The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued warning letters to 44 mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers. The Bureau has information that appears to show they may be required to collect, record, and report data about their housing-related lending activity, and that they may be in violation of those requirements.
“Financial institutions that fail to report mortgage information as required make it harder to identify and address discriminatory lending,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “No mortgage lender that is required to report their loan data can avoid this responsibility.”
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which was originally enacted in 1975, requires many financial institutions to collect data about their housing-related lending activity, including home purchase loans, home improvement loans, and refinancings that they originate or purchase, or for which they receive applications.
The CFPB identified the 44 companies by reviewing available bank and non-bank mortgage data. The warning letters flag that entities that meet certain requirements are required to collect, record, and report mortgage lending data. The letters say that recipients should review their practices to ensure they comply with all relevant laws. The companies are encouraged to respond to the Bureau to advise if they have taken, or will take, steps to ensure compliance with the law. They can also tell the Bureau if they think the law does not apply to them. The CFPB, in sending these letters, made no determination that a legal violation did, in fact, occur.
In October 2015, the CFPB finalized a rule updating the reporting requirements of HMDA. The rule will improve the quality and type of data that is collected and reported, including shedding more light on consumers’ access to credit. Most of the provisions of the final rule will take effect on Jan. 1, 2018.
