The 2013 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data
Federal Reserve Board of Governors
Download Document| Date Published | November 2014 |
| Version | |
| Primary Author | Neil Bhutta |
| Other Authors | Daniel R. Ringo |
| Theme | Consumer Protection / Mandatory Disclosure, Housing Market Analysis |
| Country | United States |
Abstract
The HomeMortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA) requires most mortgage lending institutions with offices in metropolitan areas to disclose to the public detailed information about their home-lending activity each year. The HMDA data include the disposition of each application for mortgage credit; the type, purpose, and characteristics of each home mortgage that lenders originate or purchase during the calendar year; the census-tract designations of the properties related to those loans; loan pricing information; personal demographic and other information about loan applicants, including their race or ethnicity and income; and information about loan sales (see appendix A for a full list of items reported under HMDA).1 HMDA was enacted to help members of the public determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their local communities and treating borrowers and loan applicants fairly, provide information that could facilitate the efforts of public entities to distribute funds to local communities for the purpose of attracting private investment, and help households decide where they may want to deposit their savings.2 The data have proven to be valuable for research and are often used in public policy deliberations related to the mortgage market.3 The main objective of this article is to provide an overview of the 2013 HMDA data and to help document mortgage market activity over time as captured in the HMDA data. Mortgage debt is by far the largest component of household debt in the United States, and mortgage transactions can have important implications for households’ financial wellbeing. The HMDA data are the most comprehensive source of publicly available information on the U.S. mortgage market, providing unique details on how much mortgage credit gets extended each year, who obtains such credit, and which institutions provide such credit.