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Federal Reserve Board of Governors

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

HMDA Data

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Hearings

Hearing Topics and Request for Public Comment

 

Hearings

The Federal Reserve Board will hold four public hearings this year on potential revisions to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The dates and locations of the hearings are below. 

Past Hearings:

HMDA requires mortgage lenders to provide detailed reports about their mortgage lending activity to regulators and the public. Read more about HMDA.

Consumers, community and consumer organizations, mortgage lenders, and other interested parties will be invited to participate in the hearings, which will serve three objectives:

  • to help the Board evaluate whether the 2002 Regulation C revisions that required lenders to report mortgage pricing data provided useful and accurate information about the mortgage market;
  • to provide information to help the Board assess the need for additional data and other improvements; and
  • to help identify emerging issues in the mortgage market that may warrant additional research.

All hearings will include panel discussions by invited speakers. Other interested parties may deliver oral statements of up to five minutes during an "open-mike" period. Sign-up for the open-mike session will be available on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 8:00 a.m. the day of each hearing. Those wishing to speak must sign up in person. Written statements of any length may be submitted for the record.

More information about each hearing will be posted to this web page as it becomes available.

Other: Community Reinvestment Act hearings

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Hearing Topics and Request for Public Comment

The Federal Reserve Board has identified the following topics for discussion at its upcoming hearings on potential modifications to Regulation C, which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

  • Data Elements. Should the Board add, modify, or delete any data elements? For example, lenders currently are not required to report key underwriting data, such as information about the borrower’s creditworthiness and loan-to-value and debt-to-income ratios. Some HMDA data users and others believe that this information would improve the usefulness of HMDA data in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns. On the other hand, collecting this additional data would increase HMDA reporters' compliance burdens and costs and could pose risks to consumers' privacy.
  • Coverage. Regulation C currently requires depository institutions and nondepository for profit mortgage lenders to report HMDA data if they exceed certain size and activity thresholds. Should the Board: Require reporting by additional types of institutions, such as mortgage brokers and non lender loan purchasers? Exempt any types of institutions from reporting? Make other changes to the rules regarding which types of institutions are required to report?
  • Scope. Should the Board require lenders to report on home-secured loans in addition to home purchase, home improvement, and refinancing loans, such as reverse mortgages or all home equity lines of credit (including those that are not used for home improvements)? Should any types of home secured loans be excluded from reporting?
  • Compliance and technical Issues. What are the most common compliance issues institutions face under HMDA and Regulation C? Are there provisions of Regulation C where clarification would be useful to HMDA reporters? Are there technical issues that should be resolved?
  • Other issues. What emerging issues in the mortgage market are likely to affect the usefulness and accuracy of HMDA data? What other changes to Regulation C should the Board consider?

Panelists will be asked to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of suggested changes to Regulation C, addressing the importance or utility of particular information in light of the purposes of HMDA and the burdens and possible privacy risks associated with collecting and reporting that information.

To submit a written comment on these topics for the record, you can:

  • follow the instructions for submitting comments on the Board's website or the Federal eRulemaking Portal.
  • e-mail regs.comments@federalreserve.gov;
  • fax (202) 452-3819 or (202) 452-3102; or
  • send mail to Jennifer J. Johnson, Secretary, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 20th Street and Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20551. 

Please identify your comments by Docket No. OP-1388. If e-mailing, include the docket number in message's subject line.

For more information on the hearing topics and how to submit comments, read our press release and Federal Register notice.

Visit our comments database to read HMDA hearing public comments.

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Last Update: August 31, 2010