 HMDA Final
Rule also increased the closed-end
coverage threshold, from 25 to 100
closed-end mortgage loans. Effective
July 1, 2020, financial institutions
originating at least 100 closed-end
mortgage loans in each of the two
preceding calendar years must report
such data.23
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
21 80
FR 66128, 66173 (Oct. 28, 2015).
FR 43088 (Sept. 13, 2017); 84 FR 57946 (Oct.
29, 2019).
23 85 FR 28364 (May 12, 2020). On October 9,
2020, the Bureau corrected several clerical errors in
the Supplementary Information to the 2020 HMDA
Final Rule, regarding the estimated cost savings in
annual ongoing costs from various possible closedend coverage thresholds.
22 82
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BILLING CODE 4810–AM–C
For depository institutions, in
addition to adopting the new loanvolume coverage thresholds, the HMDA
Rule retained other pre-existing
institutional coverage criteria. The preexisting criteria require reporting by
depository institutions that: (1) Satisfy
an asset-size threshold; (2) have a
branch or home office in a Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) on the preceding
December 31; (3) satisfy the ‘‘federally
related’’ test; and (4) originated at least
one first-lien home purchase loan or
refinancing secured by a one- to fourunit dwelling in the previous calendar
year.
For nondepository institutions, the
HMDA Rule adopted the new loanvolume coverage thresholds and
removed the pre-existing institutional
coverage tests based on asset-size or
loan originations and total loan
amounts. The HMDA Rule retained the
criterion that the institution had a
branch or home office in an MSA on the
preceding December 31.
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2. Transactional Coverage
HMDA requires financial institutions
to collect and report information about
‘‘mortgage loans,’’ which HMDA section
303(2) defines as loans secured by
residential real property or home
improvement loans. In the HMDA Rule,
the Bureau modified Regulation C’s
transactional coverage in several ways.
First, the HMDA Rule requires some
financial institutions to report data on
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their open-end lines of credit.24
Previously, Regulation C allowed, but
did not require, reporting of homeequity lines of credit and there was no
minimum coverage threshold. As
discussed in part III.A.1 above, the
HMDA Rule requires financial
institutions that meet the loan-volume
coverage threshold for open-end lines of
credit in each of the two preceding
calendar years to report data on these
transactions.
Additionally, the HMDA Rule moved
away from the pre-existing ‘‘loan
purpose’’ test and adopted a dwellingsecured standard for all loans or lines of
credit that are for personal, family, or
household purposes. In general, prior to
the HMDA Rule, financial institutions
were required to report information
about closed-end applications and loans
made for one of three purposes: Home
improvement, home purchase, or
refinancing. Under the HMDA Rule,
most consumer-purpose extensions of
credit secured by a lien on a dwelling
are subject to Regulation C, including
closed-end home-equity loans, homeequity lines of credit, and reverse
mortgages. Regulation C no longer
requires reporting of home improvement
loans that are not secured by a dwelling
24 The 2015 HMDA Final Rule defined open-end
line of credit as an extension of credit that: (1) Is
secured by a lien on a dwelling; and (2) Is an openend credit plan as defined in Regulation Z, 12 CFR
1026.2(a)(20), but without regard to whether the
credit is consumer credit, as defined in
§ 1026.2(a)(12), is extended by a creditor, as defined
in § 1026.2(a)(17), or is extended to a consumer, as
defined in § 1026.2(a)(11).
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(i.e., home improvement loans that are
unsecured or that are secured by some
other type of collateral).25
The HMDA Rule also requires
reporting of applications for, and
originations of, dwelling-secured
business- or commercial-purpose
closed-end mortgage loans and openend lines of credit for home purchase,
refinancing, or home improvement
purposes. Prior to the HMDA Rule,
Regulation C covered closed-end,
business- or commercial-purpose loans
made to purchase, refinance, or improve
a dwelling. Thus, the HMDA Rule
revised coverage of business- or
commercial-purpose transactions by: (1)
Adding the dwelling-secured test, and
(2) requiring reporting of dwellingsecured, business- or commercialpurpose open-end lines of credit for the
purpose of home purchase, refinancing,
or home improvement.
3. Data Points
Prior to the enactment of the DoddFrank Act, Regulation C required
collection and reporting of 22 data
points and allowed for optional
reporting of one data point: The reasons
for which an institution denied an
application (reasons for denial). The
2015 HMDA Final Rule implemented
the new data points specified in the
Dodd-Frank Act, added additional data
25 Under pre-existing Regulation C, closed-end
home purchase loans and refinancings were
required to be reported if they were dwellingsecured and closed-end home improvement loans
were required to be reported whether or not they
were dwelling-secured.
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points pursuant to the Bureau’s
discretionary authority under HMDA
section 304(b)(5) and (6), and revised
certain pre-existing Regulation C data
points. The 2018 HMDA Rule and 2019
HMDA Final Rule clarified which of the
data points in Regulation C are covered
by the EGRRCPA partial exemptions.26
In the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, the
Bureau added the following data points
to Regulation C to implement specific
provisions added by the Dodd-Frank
Act in HMDA section 304(b)(4), (5)(A)
through (C), and (6)(A) through (I):
Universal loan identifier (ULI); 27
property address; age of the applicant/
borrower; rate spread for all
loans; 28 credit score; total loan costs or
total points and fees; prepayment
penalty term; loan term; introductory
rate period; non-amortizing features;
property value; application channel;
and mortgage loan originator
identifier.29
Additionally, the 2015 HMDA Final
Rule added the following additional
data points pursuant to the Bureau’s
discretionary authority under HMDA
section 304(b)(5) and (6): Reasons for
denial, which were optionally reported
under the Board’s rule but became
mandatory in the HMDA Rule; the total
origination charges associated with the
loan (origination charges); the total
points paid to the lender to reduce the
interest rate of the loan (discount
points); the amount of lender credits;
the interest rate applicable at closing or
account opening; the debt-to-income
ratio; the ratio of the total amount of
debt secured by the property to the
value of the property (combined loan-tovalue ratio); for transactions involving
manufactured homes, whether the loan
or application is or would have been
secured by a manufactured home and
land or by a manufactured home and
not land (manufactured home secured
Data points added by 2015 HMDA final rule to
implement Dodd-Frank Act requirements
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•
•
•
Universal Loan Identifier (ULI)
Property Address
Age (applicant/borrower)
Rate Spread
Credit Score
Total Loan Costs or Total Points and Fees
Prepayment Penalty Term
Loan Term
Introductory Rate Period
Non-Amortizing Features
Property Value
Application Channel
Mortgage Loan Originator Identifier
Data points added by 2015 HMDA final rule
pursuant to discretionary authority
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Reasons for Denial
Origination Charges
Discount Points
Lender Credits
Interest Rate
Debt-to-Income Ratio
Combined Loan-to-Value Ratio
Manufactured Home Secured Property
Type
Manufactured Home Land Property Interest
Multifamily Affordable Units
Automated Underwriting System
Reverse Mortgage Flag
Open-End Line of Credit Flag
Business or Commercial Purpose Flag
66225
property type); the land property
interest for loans or applications related
to manufactured housing (manufactured
home land property interest); the
number of individual dwellings units
that are income-restricted pursuant to
Federal, State, or local affordable
housing programs (multifamily
affordable units); information related to
the automated underwriting system
used in evaluating an application and
the result generated by the automated
underwriting system; whether the loan
is a reverse mortgage; whether the loan
is an open-end line of credit; and
whether the loan is primarily for a
business or commercial purpose.30
The 2015 HMDA Final Rule also
revised certain pre-existing Regulation C
data points to provide for greater
specificity or additional information in
reporting.31
Data points revised by 2015 HMDA final rule
to require additional information
•
•
•
•
•
Loan Purpose
Occupancy Type
Ethnicity
Race
Legal Entity Identifier
As discussed above, the EGRRCPA
provides certain institutions partial
exemptions from reporting certain data.
As amended by the EGRRCPA, HMDA
section 304(i)(1) provides that the
requirements of HMDA section 304(b)(5)
and (6) shall not apply with respect to
closed-end mortgage loans of an insured
depository institution or insured credit
union if it originated fewer than 500
closed-end mortgage loans in each of the
two preceding calendar years.
Additionally, HMDA section 304(i)(2)
provides that the requirements of
HMDA section 304(b)(5) and (6) shall
not apply with respect to open-end lines
of credit of an insured depository
institution or insured credit union if it
originated fewer than 500 open-end
lines of credit in each of the two
preceding calendar years.
Notwithstanding the partial exemptions
under the EGRRCPA, HMDA section
304(i)(3) provides that an insured
depository institution must comply with
HMDA section 304(b)(5) and (6) if it has
received a rating of ‘‘needs to improve
record of meeting community credit
needs’’ during each of its two most
recent examinations or a rating of
‘‘substantial noncompliance in meeting
community credit needs’’ on its most
recent examination under section
807(b)(2) of the Community
Reinvestment Act (CRA).32
The 2018 HMDA Rule and the 2019
HMDA Final Rule specify that the
following data points do not need to be
collected and reported if a transaction
qualifies for a partial exemption under
the EGRRCPA: ULI; property address;
rate spread; credit score; reasons for
26 In May 2019, the Bureau issued an advance
notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) relating to
certain data points that the Bureau added or revised
in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule as well as Regulation
C’s coverage of certain business- or commercialpurpose transactions. Home Mortgage Disclosure
(Regulation C) Data Points and Coverage, 84 FR
20049 (May 8, 2019). In June 2021, the Bureau
announced that it was no longer pursuing a
proposed rulemaking following up on this ANPR in
light of its other rulemaking priorities.
27 Prior to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the
Board required reporting of an identifying number
for the loan or application but did not require that
the identifier be universal. HMDA section
304(b)(6)(G) requires reporting of, ‘‘as the Bureau
may determine to be appropriate, a universal loan
identifier.’’
28 Prior to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the
Board required financial institutions to report rate
spread for higher-priced mortgage loans. 67 FR 7222
(Feb. 15, 2002); 67 FR 43218 (June 27, 2002). HMDA
section 304(b)(5)(B) requires reporting of rate spread
for all loans.
