HMDA Data Summaries Released

The FFIEC has released the HMDA data reported by institutions for the year 2000. The information shows some change, driven largely by the drop in refinancings. Fewer loans were processed in 2000 than in 1999. However, there are several interesting aspects to the reports.

Perhaps the most significant finding - for purposes of future data collection and expanded data collection - is the significant increase in the number of applications that do not contain monitoring information. These reflect the increase in applications taken through mail, the Internet, and by telephone.

In non-face-to-face applications, it is not required - and not possible - to collect information on the applicant's race and sex. Applications missing this information grew from 8% in 1993 to 28% in 2000. This percentage has steadily increased, but the increases are largest in the last several years. This effectively means that analysis is unable to include information about the race and sex of more than a quarter of all loan applicants.

Copyright © 2001 Compliance Action. Originally appeared in Compliance Action, Vol. 6, No. 9, 8/01