Adjustments have been made to the asset size of financial institutions that have to report mortgage data as required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975.
Banks, savings associations and credit unions are required to report HMDA data annually under Regulation C, which implements the act.
HMDA impacts most mortgage lenders located in metropolitan areas and requires them to collect, report and disclose application and origination information on purchase financing, home improvement loans and refinance transactions.
Included in HMDA reports are data about loan type, purpose and amount. They also include information about the loan applicant’s race, ethnicity, gender and income. Lenders also report the location of the property and loan pricing for some loans.
However, existing regulations allow for an exemption to HMDA requirements if the institution’s assets don’t exceed $41 million.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced Friday that it is raising the asset requirement for exemption. The CFPB took over HMDA responsibility from the Federal Reserve Board.
Financial institutions with assets of no more than $42 million as of Dec. 31 will be exempt from collecting HMDA data in 2013, according to the CFPB’s final rule.
An exemption for next year, however, doesn’t impact data collection requirements for 2012.
The threshold is adjusted each year based on the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. The index was up 2.23 percent for the 12 months ended Nov. 30.
“HMDA data are used to help determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities and to assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns,” the CFPB stated.
The threshold has increased substantially from a decade ago, when it was $32 million.