29 12 CFR 1003.4(a)(1)(i), (a)(9)(i), (a)(10)(ii), and
(a)(12), (15), (17), (22), (25) through (28), and (33)
and (34).
30 12 CFR 1003.4(a)(16), (18) through (21), (23)
and (24), (29) and (30), (32), and (35) through (38).
31 These data points include the following: The
purpose of the loan or application; occupancy type;
ethnicity; race; and legal entity identifier (LEI).
32 12 U.S.C. 2906(b)(2).
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denial; 33 total loan costs or total points
and fees; origination charges; discount
points; the amount of lender credits; the
interest rate applicable at closing or
account opening; prepayment penalty
term; the debt-to-income ratio; the
combined loan-to-value ratio; loan term;
introductory rate period; non-amortizing
features; property value; manufactured
home secured property type;
manufactured home land property
interest; multifamily affordable units;
application channel; mortgage loan
originator identifier; information related
to the automated underwriting system
used in evaluating an application and
Data points covered by the EGRRCPA partial exemptions
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the result generated by the automated
underwriting system; whether the loan
is a reverse mortgage; whether the loan
is an open-end line of credit; and
whether the loan is primarily for a
business or commercial purpose.
Data points not covered by the EGRRCPA partial exemptions
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Universal Loan Identifie
Property Address
Rate Spread
Credit Score
Reasons for Denial
Total Loan Costs or Total Points and Fees
Origination Charges
Discount Points
Lender Credits
Interest Rate
Prepayment Penalty Term
Debt-to-Income Ratio
Combined Loan-to-Value Ratio
Loan Term
Introductory Rate Period
Non-Amortizing Features
Property Value
Manufactured Home Secured Property Type
Manufactured Home Land Property Interest
Multifamily Affordable Units
Application Channel
Mortgage Loan Originator Identifier
Automated Underwriting System
Reverse Mortgage Flag
Open-End Line of Credit Flag
Business or Commercial Purpose Flag
Application Date
Loan Type
Loan Purpose
Preapproval
Construction Method
Occupancy Type
Loan Amount
Action Taken
Action Taken Date
State
County
Census Tract
Ethnicity
Race
Sex
Age (applicant/borrower)
Income
Type of Purchaser
Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA) Status
Lien Status
Number of Units
Legal Entity Identifier
4. Disclosure and Reporting
HMDA and Regulation C require that
data collected and reported by financial
institutions in a given calendar year be
made available to the public the
following year in both aggregate and
loan-level formats. The HMDA Rule
addressed the public disclosure of
HMDA data in two primary ways. First,
it shifted public disclosure of HMDA
data entirely to the agencies. Beginning
with HMDA data collected in 2017,
financial institutions were no longer
required to provide their modified loan/
application registers and disclosure
statements directly to the public.
Instead, they were required only to
provide a notice advising members of
the public seeking their data that the
data may be obtained on the Bureau’s
website. Second, the HMDA Rule
interpreted HMDA, as amended by the
Dodd-Frank Act, to require that the
Bureau use a balancing test to determine
whether and how HMDA data should be
modified prior to its disclosure to the
public to protect applicant and borrower
privacy while also fulfilling HMDA’s
public disclosure purposes. The Bureau
interpreted these changes to require that
public HMDA data be modified when
the release of the unmodified data
creates risks to applicant and borrower
privacy interests that are not justified by
the benefits of such release to the public
in light of HMDA’s statutory purposes.
In December 2018, the Bureau issued
final policy guidance on its website
describing the loan-level HMDA data it
intends to make available to the public,
including modifications to be applied to
the data.34
The HMDA Rule retained the preexisting requirement that financial
institutions submit their HMDA data to
the appropriate Federal agency by
March 1 following the calendar year for
which the data are collected. The
HMDA Rule additionally requires that
financial institutions that reported for
the preceding calendar year at least
60,000 covered loans and applications
combined, excluding purchased covered
loans, also submit their data for the
following calendar year to the
appropriate Federal agency on a
quarterly basis.
33 Financial institutions regulated by the Office of
the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are required
to report reasons for denial on their HMDA loan/
application registers pursuant to 12 CFR
27.3(a)(1)(i) and 128.6. Similarly, pursuant to
regulations transferred from the Office of Thrift
Supervision, certain financial institutions
supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC) are required to report reasons
for denial on their HMDA loan/application
registers. 12 CFR 390.147.
34 84 FR 649 (Jan. 31, 2019). This final policy
guidance will not be covered by the assessment of
the HMDA Rule.
35 For more information on how the Bureau
determines a rule’s significance for purposes of
section 1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act, see U.S.
Gov’t Accountability Office, Dodd-Frank
Regulations: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Needs a Systematic Process to Prioritize Consumer
Risks, December 2018, https://www.gao.gov/assets/
700/696200.pdf.
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B. Significant Rule Determination
The Bureau has determined that the
HMDA Rule, comprised of the 2015
HMDA Final Rule and the related later
amendments, considered both
individually and together, is not a
significant rule for purposes of DoddFrank Act section 1022(d).35 The Bureau
made this determination based on a
number of factors, including the
estimated annual costs to industry of
complying with the HMDA Rule, and
limited or undetectable effects of the
rule on mortgage features, mortgage
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industry operations, and the price and
availability of mortgages.
The Bureau’s 2015 HMDA Final Rule
presented a basic framework of
analyzing compliance costs for HMDA
reporting, including ongoing costs and
one-time costs for financial
institutions.36 A 1022(b)(2) cost-benefit
analysis in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
estimated that the bulk of the costs
associated with the rule derived from
one-time implementation and not
ongoing annual costs.37 The Bureau
estimated the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
would result in ongoing costs of the rule
of $53.6 million to $68.3 million per
year for all reporters, as compared to
one-time and start-up costs of between
$177 million and $326.6 million per
year.38
The Bureau considered qualitative
factors as well. As a data collection rule,
the HMDA reporting requirements have
had little direct impact on the features
of consumer financial products and
services. Financial institutions’ HMDA
operations are mostly for compliance
purposes, and neither the 2015 HMDA
Final Rule nor any of the amendments
materially affected institutions’
underlying operations for originating
mortgages.
The Bureau also considered the
effects of the HMDA Rule on the market
in making its determination. In the 2015
HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau explored
whether covered entities passed through
increased compliance costs to
consumers and found the impact to be
negligible.39 The Bureau also
considered in the 2015 HMDA Final
Rule whether the new reporting
36 The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996 (SBREFA), as amended by
section 1100G(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act, requires
the Bureau to convene a Small Business Review
Panel before proposing a rule that may have
significant economic impact on a substantial
number of small entities. See Public Law 104–121,
tit. II, 110 stat. 847, 857 (1996) as amended by
Public Law 110–28, and Public Law 111–203,
section 1100G (2010).
37 80 FR 66128, 66265–66 (Oct. 28, 2015).
38 The Bureau’s 1022(b) analysis in the 2015
HMDA Final Rule annualized one-time and start-up
costs using a 7 percent discount rate and 5-year
amortization window. Generally, for the subsequent
2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 HMDA rules, the
Bureau estimated that changes in thresholds and
other requirements would represent savings in
ongoing costs for affected entities. Although
affected entities would incur additional one-time
costs from the adjustment to new HMDA
requirements, the Bureau estimated these would be
negligible.
39 Generally, for the subsequent 2017, 2018, 2019,
and 2020 HMDA rules, the Bureau estimated that
changes in thresholds and other requirements
would represent savings in ongoing costs for
affected entities. Although affected entities would
incur additional one-time costs from the adjustment
to new HMDA requirements, the Bureau estimated
these would be negligible.
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requirements would cause smaller
institutions to exit the mortgage market,
either for closed-end mortgage loans or
for open-end lines of credit. The Bureau
is not aware of evidence that the 2015
HMDA Final Rule, or any related
amendments, caused some lenders to
leave the market or inhibited any
lenders from entering the market,
resulting in a decline in consumers’
access to credit.
Taking these factors into
consideration, the Bureau concluded
that the HMDA Rule is not significant
for purposes of section 1022(d) of the
Dodd-Frank Act. Therefore, the Bureau
is not required to conduct an assessment
of the HMDA Rule under section
1022(d). The Bureau recognizes the
importance of the HMDA Rule,
however, and believes that the public
would benefit from the Bureau
conducting a voluntary assessment. The
Bureau also previously noted that it
would be doing an assessment of this
rulemaking.40 For all of these reasons,
the Bureau has decided to conduct a
voluntary assessment.
IV. The Assessment Plan
The assessment will address, among
other relevant factors, the HMDA Rule’s
effectiveness in meeting the purposes
and objectives of title X of the DoddFrank Act and the specific goals of the
HMDA Rule as stated by the Bureau.
Each is discussed below.
A. Purposes and Objectives of Title X
Section 1021 of the Dodd-Frank Act
states that the Bureau shall seek to
implement and, where applicable,
enforce Federal consumer financial law
consistently for the purpose of ensuring
that all consumers have access to
markets for consumer financial products
and services and that markets for
consumer financial products and
services are fair, transparent, and
competitive.41 Section 1021 also sets
forth the Bureau’s objectives, which are
to exercise its authorities under Federal
consumer financial law for the purposes
of ensuring that, with respect to
consumer financial products and
services:
(a) Consumers are provided with
timely and understandable information
to make responsible decisions about
financial transactions;
(b) Consumers are protected from
unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and
practices and from discrimination;
(c) Outdated, unnecessary, or unduly
burdensome regulations are regularly
40 80
41 12
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U.S.C. 2603(a), 15 U.S.C. 1604(b).
