Answers released to frequently asked questions about new HMDA data.The federal banking, credit union, and thrift institution Thrift institution An organization formed as a depository for primarily consumer savings. Savings and loan associations and savings banks are thrift institutions. supervisory agencies, along with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, released on March 31, 2005, a set of "Answers to Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQs) that addresses the new home loan price data disclosed this year for the first time under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA HMDA Hexamethylene Diamine (chemistry) HMDA Hitchhiker Motorized Door Assembly HMDA High Mobility DGM Assemblage HMDA Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1974 ). This release coincides with the date that lenders must make their HMDA data available to the public upon request. The FAQs will aid users with their evaluation and interpretation of the data and will be posted on each of the agencies' web sites. The new loan price data are intended to advance enforcement of consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws Anti-discrimination law refers to the law on people's right to be treated equally. Most developed countries mandate that in employment, in consumer transactions and in political participation people may be dealt with on an equal basis regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, and improve mortgage market efficiency. Loan price data and other HMDA data can be used by the agencies and others as a screening tool to identify aspects of the higher-priced mortgage market that warrant a closer look to determine whether there is abuse or discrimination. Also, lenders, community groups, government agencies, and others can use the data to identify opportunities for private or public investment. A full understanding of the data, including its limitations, will help ensure that the data are used effectively to advance the goals of HMDA. The data, for example, do not include certain determinants of credit risk that may explain higher loan prices, such as the borrower's credit history, loan-to-property-value ratio, and consumer debt-to-income ratio The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. . Consequently, the HMDA data are not, by themselves, a basis for definitive conclusions regarding whether a lender discriminates unlawfully against particular borrowers or takes unfair advantage of them. The FAQs are part of a larger effort by the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), an independent U.S. federal executive agency designed to promote public confidence in banks and to provide insurance coverage for bank deposits up to $100,000. , the National Credit Union Administration The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) is responsible for chartering, insuring, supervising, and examining federal credit unions (FCUs) and for administering the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund. , the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (or OCC) was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all national banks and the federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. , the Office of Thrift Supervision The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) was established as a bureau of the Treasury Department in August 1989 as part of a major Reorganization Plan of the thrift regulatory structure mandated by the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) (12 U.S.C.A. , and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote the informed use of the 2004 data. The agencies will also engage in educational outreach to state and local agencies, trade associations, and consumer- and community-based organizations. In September 2005 the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, or FFIEC, is a formal interagency body of the United States government empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Board of will release the annual summary statistical reports for each lender and an aggregate report for each Metropolitan Statistical Area. Concurrently, staff of the Federal Reserve Board will publish an article analyzing the 2004 data in the Federal Reserve Bulletin. HMDA, which was enacted by the Congress in 1975, requires most mortgage lenders located in metropolitan areas to collect data about their housingrelated lending activity, report the data annually to the government, and make the data publicly available. Initially, HMDA required reporting of the geographic location of originated and purchased home loans. In 1989 the Congress expanded HMDA data to include information about denied home loan applications and the race, sex, and income of applicants and borrowers. In 2002 the Federal Reserve Board amended the HMDA regulations to require lenders to report price data for certain higher-priced home mortgage loans, and other new data. |
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