Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposed rule to improve the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). In response Center for Responsible Lending president Mike Calhoun comments:
We congratulate the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for the agency's continued commitment to responsible lending. This is an important step forward in using data and transparency to promote fair lending.
Since the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was enacted, it has provided critical information to both the public and financial sectors – information that has been used to identify housing trends, root out discrimination, and reach underserved areas. Expanding, improving, and strengthening the scope of HMDA will create even more opportunities for legislators and lawmakers to leverage the data to create more responsible, more equitable housing policies.
Today, the CFPB announced that HMDA proposed reporting requirements will include more streamlined requirements for depository and certain non-depository institutions, and greater detail required of loan and underwriting reporting. In addition, the proposal expands reporting requirements across a wider range of loans, including closed end loans, open-end lines of credit, and reverse mortgages, which will help to close critical gaps in HMDA reporting. The proposal will also ease reporting guidelines for small institutions. The CFPB is also working to create an easier and more user friendly process for HMDA reporting. CRL applauds this initiative as a step in the right direction for the CFPB to collect the appropriate data to determine what is working and what improvements are needed to assist borrowers, which is useful to expand consumer access to the mortgage market. More information about HMDA and today's announcement can be found on the CFPB news page.
To discuss Mike Calhoun's comments or how these changes will specifically affect borrowers, consumes, and advocates, please call Catherine An at catherine.an@responsiblelending.org/202-349-1878.
For more information, contact Catherine An at catherine.an@responsiblelending.org/202-349-1878.