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identified and addressed in order to
reduce unwarranted regulatory burdens;
(d) Federal consumer financial law is
enforced consistently, without regard to
the status of a person as a depository
institution, in order to promote fair
competition; and
(e) Markets for consumer financial
products and services operate
transparently and efficiently to facilitate
access and innovation.42
B. Specific Goals of the HMDA Rule
Congress enacted HMDA in 1975 to
create transparency in the mortgage
market.43 As originally adopted, HMDA
identifies its purposes as providing the
public and public officials with
information to help determine whether
financial institutions are serving the
housing needs of the communities in
which they are located, and to assist
public officials in their determination of
the distribution of public sector
investments in a manner designed to
improve the private investment
environment.44 Congress later expanded
HMDA to, among other things, require
financial institutions to report racial
characteristics, gender, and income
information on applicants and
borrowers.45 In light of these
amendments, the Board subsequently
recognized a third HMDA purpose of
identifying possible discriminatory
lending patterns and enforcing
antidiscrimination statutes, which now
appears with HMDA’s other purposes in
Regulation C.46
In 2015, the Bureau issued
amendments to Regulation C to
implement the Dodd-Frank Act
amendments to HMDA, better achieve
HMDA’s purposes in light of current
market conditions, and reduce
unnecessary burden on financial
institutions. At that time, the Bureau
noted that HMDA and Regulation C
have been updated and expanded over
time in order to maintain the data’s
usefulness in response to the changing
needs of homeowners and evolution in
the mortgage market.47 The Bureau also
stated that the HMDA data must be
updated in order to address the
informational shortcomings exposed by
the financial crisis and to meet the
needs of homeowners, potential
42 12
U.S.C. 5511(b)(1)–(5).
FR 66127, 66130 (Oct. 28, 2015).
44 HMDA section 302(b), 12 U.S.C. 2801(b); see
also 12 CFR 1003.1(b)(1)(i)–(ii).
45 Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and
Enforcement Act of 1989, Public Law 101–73,
section 1211 (‘‘Fair lending oversight and
enforcement’’ section), 103 stat. 183, 524–26 (1989).
46 54 FR 51356, 51357 (Dec. 15, 1989), codified
at 12 CFR 1003.1(b)(1).
47 80 FR 66127, 66129 (Oct. 28, 2015).
43 80
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homeowners, and neighborhoods
throughout the nation.48 The 2015
HMDA Final Rule thus sought to
address gaps in the HMDA data
regarding certain segments of the
market. The Bureau issued subsequent
amendments to clarify further
Regulation C’s requirements and reduce
burden.
As previously stated, for purposes of
this RFI and assessment (except as
otherwise noted), the Bureau refers to
the 2015 HMDA Final Rule and the
subsequent HMDA rules issued in 2017,
2018, 2019, and 2020, collectively as
‘‘the HMDA Rule.’’ 49
C. Scope and Approach
To assess the effectiveness of the
HMDA Rule in meeting these purposes,
objectives and goals, the Bureau is
undertaking a voluntary assessment that
is consistent with the requirements of a
statutory assessment under Dodd-Frank
Act section 1022(d). Specifically, the
Bureau intends to focus its evaluation of
the HMDA Rule on the following
primary topic areas: (1) Institutional
coverage and transactional coverage; (2)
data points; (3) benefits of the new data
and disclosure requirements; 50 and (4)
operational and compliance costs.
To assess the HMDA Rule, the Bureau
plans to analyze a variety of metrics and
data to the extent feasible. Feasibility
will depend on the data and information
available to the Bureau as well as any
information and data submitted in
response to this request for comment.
The Bureau plans to investigate the
operational and compliance costs of the
rule. The Bureau will work from the
methods and findings it published with
the cost-benefit analysis in the 2015
HMDA Final Rule. The Bureau will also
use comments responding to this
request for information to determine
whether those methods and findings
remain valid. The Bureau is interested
in any information about activities and
outcomes including the ones listed
below and is interested in
understanding how these activities and
outcomes relate to each other:
(1) Industry outcomes that the HMDA
Rule may have affected, including the
number and types of reporters, the
number of loans, and the dollar amounts
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48 Id.
at 66130.
provisions in the 2020 HMDA Final
Rule that would not go into effect until January
2022, such as the increase in the open-end coverage
threshold, will be not considered under this
assessment.
50 The Bureau considers an evaluation of the
balancing test used to determine whether and how
HMDA data should be modified prior to its
disclosure to the public to protect applicant and
borrower privacy to be outside the scope of its
assessment of the HMDA Rule.
49 Certain
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for reported open-end lines of credit and
closed-end mortgage loans;
(2) The activities undertaken by
financial institutions to comply with the
HMDA Rule’s criteria, as well as the
adoption of loan-volume coverage
thresholds, adoption of new and revised
data points, and revisions to
transactional coverage, including
mandatory reporting of open-end lines
of credit and the adoption of a dwellingsecured standard;
(3) Overall benefits and other
outcomes that the HMDA Rule sought to
affect, including whether the HMDA
Rule has brought greater transparency to
the mortgage market, has helped
determine whether financial institutions
are serving the housing needs of their
communities, has assisted public
officials in distributing public-sector
investment so as to attract private
investment to areas where it is needed,
assisted in identifying possible
discriminatory lending patterns and
enforcing antidiscrimination statutes,
and addressed gaps in the HMDA data
regarding certain segments of the
market;
(4) An evaluation of the benefits and
costs of the new and revised data points,
and the benefits and costs of new data
reported under the revised coverage
thresholds; and
(5) The HMDA Rule’s effect on the
operational and compliance costs for
financial institutions, including
activities covered institutions
conducted to collect and report new and
revised data points.
The Bureau plans to conduct or has
begun conducting several research
analyses in connection with this
assessment. Other research analyses
may also be considered as appropriate.
In conducting the assessment, the
Bureau will evaluate the association
between the requirements of the HMDA
Rule and the HMDA Rule’s stated
purposes, goals, and objectives.
The Bureau will consider analysis
related to loan originations,
applications, prices, and the number of
reporters using available data. The
currently available data includes HMDA
data, third-party servicing data, Fannie/
Freddie public loan level data, and the
National Mortgage Database (NMDB).51
51 The NMDB is an ongoing project, jointly
undertaken by the Federal Housing Finance Agency
(FHFA) and the Bureau, with the goal of providing
the public and regulatory agencies with data that
does not include any personally identifiable
information but that otherwise may service as a
comprehensive resource about the U.S. mortgage
market. The core data in the NMDB are drawn from
a random, personally anonymous, 1-in-20 sample of
all credit bureau records associated with a closedend, first-lien mortgage, updated quarterly.
Mortgages, after being unlinked from any personally
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In addition, the Bureau is planning on
utilizing responses to this request for
information as appropriate.
V. Request for Comment
To inform the assessment, the Bureau
hereby invites members of the public to
submit information and other comments
relevant to the issues identified above
and below, information relevant to
enumerating costs and benefits of the
HMDA Rule to inform the assessment,
and any other information relevant to
assessing the effectiveness of the HMDA
Rule in meeting the purposes and
objectives of title X of the Dodd-Frank
Act (section 1021) and the specific goals
of the Bureau (enumerated above). More
detailed comments/information that are
supported by data/analysis will
generally be more useful to inform the
assessment. As mentioned previously,
the Bureau recognizes that it faces
challenges in its assessment, as it may
be difficult to quantify benefits, and
there may be limitations in the data
available to the Bureau to evaluate the
HMDA Rule’s contributions to public
investment and anti-discrimination
monitoring and enforcement. The
Bureau is interested in information and
data on how HMDA data are used by
various stakeholders to serve the
HMDA’s goals and purposes, including
extending access to credit, fair lending
enforcement, and distributing publicsector investment so as to attract private
sector investment. The Bureau also
invites comments on additional data or
analyses that would be helpful for the
Bureau to evaluate the effects of
different institutional coverage and
loan-volume thresholds. The Bureau
welcomes stakeholders to submit data
and information about the effects of
different thresholds on lenders and
communities. In particular, the Bureau
invites the public, including consumers
and their advocates, community
organizations, HMDA reporters and
other industry representatives, industry
analysts, and other interested entities to
submit comments on any or all of the
following:
(1) Comments on the feasibility and
effectiveness of the assessment plan, the
objectives of the HMDA Rule that the
Bureau intends to emphasize in the
assessment, and the outcomes for
assessing the effectiveness of the HMDA
Rule as described in part IV above;
identifiable information or characteristics that
could be traced back to any borrower, are followed
in the NMDB database until they terminate through
prepayment (including refinancing), foreclosure, or
maturity. The information available to the FHFA,
CFPB, or any other authorized user of the NMDB
data never includes personally identifiable
information.
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(2) Data and other factual information
that the Bureau may find useful in
executing its assessment plan and
answering related research questions,
particularly research questions that may
be difficult to address with the data
currently available to the Bureau, as
described in part IV above;
(3) The specific data points reported
under the 2015 HMDA Rule that help
meet the objectives of the HMDA Rule,
as described in part IV above, including
the rationale, and provide any available
detailed supporting information,
evidence and data;
(4) Recommendations to improve the
assessment plan, as well as data, other
factual information, and sources of data
that would be useful and available to
the Bureau to execute any
recommended improvements to the
assessment plan;
(5) Data and other factual information
about the benefits and costs of the
HMDA Rule for communities, public
officials, reporters, mortgage industry
participants or other stakeholders; and
about the effects of the rule on
transparency in the mortgage market,
and the utility, quality, and timeliness
of HMDA data in meeting the Rule’s
stated goals and objectives;
(6) Data and other factual information
about the accuracy of estimates of
annual ongoing compliance and
operational costs for HMDA reporters,
or the analytical approach used to
estimate these costs, as delineated in the
Small Business Review Panel Report
under the Small Business Regulatory
Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA)
that the Bureau convened and chaired
in 2014; 52
a. Comments related to the nature and
magnitude of any operational challenges
in complying with the HMDA Rule. Are
they significantly different from those
delineated in the published Report of
the Small Business Review Panel
mentioned above? If so, how and how
much?;
b. Comments delineating and
describing the ongoing costs incurred in
collecting and reporting information for
the HMDA Rule. Are they significantly
different from those delineated in the
published Report of the Small Business
Review Panel mentioned above? If so,
how and how much?;
(7) Data and other factual information
about the HMDA Rule’s effectiveness in
meeting the purposes and objectives of
52 See Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot., ‘‘Final
Report of the Small Business Review Panel on the
CFPB’s Proposals Under Consideration for the
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
Rulemaking’’ at 22, 37 (April 24, 2014), https://
files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201407_cfpb_report_
hmda_sbrefa.pdf.
