OCC 97-2 
Subject: HMDA - Instructions for        Description: Guidance for Bankers
               Filing HMDA-LARs   

TO:  Chief Executive Officers and Compliance Officers of all
     National Banks, Department and Division Heads, and all
     Examining Personnel.

Attached are instructions for filing your Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act (HMDA) data for 1996.  All national banks subject
to HMDA and their mortgage subsidiaries are required to send the
completed transmittal sheet and the accompanying Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act Loan Application Registers (HMDA-LARs) containing
loan activity for 1996 to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) by
March 1, 1997.  HMDA-LARs should be sent to the following
address:

                      Federal Reserve Board 
                    Attn:  OCC HMDA Processing
                1709 New York Ave., NW, 5th Floor
                       Washington, DC 20006

Institutions that report more than 25 applications and loan
entries on their HMDA-LAR are required to submit the data in an
automated, machine-readable form.  Those institutions with 25 or
fewer applications may collect and report data in paper form. 
Institutions may obtain a copy of the Loan/Application Register
Transmittal Sheet and the Form HMDA-LAR by contacting the OCC's
Compliance Management Department at (202) 874-4446. 

Banks that filed HMDA data for 1995 have already been provided
microcomputer software by the Federal Reserve to help them file
their 1996 HMDA-LAR in machine-readable form.  Banks subject to
the reporting requirements of HMDA for calendar year 1996 that
did not receive the Federal Reserve's microcomputer software may
obtain a copy by contacting the FRB at (202) 452-2016.

File Specifications and Format of Submissions

To further assist you in filing your HMDA-LARs in machine-readable form, we have enclosed the FRB's 1996 file
specifications for submission of pc diskette, magnetic tape, or
cartridge containing HMDA-LARs.  These specifications are
unchanged from those provided to you last year.  National banks
and their majority-owned mortgage lending subsidiaries that want
to submit to the FRB 1996 HMDA-LAR data on microcomputer disks or
on tape or cartridge must submit data that meet these
specifications.  You are not required to use the FRB's software
but the software used must meet these specifications.  If it does
not, the FRB will be unable to process the HMDA automated report.



Also enclosed is a copy of the HMDA edits for the 1996 HMDA-LAR. 
They are also unchanged from 1995.

This year, for the first time, you may file your HMDA-LAR
electronically over the Internet.  Institutions wishing to use
this option should send the report to hmdasub@frb.gov.  If you
have questions about filing your HMDA-LAR electronically please
contact the Federal Reserve Board's HMDA Assistance Line at (202)
452-2016.

Review of CY 1996 HMDA-LAR for Accuracy

Certain types of errors continue to occur frequently.  Before
submitting your HMDA-LAR make sure that your report does not
contain the following errors:

o    Property location codes (MSA, state, county, and census
     tract) entered incorrectly.  If you use census tract
     numbers from an appraiser, remember that you are
     responsible for the correctness of the numbers.

o    Respondent ID, agency code, or tax ID that are incorrect
     (or missing).

o    Entries that report monthly income, instead of gross annual
     income.  (Also remember that you must round to the nearest
     thousand, and must truncate the last three digits; for
     example, a gross annual income of $29,500 would be reported
     as 30.  The same rules apply to the reporting of loan
     amount.)

o    Entries that leave blank the "co-applicant race and sex"
     columns when there is no co-applicant (instead of entering
     the codes for "not applicable").

o    Illegible HMDA-LARs filed in paper form.  The instructions
     specify that paper-copy must be typewritten or computer
     printed.

o    Incorrect treatment of counteroffers.  A counteroffer that
     is accepted by the applicant is reported as an origination
     for the amount of the loan actually granted.  But if the
     applicant does not accept the lender's counteroffer, the
     transaction must be reported as a denial for the loan or
     amount originally requested.  Do not report the transaction
     as withdrawn or approved but not accepted.

o    Failure to report transactions that involve multifamily
     dwellings.  HMDA covers loans on all residential dwellings,
     regardless of the number of units and regardless of whether
     the property is owner-occupied.  Thus, for example, a loan
     to purchase or to rehabilitate a 50-unit apartment building
     is to be reported under HMDA.

o    Failure to report the reasons for denial of a loan
     application.  All national banks subject to the HMDA and
     the Fair Housing Home Loan Data System are required to
     record the reason(s) for denial on their HMDA-LARs for all
     applications for, and origination and purchases of, home
     purchase and home improvement loans.

Questions about the collection and processing of HMDA data should
be addressed to the FRB's HMDA Assistance Line at (202) 452-2016. 
Questions can also be addressed electronically to the Federal
Reserve Board's Internet address hmdahelp@frb.gov.  Questions
about this issuance or HMDA's regulatory requirements should be
addressed to the appropriate OCC district office or to the
Compliance Management Department at (202) 874-4446.



                                
Bert A.  Otto
Acting Deputy Comptroller 
    for Compliance Management
January 7, 1997
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