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title X of the Dodd-Frank Act (section
1021), which are listed in part IV above;
a. Please describe the value that data
on such transactions provides in serving
HMDA’s purposes;
b. Comments relating to the usability
of the public HMDA data, potential
challenges of the current format of the
public HMDA data, and
recommendations for additional
reporting by the Bureau that would be
helpful in informing the use of the
public HMDA data by communities,
public officials, or other stakeholders;
and
(8) Recommendations for modifying,
expanding, or eliminating any aspects of
the HMDA Rule, including but not
limited to the institutional coverage and
loan-volume thresholds, transactional
coverage, and data points.
Rohit Chopra,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial
Protection.
[FR Doc. 2021–25330 Filed 11–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Federal Aviation Administration
14 CFR Part 39
[Docket No. FAA–2021–1010; Project
Identifier MCAI–2020–00807–G]
RIN 2120–AA64
Airworthiness Directives; Stemme AG
Gliders
Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA), DOT.
ACTION: Notice of proposed rulemaking
(NPRM).
AGENCY:
The FAA proposes to adopt a
new airworthiness directive (AD) for
certain Stemme AG TSA–M Model S6
and S6–RT gliders. This proposed AD
was prompted by mandatory continuing
airworthiness information (MCAI)
issued by the aviation authority of
another country to identify and correct
an unsafe condition on an aviation
product. The MCAI describes the unsafe
condition as a new version of the
propeller gearbox tooth belt with a
reduced life limit. This proposed AD
would require establishing a life limit of
5 years for certain propeller gearbox
tooth belts. The FAA is proposing this
AD to address the unsafe condition on
these products.
DATES: The FAA must receive comments
on this proposed AD by January 6, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments,
using the procedures found in 14 CFR
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 4702
Sfmt 4702
66229
11.43 and 11.45, by any of the following
methods:
• Federal eRulemaking Portal: Go to
https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the
instructions for submitting comments.
• Fax: (202) 493–2251.
• Mail: U.S. Department of
Transportation, Docket Operations,
M–30, West Building Ground Floor,
Room W12–140, 1200 New Jersey
Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20590.
• Hand Delivery: Deliver to Mail
address above between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m., Monday through Friday, except
Federal holidays.
For service information identified in
this NPRM, contact STEMME AG,
Flugplatzstrasse F2, Nr. 6–7, D–15344
Strausberg, Germany; phone: +49 (0)
3341 3612–0; fax: +49 (0) 3341 3612–30;
email: airworthiness@stemme.de;
website: https://www.stemme.com. You
may view this service information at the
FAA, Airworthiness Products Section,
Operational Safety Branch, 901 Locust,
Kansas City, MO 64106. For information
on the availability of this material at the
FAA, call (816) 329–4148.
Examining the AD Docket
You may examine the AD docket at
https://www.regulations.gov by
searching for and locating Docket No.
FAA–2021–1010; or in person at Docket
Operations between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.,
Monday through Friday, except Federal
holidays. The AD docket contains this
NPRM, the MCAI, any comments
received, and other information. The
street address for Docket Operations is
listed above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim
Rutherford, Aviation Safety Engineer,
General Aviation & Rotorcraft Section,
International Validation Branch, FAA,
901 Locust, Room 301, Kansas City, MO
64106; phone: (816) 329–4165; fax: (816)
329–4090; email: jim.rutherford@
faa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Comments Invited
The FAA invites you to send any
written relevant data, views, or
arguments about this proposal. Send
your comments to an address listed
under ADDRESSES. Include ‘‘Docket No.
FAA–2021–1010; Project Identifier
MCAI–2020–00807–G’’ at the beginning
of your comments. The most helpful
comments reference a specific portion of
the proposal, explain the reason for any
recommended change, and include
supporting data. The FAA will consider
all comments received by the closing
date and may amend this proposal
because of those comments.
Except for Confidential Business
Information (CBI) as described in the
E:\FR\FM\22NOP1.SGM
22NOP1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 222 (Monday, November 22, 2021)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 66220-66229]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25330]
========================================================================
Proposed Rules
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains notices to the public of
the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these
notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in
the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.
========================================================================
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 222 / Monday, November 22, 2021 /
Proposed Rules
[[Page 66220]]
BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION
12 CFR Part 1003
[Docket No. CFPB-2021-0018]
Request for Information Regarding the HMDA Rule Assessment
AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
ACTION: Notification of assessment; request for public comment.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) is
conducting an assessment of the 2015 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
(HMDA) Rule and related amendments in accordance with section 1022(d)
of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-
Frank Act). The Bureau is requesting public comment on its plans for
the assessment as well as certain recommendations and information that
may be useful in conducting the planned assessment.
DATES: Comments must be received on or before January 21, 2022.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CFPB-2021-
0018, by any of the following methods:
Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov.
Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
Email: [email protected].
Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier: Comment Intake--HMDA
Assessment, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G Street NW,
Washington, DC 20552. Please note that due to circumstances associated
with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bureau discourages the submission of
comments by hand delivery, mail, or courier.
Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of
comments. All submissions should include document title and docket
number. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC, area and at the
Bureau is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit
comments electronically. In general, all comments received will be
posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov. In addition, once
the Bureau's headquarters reopens, comments will be available for
public inspection and copying at 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC
20552, on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5
p.m. Eastern Time. At that time, you can make an appointment to inspect
the documents by telephoning 202-435-7275.
All comments, including attachments and other supporting materials,
will become part of the public record and subject to public disclosure.
Proprietary information or sensitive personal information, such as
account numbers or Social Security numbers, or names of other
individuals, should not be included. Comments will not be edited to
remove any identifying or contact information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine LoPiccalo, Economist,
Research; Patrick Orr, Policy Analyst, Markets; Shaakira Gold-Ramirez,
Counsel, or Alexandra Reimelt, Senior Counsel, Regulations; Division of
Research, Markets, and Regulations at 202-435-7700. If you require this
document in an alternative electronic format, please contact
[email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Background
For over 45 years, the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) has
provided the public with information about how financial institutions
are serving the housing needs of their communities. Public officials
use the information available through HMDA to develop and allocate
housing and community development investments, to respond to market
failures when necessary, and to monitor whether financial institutions
may be engaging in discriminatory lending practices. The data are used
by the mortgage industry to inform business practices, and by local
communities to ensure that lenders are serving the needs of individual
neighborhoods. To maintain the data's usefulness in serving its goals,
HMDA and its implementing Regulation C have been updated and expanded
over time in response to the changing needs of homeowners and the
evolution of the mortgage market.
The Bureau is conducting a voluntary assessment of the final rule
on HMDA the Bureau issued in October 2015 (2015 HMDA Final Rule) \1\
and related amendments (collectively, the HMDA Rule) in order to
evaluate the effectiveness of the HMDA Rule in meeting its stated goals
and the purposes and objectives of the Dodd-Frank Act. Section 1022(d)
of the Dodd-Frank Act requires the Bureau to conduct an assessment of
each significant rule or order adopted by the Bureau under Federal
consumer financial law.\2\ While the Bureau determined that the HMDA
Rule is not a significant rule for purposes of section 1022(d), the
Bureau considers the HMDA Rule to be of sufficient importance to
support the Bureau conducting a voluntary assessment that complies with
the requirements of a Dodd-Frank Act assessment. Pursuant to those
requirements, the Bureau must publish a report of the assessment not
later than five years after the effective date of such rule or order.
The assessment must address, among other relevant factors, the rule or
order's effectiveness in meeting the purposes and objectives of title X
of the Dodd-Frank Act and the specific goals stated by the Bureau. The
assessment also must reflect available evidence and any data that the
Bureau reasonably may collect. Before publishing a report of its
assessment, the Bureau must invite public comment on recommendations
for modifying, expanding, or eliminating the significant rule or
order.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C); 80 FR 6612766128
(Oct. 28, 2015).
\2\ 12 U.S.C. 5512(d).
\3\ 12 U.S.C. 5512(d).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To assess the effectiveness of the HMDA Rule, the Bureau intends to
focus its evaluation on the following primary topic areas: (1)
Institutional coverage and transactional coverage; (2) data points; (3)
benefits of the new data and disclosure requirements; \4\ and (4)
operational and compliance costs. The Bureau recognizes that it faces
challenges in its assessment, as it may be difficult to quantify
certain components such as the benefits of the
[[Page 66221]]
HMDA Rule. The Bureau also recognizes that, across stakeholders, there
is interest and disagreement over certain aspects of the HMDA Rule,
including thresholds. The Bureau has revised the institutional and
transactional coverage thresholds that determine whether financial
institutions are required to collect, record, and report any HMDA data
on closed-end mortgage loans or open-end lines of credit in recent
years. The Bureau also recently published a study on thresholds that
analyzed differences in lending patterns for lenders below and above
the 100-loan closed-end threshold set by the 2020 HMDA Final Rule.\5\
The Bureau is inviting public comment on these and other relevant
issues as part of its HMDA assessment. The Bureau views the assessment
as an opportunity to evaluate whether prior HMDA rulemakings have
improved upon the data collected, reduced unnecessary burden on
financial institutions, and streamlined and modernized the manner in
which financial institutions collect and report HMDA data. The Bureau
welcomes comments from stakeholders, in particular information and data
that would produce a more robust evaluation of the costs and benefits
of the HMDA Rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Bureau considers an evaluation of the balancing test
used to determine whether and how HMDA data should be modified prior
to its disclosure to the public to protect applicant and borrower
privacy to be outside the scope of its assessment of the HMDA Rule.
\5\ ``A Brief Note on General Lending Patterns of Small to
Medium Size Closed-end HMDA Reporters,'' HMDA Data Point, June 14,
2021, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/a-brief-note-on-general-lending-patterns-small-to-medium-size-closed-end-hmda-reporters/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Section 1094 of the Dodd-Frank Act amended HMDA and transferred
HMDA rulemaking authority and other functions from the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board) to the Bureau. In the
2015 HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau implemented the Dodd-Frank Act
amendments to HMDA and made other changes to Regulation C. Most of the
2015 HMDA Final Rule took effect on January 1, 2018.\6\ The Bureau
issued another final rule in 2017 (2017 HMDA Final Rule) amending
certain requirements adopted in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule.\7\ Most of
the 2017 HMDA Final Rule provisions also took effect on January 1,
2018. The Bureau issued an interpretive and procedural rule in 2018
(2018 HMDA Rule) to implement and clarify the requirements of section
104(a) of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer
Protection Act (EGRRCPA), which was enacted in May 2018 and amended
HMDA by adding partial exemptions from certain reporting
requirements.\8\ Additionally, the Bureau issued final rules in 2019
and 2020 (2019 and 2020 HMDA Final Rules, respectively) that amended
certain aspects of Regulation C after most of the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
took effect.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ 80 FR 66128, 66256-57 (Oct. 28, 2015). The amendments to the
institutional coverage criteria for depository institutions took
effect on January 1, 2017. 12 CFR 1003.2(g)(1)(v)(A). The quarterly
reporting requirements for certain larger-volume institutions took
effect on January 1, 2020. 12 CFR 1003.5(a)(1)(ii).
\7\ Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C); 82 FR 43088 (Sept.
13, 2017).
\8\ Public Law 115-174, 132 stat. 1296 (2018); Partial
Exemptions from the Requirements of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
Under the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer
Protection Act (Regulation C), 83 FR 45325 (Sept. 7, 2018). The 2018
HMDA Rule did not amend the text of Regulation C. The Bureau later
incorporated the interpretations and procedures from the 2018 HMDA
Rule into Regulation C in the 2019 HMDA Final Rule.
\9\ Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C), 84 FR 57946 (Oct.
29, 2019); Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C), 85 FR 28364 (May
12, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
For purposes of this request for information (RFI) and the
assessment, except as otherwise noted, the Bureau refers to the 2015
HMDA Final Rule and the subsequent HMDA rules issued in 2017, 2018,
2019, and 2020 collectively as ``the HMDA Rule''.\10\ Additionally, the
Bureau believes that, based on the modifications to reporting
requirements adopted in the 2017, 2018, 2019, and the 2020 rules, it
may be difficult to isolate the separate effects of each of the 2015
HMDA Final Rule and the related subsequent rules during this
assessment. The Bureau has determined that considering all of these
rules together will facilitate a more meaningful assessment of the HMDA
Rule. Specifically, the Bureau is incorporating into the assessment all
rules that implicate calendar-year HMDA data beginning with data
collected in 2018 through data collected in 2021.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ Certain provisions in the 2020 HMDA Final Rule that would
not go into effect until January 2022, such as the increase in the
open-end coverage threshold, are not being considered under this
assessment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As discussed in more detail in part III.B, the Bureau has
determined that the HMDA Rule is not a significant rule for purposes of
section 1022(d) and therefore the Bureau is not required to conduct an
assessment under the Dodd-Frank Act. However, the Bureau considers the
HMDA Rule to be of sufficient importance to support the Bureau
conducting a voluntary assessment. In this document, the Bureau is
requesting public comment on the issues identified below regarding the
HMDA Rule as part of the planned voluntary assessment.
II. The Assessment Process
Assessments are for informational purposes only and are not part of
any formal or informal rulemaking proceedings under the Administrative
Procedure Act. The Bureau plans to consider relevant comments,
available data, and any other relevant information as it conducts the
assessment and prepares an assessment report. The Bureau does not,
however, expect that it will respond in the assessment report to each
comment received pursuant to this document. Furthermore, the Bureau
does not anticipate that the assessment report will include specific
proposals by the Bureau to modify any rules, although the findings made
in the assessment may help to inform the Bureau's general understanding
of implementation costs and regulatory benefits for future
rulemakings.\11\ Upon completion of the assessment, the Bureau
anticipates issuing an assessment report not later than January 1,
2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ The Bureau announces its rulemaking plans in semiannual
updates of its rulemaking agenda, which are posted as part of the
Federal Government's Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory
Actions. The current Unified Agenda can be found here: https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaMain.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Rule
Regulation C implements HMDA, 12 U.S.C. 2801 through 2810. Adopted
in 1975, HMDA requires certain depository institutions and for-profit
nondepository institutions to collect, report, and disclose data about
originations and purchases of mortgage loans, as well as mortgage loan
applications that do not result in originations (for example,
applications that are denied or withdrawn). The purposes of HMDA are to
provide the public with loan data that can be used: (i) To help
determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs
of their communities; (ii) to assist public officials in distributing
public-sector investment so as to attract private investment to areas
where it is needed; and (iii) to assist in identifying possible
discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination
statutes.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ 12 CFR 1003.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2010, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act, which amended HMDA
and transferred HMDA rulemaking authority and other functions from the
Board to the Bureau.\13\ Among other changes, the Dodd-Frank Act
expanded the scope of information relating to mortgage applications and
loans that institutions
[[Page 66222]]
must compile, maintain, and report under HMDA. This introduction to
part III provides a high-level overview of each of the rules. The major
provisions of the HMDA Rule are discussed in more detail in part III.A,
below.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ Public Law 111-203, 124 stat. 1376, 1980, 2035-38, 2097-101
(2010).
\14\ For details explaining the rationale behind each of these
provisions, refer to the preamble discussion in each of the HMDA
rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau implemented the Dodd-Frank
Act amendments to HMDA and made other changes to Regulation C. The 2015
HMDA Final Rule modified the types of institutions and transactions
subject to Regulation C, including by adopting new loan volume
thresholds for determining which institutions are covered under
Regulation C and must report HMDA data for their closed-end mortgage
loans and open-end lines of credit (coverage thresholds, collectively).
The 2015 HMDA Final Rule also modified the types of data that
institutions are required to collect and report by adding new data
points to Regulation C and revising certain pre-existing data points.
Additionally, the 2015 HMDA Final Rule revised the processes for
financial institutions to report and disclose the required data and the
determination of which data would be publicly disclosed.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ 80 FR 66128 (Oct. 28, 2015). As discussed in part III.A.4
below, the Bureau explained in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule that it
interpreted HMDA, as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act, to call for the
use of a balancing test to determine whether and how HMDA data
should be modified prior to its disclosure to the public; the Bureau
applied that balancing test in final policy guidance issued in
December 2018 that described the loan-level HMDA data the Bureau
intended to make available to the public. Disclosure of Loan-Level
HMDA Data, 84 FR 649 (Jan. 31, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In August 2017, the Bureau issued the 2017 HMDA Final Rule, which
made technical corrections to, and clarified certain requirements
adopted by, the 2015 HMDA Final Rule. This rule also increased
temporarily the open-end coverage threshold for calendar years 2018 and
2019.
In 2018, Congress enacted the EGRRCPA.\16\ Section 104(a) of the
EGRRCPA amended HMDA section 304(i) by adding partial exemptions from
HMDA's requirements for certain insured depository institutions and
insured credit unions. The EGRRCPA provides that an insured depository
institution or insured credit union does not need to collect or report
certain data with respect to its closed-end mortgage loans if it
originated fewer than 500 closed-end mortgage loans in each of the two
preceding calendar years. Similarly, the EGRRCPA provides that an
insured depository institution or insured credit union does not need to
collect or report certain data with respect to open-end lines of credit
if it originated fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit in each of the
two preceding calendar years. In August 2018, the Bureau issued the
2018 HMDA Rule to implement and clarify the requirements of section
104(a) of the EGRRCPA.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ Public Law 115-174, 132 stat. 1296 (2018).
\17\ 83 FR 45325 (Sept. 7, 2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In October 2019, the Bureau issued the 2019 HMDA Final Rule, which
extended for two years, until January 1, 2022, the temporary increase
in the open-end coverage threshold adopted by the 2017 HMDA Final Rule.
This rule also incorporated into Regulation C the interpretations and
procedures from the 2018 HMDA Rule and implemented further the
EGRRCPA.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ 84 FR 57946 (Oct. 29, 2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In April 2020, the Bureau issued the 2020 HMDA Final Rule, which
increased the closed-end coverage threshold effective July 1, 2020, and
the permanent level of the open-end coverage threshold effective
January 1, 2022, upon the expiration of the temporary threshold.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ 85 FR 28364 (May 12, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The major provisions of the HMDA Rule are summarized below.
A. Major Provisions of the HMDA Rule
The HMDA Rule contains four major elements: (1) Institutional
coverage and loan-volume thresholds; (2) transactional coverage; (3)
data points; and (4) disclosure and reporting requirements.
1. Institutional Coverage and Loan-Volume Thresholds
Regulation C requires financial institutions to report HMDA data.
Section 1003.2(g) defines financial institution for purposes of
Regulation C and sets forth Regulation C's institutional coverage
criteria for depository financial institutions and nondepository
financial institutions.\20\ The HMDA Rule amended the Board's pre-
existing institutional coverage criteria that determine which
institutions meet the definition of financial institution and are
required to report HMDA data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ 12 CFR 1003.2(g)(1) (definition of depository financial
institution); Sec. 1003.2(g)(2) (definition of nondepository
financial institution).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The HMDA Rule includes uniform coverage thresholds based on loan
origination volume that determine, in part, whether institutions are
required to collect, record, and report any HMDA data on closed-end
mortgage loans or open-end lines of credit. Under the institutional
coverage criteria set forth in the HMDA Rule, depository institutions
and nondepository institutions are required to report HMDA data if
they: (1) Meet either the closed-end or open-end coverage threshold in
each of the two preceding calendar years, and (2) meet all of the other
applicable criteria for institutional coverage. Financial institutions
that meet only the closed-end coverage threshold are not required to
report data on their open-end lines of credit, and financial
institutions that meet only the open-end coverage threshold are not
required to report data on their closed-end mortgage loans.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ 80 FR 66128, 66173 (Oct. 28, 2015).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bureau has amended the levels of the coverage thresholds
several times since the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act. The 2015 HMDA
Final Rule set the closed-end coverage threshold at 25 closed-end
mortgage loans and the open-end coverage threshold at 100 open-end
lines of credit. As a result, an institution that originated at least
25 closed-end mortgage loans or at least 100 open-end lines of credit
in each of the two preceding calendar years, and met all of the other
applicable criteria for institutional coverage, met the definition of
financial institution and was required to report HMDA data.
Prior to the 2015 HMDA Final Rule taking effect, in the 2017 HMDA
Final Rule the Bureau increased temporarily the open-end coverage
threshold from 100 to 500 open-end lines of credit for calendar years
2018 and 2019. In the 2019 HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau extended the
temporary increase in the open-end coverage threshold for two
additional years, until January 1, 2022.\22\ Effective January 1, 2022,
the 2020 HMDA Final Rule sets the open-end coverage threshold at 200
open-end lines of credit, meaning that financial institutions
originating at least 200 open-end lines of credit in each of the two
preceding calendar years must report such data. The 2020 HMDA Final
Rule also increased the closed-end coverage threshold, from 25 to 100
closed-end mortgage loans. Effective July 1, 2020, financial
institutions originating at least 100 closed-end mortgage loans in each
of the two preceding calendar years must report such data.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ 82 FR 43088 (Sept. 13, 2017); 84 FR 57946 (Oct. 29, 2019).
\23\ 85 FR 28364 (May 12, 2020). On October 9, 2020, the Bureau
corrected several clerical errors in the Supplementary Information
to the 2020 HMDA Final Rule, regarding the estimated cost savings in
annual ongoing costs from various possible closed-end coverage
thresholds.
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BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
[[Page 66223]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP22NO21.002
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP22NO21.003
[[Page 66224]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TP22NO21.004
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-C
For depository institutions, in addition to adopting the new loan-
volume coverage thresholds, the HMDA Rule retained other pre-existing
institutional coverage criteria. The pre-existing criteria require
reporting by depository institutions that: (1) Satisfy an asset-size
threshold; (2) have a branch or home office in a Metropolitan
Statistical Area (MSA) on the preceding December 31; (3) satisfy the
``federally related'' test; and (4) originated at least one first-lien
home purchase loan or refinancing secured by a one- to four-unit
dwelling in the previous calendar year.
For nondepository institutions, the HMDA Rule adopted the new loan-
volume coverage thresholds and removed the pre-existing institutional
coverage tests based on asset-size or loan originations and total loan
amounts. The HMDA Rule retained the criterion that the institution had
a branch or home office in an MSA on the preceding December 31.
2. Transactional Coverage
HMDA requires financial institutions to collect and report
information about ``mortgage loans,'' which HMDA section 303(2) defines
as loans secured by residential real property or home improvement
loans. In the HMDA Rule, the Bureau modified Regulation C's
transactional coverage in several ways.
First, the HMDA Rule requires some financial institutions to report
data on their open-end lines of credit.\24\ Previously, Regulation C
allowed, but did not require, reporting of home-equity lines of credit
and there was no minimum coverage threshold. As discussed in part
III.A.1 above, the HMDA Rule requires financial institutions that meet
the loan-volume coverage threshold for open-end lines of credit in each
of the two preceding calendar years to report data on these
transactions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\24\ The 2015 HMDA Final Rule defined open-end line of credit as
an extension of credit that: (1) Is secured by a lien on a dwelling;
and (2) Is an open-end credit plan as defined in Regulation Z, 12
CFR 1026.2(a)(20), but without regard to whether the credit is
consumer credit, as defined in Sec. 1026.2(a)(12), is extended by a
creditor, as defined in Sec. 1026.2(a)(17), or is extended to a
consumer, as defined in Sec. 1026.2(a)(11).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, the HMDA Rule moved away from the pre-existing ``loan
purpose'' test and adopted a dwelling-secured standard for all loans or
lines of credit that are for personal, family, or household purposes.
In general, prior to the HMDA Rule, financial institutions were
required to report information about closed-end applications and loans
made for one of three purposes: Home improvement, home purchase, or
refinancing. Under the HMDA Rule, most consumer-purpose extensions of
credit secured by a lien on a dwelling are subject to Regulation C,
including closed-end home-equity loans, home-equity lines of credit,
and reverse mortgages. Regulation C no longer requires reporting of
home improvement loans that are not secured by a dwelling (i.e., home
improvement loans that are unsecured or that are secured by some other
type of collateral).\25\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ Under pre-existing Regulation C, closed-end home purchase
loans and refinancings were required to be reported if they were
dwelling-secured and closed-end home improvement loans were required
to be reported whether or not they were dwelling-secured.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The HMDA Rule also requires reporting of applications for, and
originations of, dwelling-secured business- or commercial-purpose
closed-end mortgage loans and open-end lines of credit for home
purchase, refinancing, or home improvement purposes. Prior to the HMDA
Rule, Regulation C covered closed-end, business- or commercial-purpose
loans made to purchase, refinance, or improve a dwelling. Thus, the
HMDA Rule revised coverage of business- or commercial-purpose
transactions by: (1) Adding the dwelling-secured test, and (2)
requiring reporting of dwelling-secured, business- or commercial-
purpose open-end lines of credit for the purpose of home purchase,
refinancing, or home improvement.
3. Data Points
Prior to the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Act, Regulation C required
collection and reporting of 22 data points and allowed for optional
reporting of one data point: The reasons for which an institution
denied an application (reasons for denial). The 2015 HMDA Final Rule
implemented the new data points specified in the Dodd-Frank Act, added
additional data
[[Page 66225]]
points pursuant to the Bureau's discretionary authority under HMDA
section 304(b)(5) and (6), and revised certain pre-existing Regulation
C data points. The 2018 HMDA Rule and 2019 HMDA Final Rule clarified
which of the data points in Regulation C are covered by the EGRRCPA
partial exemptions.\26\
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\26\ In May 2019, the Bureau issued an advance notice of
proposed rulemaking (ANPR) relating to certain data points that the
Bureau added or revised in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule as well as
Regulation C's coverage of certain business- or commercial-purpose
transactions. Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C) Data Points
and Coverage, 84 FR 20049 (May 8, 2019). In June 2021, the Bureau
announced that it was no longer pursuing a proposed rulemaking
following up on this ANPR in light of its other rulemaking
priorities.
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In the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, the Bureau added the following data
points to Regulation C to implement specific provisions added by the
Dodd-Frank Act in HMDA section 304(b)(4), (5)(A) through (C), and
(6)(A) through (I): Universal loan identifier (ULI); \27\ property
address; age of the applicant/borrower; rate spread for all loans; \28\
credit score; total loan costs or total points and fees; prepayment
penalty term; loan term; introductory rate period; non-amortizing
features; property value; application channel; and mortgage loan
originator identifier.\29\
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\27\ Prior to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Board
required reporting of an identifying number for the loan or
application but did not require that the identifier be universal.
HMDA section 304(b)(6)(G) requires reporting of, ``as the Bureau may
determine to be appropriate, a universal loan identifier.''
\28\ Prior to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Board
required financial institutions to report rate spread for higher-
priced mortgage loans. 67 FR 7222 (Feb. 15, 2002); 67 FR 43218 (June
27, 2002). HMDA section 304(b)(5)(B) requires reporting of rate
spread for all loans.
\29\ 12 CFR 1003.4(a)(1)(i), (a)(9)(i), (a)(10)(ii), and
(a)(12), (15), (17), (22), (25) through (28), and (33) and (34).
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Additionally, the 2015 HMDA Final Rule added the following
additional data points pursuant to the Bureau's discretionary authority
under HMDA section 304(b)(5) and (6): Reasons for denial, which were
optionally reported under the Board's rule but became mandatory in the
HMDA Rule; the total origination charges associated with the loan
(origination charges); the total points paid to the lender to reduce
the interest rate of the loan (discount points); the amount of lender
credits; the interest rate applicable at closing or account opening;
the debt-to-income ratio; the ratio of the total amount of debt secured
by the property to the value of the property (combined loan-to-value
ratio); for transactions involving manufactured homes, whether the loan
or application is or would have been secured by a manufactured home and
land or by a manufactured home and not land (manufactured home secured
property type); the land property interest for loans or applications
related to manufactured housing (manufactured home land property
interest); the number of individual dwellings units that are income-
restricted pursuant to Federal, State, or local affordable housing
programs (multifamily affordable units); information related to the
automated underwriting system used in evaluating an application and the
result generated by the automated underwriting system; whether the loan
is a reverse mortgage; whether the loan is an open-end line of credit;
and whether the loan is primarily for a business or commercial
purpose.\30\
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\30\ 12 CFR 1003.4(a)(16), (18) through (21), (23) and (24),
(29) and (30), (32), and (35) through (38).
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The 2015 HMDA Final Rule also revised certain pre-existing
Regulation C data points to provide for greater specificity or
additional information in reporting.\31\
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\31\ These data points include the following: The purpose of the
loan or application; occupancy type; ethnicity; race; and legal
entity identifier (LEI).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data points added by 2015 HMDA final Data points added by 2015 HMDA final Data points revised by 2015 HMDA
rule to implement Dodd-Frank Act rule pursuant to discretionary final rule to require additional
requirements authority information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Universal Loan Identifier Reasons for Denial Loan Purpose
(ULI) Origination Charges Occupancy Type
Property Address Discount Points Ethnicity
Age (applicant/borrower) Lender Credits Race
Rate Spread Interest Rate Legal Entity Identifier
Credit Score Debt-to-Income Ratio
Total Loan Costs or Total Combined Loan-to-Value
Points and Fees Ratio
Prepayment Penalty Term
Loan Term Manufactured Home Secured
Introductory Rate Period Property Type
Non-Amortizing Features Manufactured Home Land
Property Interest
Property Value Multifamily Affordable
Units
Application Channel Automated Underwriting
System
Mortgage Loan Originator Reverse Mortgage Flag
Identifier
Open-End Line of Credit
Flag
Business or Commercial
Purpose Flag
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As discussed above, the EGRRCPA provides certain institutions
partial exemptions from reporting certain data. As amended by the
EGRRCPA, HMDA section 304(i)(1) provides that the requirements of HMDA
section 304(b)(5) and (6) shall not apply with respect to closed-end
mortgage loans of an insured depository institution or insured credit
union if it originated fewer than 500 closed-end mortgage loans in each
of the two preceding calendar years. Additionally, HMDA section
304(i)(2) provides that the requirements of HMDA section 304(b)(5) and
(6) shall not apply with respect to open-end lines of credit of an
insured depository institution or insured credit union if it originated
fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit in each of the two preceding
calendar years. Notwithstanding the partial exemptions under the
EGRRCPA, HMDA section 304(i)(3) provides that an insured depository
institution must comply with HMDA section 304(b)(5) and (6) if it has
received a rating of ``needs to improve record of meeting community
credit needs'' during each of its two most recent examinations or a
rating of ``substantial noncompliance in meeting community credit
needs'' on its most recent examination under section 807(b)(2) of the
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).\32\
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\32\ 12 U.S.C. 2906(b)(2).
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The 2018 HMDA Rule and the 2019 HMDA Final Rule specify that the
following data points do not need to be collected and reported if a
transaction qualifies for a partial exemption under the EGRRCPA: ULI;
property address; rate spread; credit score; reasons for
[[Page 66226]]
denial; \33\ total loan costs or total points and fees; origination
charges; discount points; the amount of lender credits; the interest
rate applicable at closing or account opening; prepayment penalty term;
the debt-to-income ratio; the combined loan-to-value ratio; loan term;
introductory rate period; non-amortizing features; property value;
manufactured home secured property type; manufactured home land
property interest; multifamily affordable units; application channel;
mortgage loan originator identifier; information related to the
automated underwriting system used in evaluating an application and the
result generated by the automated underwriting system; whether the loan
is a reverse mortgage; whether the loan is an open-end line of credit;
and whether the loan is primarily for a business or commercial purpose.
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\33\ Financial institutions regulated by the Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) are required to report reasons for
denial on their HMDA loan/application registers pursuant to 12 CFR
27.3(a)(1)(i) and 128.6. Similarly, pursuant to regulations
transferred from the Office of Thrift Supervision, certain financial
institutions supervised by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC) are required to report reasons for denial on their HMDA loan/
application registers. 12 CFR 390.147.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data points covered by the EGRRCPA Data points not covered by the
partial exemptions EGRRCPA partial exemptions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Universal Loan Identifie Application Date
Property Address Loan Type
Rate Spread Loan Purpose
Credit Score Preapproval
Reasons for Denial Construction Method
Total Loan Costs or Total Occupancy Type
Points and Fees
Origination Charges Loan Amount
Discount Points Action Taken
Lender Credits Action Taken Date
Interest Rate State
Prepayment Penalty Term County
Debt-to-Income Ratio Census Tract
Combined Loan-to-Value Ethnicity
Ratio
Loan Term Race
Introductory Rate Period Sex
Non-Amortizing Features Age (applicant/borrower)
Property Value Income
Manufactured Home Secured Type of Purchaser
Property Type Home Ownership and Equity
Manufactured Home Land Protection Act (HOEPA) Status
Property Interest Lien Status
Multifamily Affordable Number of Units
Units Legal Entity Identifier
Application Channel
Mortgage Loan Originator
Identifier
Automated Underwriting
System
Reverse Mortgage Flag
Open-End Line of Credit
Flag
Business or Commercial
Purpose Flag
------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Disclosure and Reporting
HMDA and Regulation C require that data collected and reported by
financial institutions in a given calendar year be made available to
the public the following year in both aggregate and loan-level formats.
The HMDA Rule addressed the public disclosure of HMDA data in two
primary ways. First, it shifted public disclosure of HMDA data entirely
to the agencies. Beginning with HMDA data collected in 2017, financial
institutions were no longer required to provide their modified loan/
application registers and disclosure statements directly to the public.
Instead, they were required only to provide a notice advising members
of the public seeking their data that the data may be obtained on the
Bureau's website. Second, the HMDA Rule interpreted HMDA, as amended by
the Dodd-Frank Act, to require that the Bureau use a balancing test to
determine whether and how HMDA data should be modified prior to its
disclosure to the public to protect applicant and borrower privacy
while also fulfilling HMDA's public disclosure purposes. The Bureau
interpreted these changes to require that public HMDA data be modified
when the release of the unmodified data creates risks to applicant and
borrower privacy interests that are not justified by the benefits of
such release to the public in light of HMDA's statutory purposes. In
December 2018, the Bureau issued final policy guidance on its website
describing the loan-level HMDA data it intends to make available to the
public, including modifications to be applied to the data.\34\
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\34\ 84 FR 649 (Jan. 31, 2019). This final policy guidance will
not be covered by the assessment of the HMDA Rule.
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The HMDA Rule retained the pre-existing requirement that financial
institutions submit their HMDA data to the appropriate Federal agency
by March 1 following the calendar year for which the data are
collected. The HMDA Rule additionally requires that financial
institutions that reported for the preceding calendar year at least
60,000 covered loans and applications combined, excluding purchased
covered loans, also submit their data for the following calendar year
to the appropriate Federal agency on a quarterly basis.
B. Significant Rule Determination
The Bureau has determined that the HMDA Rule, comprised of the 2015
HMDA Final Rule and the related later amendments, considered both
individually and together, is not a significant rule for purposes of
Dodd-Frank Act section 1022(d).\35\ The Bureau made this determination
based on a number of factors, including the estimated annual costs to
industry of complying with the HMDA Rule, and limited or undetectable
effects of the rule on mortgage features, mortgage
[[Page 66227]]
industry operations, and the price and availability of mortgages.
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\35\ For more information on how the Bureau determines a rule's
significance for purposes of section 1022(d) of the Dodd-Frank Act,
see U.S. Gov't Accountability Office, Dodd-Frank Regulations:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Needs a Systematic Process to
Prioritize Consumer Risks, December 2018, https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/696200.pdf.
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The Bureau's 2015 HMDA Final Rule presented a basic framework of
analyzing compliance costs for HMDA reporting, including ongoing costs
and one-time costs for financial institutions.\36\ A 1022(b)(2) cost-
benefit analysis in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule estimated that the bulk of
the costs associated with the rule derived from one-time implementation
and not ongoing annual costs.\37\ The Bureau estimated the 2015 HMDA
Final Rule would result in ongoing costs of the rule of $53.6 million
to $68.3 million per year for all reporters, as compared to one-time
and start-up costs of between $177 million and $326.6 million per
year.\38\
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\36\ The Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of
1996 (SBREFA), as amended by section 1100G(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act,
requires the Bureau to convene a Small Business Review Panel before
proposing a rule that may have significant economic impact on a
substantial number of small entities. See Public Law 104-121, tit.
II, 110 stat. 847, 857 (1996) as amended by Public Law 110-28, and
Public Law 111-203, section 1100G (2010).
\37\ 80 FR 66128, 66265-66 (Oct. 28, 2015).
\38\ The Bureau's 1022(b) analysis in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
annualized one-time and start-up costs using a 7 percent discount
rate and 5-year amortization window. Generally, for the subsequent
2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 HMDA rules, the Bureau estimated that
changes in thresholds and other requirements would represent savings
in ongoing costs for affected entities. Although affected entities
would incur additional one-time costs from the adjustment to new
HMDA requirements, the Bureau estimated these would be negligible.
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The Bureau considered qualitative factors as well. As a data
collection rule, the HMDA reporting requirements have had little direct
impact on the features of consumer financial products and services.
Financial institutions' HMDA operations are mostly for compliance
purposes, and neither the 2015 HMDA Final Rule nor any of the
amendments materially affected institutions' underlying operations for
originating mortgages.
The Bureau also considered the effects of the HMDA Rule on the
market in making its determination. In the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, the
Bureau explored whether covered entities passed through increased
compliance costs to consumers and found the impact to be
negligible.\39\ The Bureau also considered in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule
whether the new reporting requirements would cause smaller institutions
to exit the mortgage market, either for closed-end mortgage loans or
for open-end lines of credit. The Bureau is not aware of evidence that
the 2015 HMDA Final Rule, or any related amendments, caused some
lenders to leave the market or inhibited any lenders from entering the
market, resulting in a decline in consumers' access to credit.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\39\ Generally, for the subsequent 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020
HMDA rules, the Bureau estimated that changes in thresholds and
other requirements would represent savings in ongoing costs for
affected entities. Although affected entities would incur additional
one-time costs from the adjustment to new HMDA requirements, the
Bureau estimated these would be negligible.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking these factors into consideration, the Bureau concluded that
the HMDA Rule is not significant for purposes of section 1022(d) of the
Dodd-Frank Act. Therefore, the Bureau is not required to conduct an
assessment of the HMDA Rule under section 1022(d). The Bureau
recognizes the importance of the HMDA Rule, however, and believes that
the public would benefit from the Bureau conducting a voluntary
assessment. The Bureau also previously noted that it would be doing an
assessment of this rulemaking.\40\ For all of these reasons, the Bureau
has decided to conduct a voluntary assessment.
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\40\ 80 FR 66269 (Oct. 28, 2015).
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IV. The Assessment Plan
The assessment will address, among other relevant factors, the HMDA
Rule's effectiveness in meeting the purposes and objectives of title X
of the Dodd-Frank Act and the specific goals of the HMDA Rule as stated
by the Bureau. Each is discussed below.
A. Purposes and Objectives of Title X
Section 1021 of the Dodd-Frank Act states that the Bureau shall
seek to implement and, where applicable, enforce Federal consumer
financial law consistently for the purpose of ensuring that all
consumers have access to markets for consumer financial products and
services and that markets for consumer financial products and services
are fair, transparent, and competitive.\41\ Section 1021 also sets
forth the Bureau's objectives, which are to exercise its authorities
under Federal consumer financial law for the purposes of ensuring that,
with respect to consumer financial products and services:
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\41\ 12 U.S.C. 2603(a), 15 U.S.C. 1604(b).
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(a) Consumers are provided with timely and understandable
information to make responsible decisions about financial transactions;
(b) Consumers are protected from unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts
and practices and from discrimination;
(c) Outdated, unnecessary, or unduly burdensome regulations are
regularly identified and addressed in order to reduce unwarranted
regulatory burdens;
(d) Federal consumer financial law is enforced consistently,
without regard to the status of a person as a depository institution,
in order to promote fair competition; and
(e) Markets for consumer financial products and services operate
transparently and efficiently to facilitate access and innovation.\42\
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\42\ 12 U.S.C. 5511(b)(1)-(5).
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B. Specific Goals of the HMDA Rule
Congress enacted HMDA in 1975 to create transparency in the
mortgage market.\43\ As originally adopted, HMDA identifies its
purposes as providing the public and public officials with information
to help determine whether financial institutions are serving the
housing needs of the communities in which they are located, and to
assist public officials in their determination of the distribution of
public sector investments in a manner designed to improve the private
investment environment.\44\ Congress later expanded HMDA to, among
other things, require financial institutions to report racial
characteristics, gender, and income information on applicants and
borrowers.\45\ In light of these amendments, the Board subsequently
recognized a third HMDA purpose of identifying possible discriminatory
lending patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination statutes, which now
appears with HMDA's other purposes in Regulation C.\46\
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\43\ 80 FR 66127, 66130 (Oct. 28, 2015).
\44\ HMDA section 302(b), 12 U.S.C. 2801(b); see also 12 CFR
1003.1(b)(1)(i)-(ii).
\45\ Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement
Act of 1989, Public Law 101-73, section 1211 (``Fair lending
oversight and enforcement'' section), 103 stat. 183, 524-26 (1989).
\46\ 54 FR 51356, 51357 (Dec. 15, 1989), codified at 12 CFR
1003.1(b)(1).
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In 2015, the Bureau issued amendments to Regulation C to implement
the Dodd-Frank Act amendments to HMDA, better achieve HMDA's purposes
in light of current market conditions, and reduce unnecessary burden on
financial institutions. At that time, the Bureau noted that HMDA and
Regulation C have been updated and expanded over time in order to
maintain the data's usefulness in response to the changing needs of
homeowners and evolution in the mortgage market.\47\ The Bureau also
stated that the HMDA data must be updated in order to address the
informational shortcomings exposed by the financial crisis and to meet
the needs of homeowners, potential
[[Page 66228]]
homeowners, and neighborhoods throughout the nation.\48\ The 2015 HMDA
Final Rule thus sought to address gaps in the HMDA data regarding
certain segments of the market. The Bureau issued subsequent amendments
to clarify further Regulation C's requirements and reduce burden.
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\47\ 80 FR 66127, 66129 (Oct. 28, 2015).
\48\ Id. at 66130.
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As previously stated, for purposes of this RFI and assessment
(except as otherwise noted), the Bureau refers to the 2015 HMDA Final
Rule and the subsequent HMDA rules issued in 2017, 2018, 2019, and
2020, collectively as ``the HMDA Rule.'' \49\
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\49\ Certain provisions in the 2020 HMDA Final Rule that would
not go into effect until January 2022, such as the increase in the
open-end coverage threshold, will be not considered under this
assessment.
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C. Scope and Approach
To assess the effectiveness of the HMDA Rule in meeting these
purposes, objectives and goals, the Bureau is undertaking a voluntary
assessment that is consistent with the requirements of a statutory
assessment under Dodd-Frank Act section 1022(d). Specifically, the
Bureau intends to focus its evaluation of the HMDA Rule on the
following primary topic areas: (1) Institutional coverage and
transactional coverage; (2) data points; (3) benefits of the new data
and disclosure requirements; \50\ and (4) operational and compliance
costs.
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\50\ The Bureau considers an evaluation of the balancing test
used to determine whether and how HMDA data should be modified prior
to its disclosure to the public to protect applicant and borrower
privacy to be outside the scope of its assessment of the HMDA Rule.
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To assess the HMDA Rule, the Bureau plans to analyze a variety of
metrics and data to the extent feasible. Feasibility will depend on the
data and information available to the Bureau as well as any information
and data submitted in response to this request for comment. The Bureau
plans to investigate the operational and compliance costs of the rule.
The Bureau will work from the methods and findings it published with
the cost-benefit analysis in the 2015 HMDA Final Rule. The Bureau will
also use comments responding to this request for information to
determine whether those methods and findings remain valid. The Bureau
is interested in any information about activities and outcomes
including the ones listed below and is interested in understanding how
these activities and outcomes relate to each other:
(1) Industry outcomes that the HMDA Rule may have affected,
including the number and types of reporters, the number of loans, and
the dollar amounts for reported open-end lines of credit and closed-end
mortgage loans;
(2) The activities undertaken by financial institutions to comply
with the HMDA Rule's criteria, as well as the adoption of loan-volume
coverage thresholds, adoption of new and revised data points, and
revisions to transactional coverage, including mandatory reporting of
open-end lines of credit and the adoption of a dwelling-secured
standard;
(3) Overall benefits and other outcomes that the HMDA Rule sought
to affect, including whether the HMDA Rule has brought greater
transparency to the mortgage market, has helped determine whether
financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their
communities, has assisted public officials in distributing public-
sector investment so as to attract private investment to areas where it
is needed, assisted in identifying possible discriminatory lending
patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination statutes, and addressed gaps
in the HMDA data regarding certain segments of the market;
(4) An evaluation of the benefits and costs of the new and revised
data points, and the benefits and costs of new data reported under the
revised coverage thresholds; and
(5) The HMDA Rule's effect on the operational and compliance costs
for financial institutions, including activities covered institutions
conducted to collect and report new and revised data points.
The Bureau plans to conduct or has begun conducting several
research analyses in connection with this assessment. Other research
analyses may also be considered as appropriate. In conducting the
assessment, the Bureau will evaluate the association between the
requirements of the HMDA Rule and the HMDA Rule's stated purposes,
goals, and objectives.
The Bureau will consider analysis related to loan originations,
applications, prices, and the number of reporters using available data.
The currently available data includes HMDA data, third-party servicing
data, Fannie/Freddie public loan level data, and the National Mortgage
Database (NMDB).\51\ In addition, the Bureau is planning on utilizing
responses to this request for information as appropriate.
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\51\ The NMDB is an ongoing project, jointly undertaken by the
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Bureau, with the goal
of providing the public and regulatory agencies with data that does
not include any personally identifiable information but that
otherwise may service as a comprehensive resource about the U.S.
mortgage market. The core data in the NMDB are drawn from a random,
personally anonymous, 1-in-20 sample of all credit bureau records
associated with a closed-end, first-lien mortgage, updated
quarterly. Mortgages, after being unlinked from any personally
identifiable information or characteristics that could be traced
back to any borrower, are followed in the NMDB database until they
terminate through prepayment (including refinancing), foreclosure,
or maturity. The information available to the FHFA, CFPB, or any
other authorized user of the NMDB data never includes personally
identifiable information.
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V. Request for Comment
To inform the assessment, the Bureau hereby invites members of the
public to submit information and other comments relevant to the issues
identified above and below, information relevant to enumerating costs
and benefits of the HMDA Rule to inform the assessment, and any other
information relevant to assessing the effectiveness of the HMDA Rule in
meeting the purposes and objectives of title X of the Dodd-Frank Act
(section 1021) and the specific goals of the Bureau (enumerated above).
More detailed comments/information that are supported by data/analysis
will generally be more useful to inform the assessment. As mentioned
previously, the Bureau recognizes that it faces challenges in its
assessment, as it may be difficult to quantify benefits, and there may
be limitations in the data available to the Bureau to evaluate the HMDA
Rule's contributions to public investment and anti-discrimination
monitoring and enforcement. The Bureau is interested in information and
data on how HMDA data are used by various stakeholders to serve the
HMDA's goals and purposes, including extending access to credit, fair
lending enforcement, and distributing public-sector investment so as to
attract private sector investment. The Bureau also invites comments on
additional data or analyses that would be helpful for the Bureau to
evaluate the effects of different institutional coverage and loan-
volume thresholds. The Bureau welcomes stakeholders to submit data and
information about the effects of different thresholds on lenders and
communities. In particular, the Bureau invites the public, including
consumers and their advocates, community organizations, HMDA reporters
and other industry representatives, industry analysts, and other
interested entities to submit comments on any or all of the following:
(1) Comments on the feasibility and effectiveness of the assessment
plan, the objectives of the HMDA Rule that the Bureau intends to
emphasize in the assessment, and the outcomes for assessing the
effectiveness of the HMDA Rule as described in part IV above;
[[Page 66229]]
(2) Data and other factual information that the Bureau may find
useful in executing its assessment plan and answering related research
questions, particularly research questions that may be difficult to
address with the data currently available to the Bureau, as described
in part IV above;
(3) The specific data points reported under the 2015 HMDA Rule that
help meet the objectives of the HMDA Rule, as described in part IV
above, including the rationale, and provide any available detailed
supporting information, evidence and data;
(4) Recommendations to improve the assessment plan, as well as
data, other factual information, and sources of data that would be
useful and available to the Bureau to execute any recommended
improvements to the assessment plan;
(5) Data and other factual information about the benefits and costs
of the HMDA Rule for communities, public officials, reporters, mortgage
industry participants or other stakeholders; and about the effects of
the rule on transparency in the mortgage market, and the utility,
quality, and timeliness of HMDA data in meeting the Rule's stated goals
and objectives;
(6) Data and other factual information about the accuracy of
estimates of annual ongoing compliance and operational costs for HMDA
reporters, or the analytical approach used to estimate these costs, as
delineated in the Small Business Review Panel Report under the Small
Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act (SBREFA) that the Bureau
convened and chaired in 2014; \52\
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\52\ See Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot., ``Final Report of the
Small Business Review Panel on the CFPB's Proposals Under
Consideration for the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA)
Rulemaking'' at 22, 37 (April 24, 2014), https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201407_cfpb_report_hmda_sbrefa.pdf.
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a. Comments related to the nature and magnitude of any operational
challenges in complying with the HMDA Rule. Are they significantly
different from those delineated in the published Report of the Small
Business Review Panel mentioned above? If so, how and how much?;
b. Comments delineating and describing the ongoing costs incurred
in collecting and reporting information for the HMDA Rule. Are they
significantly different from those delineated in the published Report
of the Small Business Review Panel mentioned above? If so, how and how
much?;
(7) Data and other factual information about the HMDA Rule's
effectiveness in meeting the purposes and objectives of title X of the
Dodd-Frank Act (section 1021), which are listed in part IV above;
a. Please describe the value that data on such transactions
provides in serving HMDA's purposes;
b. Comments relating to the usability of the public HMDA data,
potential challenges of the current format of the public HMDA data, and
recommendations for additional reporting by the Bureau that would be
helpful in informing the use of the public HMDA data by communities,
public officials, or other stakeholders; and
(8) Recommendations for modifying, expanding, or eliminating any
aspects of the HMDA Rule, including but not limited to the
institutional coverage and loan-volume thresholds, transactional
coverage, and data points.
Rohit Chopra,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2021-25330 Filed 11-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P
