This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER

contains regulatory documents having general

applicability and legal effect, most of which

are keyed to and codified in the Code of

Federal Regulations, which is published under

50 titles pursuant to 44 U.S.C. 1510.

The Code of Federal Regulations is sold by

the Superintendent of Documents. Prices of

new books are listed in the first FEDERAL

REGISTER issue of each week.

Rules and Regulations Federal Register

78465 

Vol. 76, No. 243 

Monday, December 19, 2011 

1Pub. L. 111–203,124 Stat. 1376 (2010). 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

12 CFR Part 1003 

[Docket No. CFPB–2011–0020] 

RIN 3170–AA06 

Home Mortgage Disclosure 

(Regulation C) 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for public comment. 

SUMMARY: Title X of the Dodd-Frank 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) 

transferred rulemaking authority for a 

number of consumer financial 

protection laws from seven Federal 

agencies to the Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau) as of July 

21, 2011. The Bureau is in the process 

of republishing the regulations 

implementing those laws with technical 

and conforming changes to reflect the 

transfer of authority and certain other 

changes made by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

In light of the transfer to the Bureau of 

the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System’s (Board’s) rulemaking 

authority for the Home Mortgage 

Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA), as 

amended, the Bureau is publishing for 

public comment an interim final rule 

establishing a new Regulation C (Home 

Mortgage Disclosure). This interim final 

rule does not impose any new 

substantive obligations on persons 

subject to the existing Regulation C, 

previously published by the Board. 

DATES: This interim final rule is 

effective on December 30, 2011. 

Comments must be received on or 

before February 17, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, 

identified by Docket No. CFPB–2011– 

0020 or RIN 3170–AA06, by any of the 

following methods: 

• Electronic: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the 

Executive Secretary, Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection, 1500 

Pennsylvania Avenue NW., (Attn: 1801 

L Street), Washington, DC 20220. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier in Lieu of 

Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the 

Executive Secretary, Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection, 1700 G 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20006. 

All submissions must include the 

agency name and docket number or 

Regulatory Information Number (RIN) 

for this rulemaking. In general, all 

comments received will be posted 

without change to http:// 

www.regulations.gov. In addition, 

comments will be available for public 

inspection and copying at 1700 G Street 

NW., Washington, DC 20006, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Time. You can 

make an appointment to inspect the 

documents by telephoning (202) 435– 

7275. 

All comments, including attachments 

and other supporting materials, will 

become part of the public record and 

subject to public disclosure. Sensitive 

personal information, such as account 

numbers or social security numbers, 

should not be included. Comments will 

not be edited to remove any identifying 

or contact information. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Mitchell E. Hochberg or Gregory Evans, 

Office of Regulations, at (202) 435–7700. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background 

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 

1975, as amended (HMDA; 12 U.S.C. 

2801 et seq.) requires most mortgage 

lenders located in metropolitan areas to 

collect data about their housing-related 

lending activity. Annually, lenders must 

report those data to the appropriate 

Federal agencies and make the data 

available to the public. Historically, 

HMDA has been implemented by 

Regulation C of the Board of Governors 

of the Federal Reserve System (Board), 

12 CFR Part 203. 

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform 

and Consumer Protection Act (DoddFrank Act) 1 amended a number of 

consumer financial protection laws, 

including HMDA. In addition to various 

substantive amendments, the DoddFrank Act transferred rulemaking 

authority for HMDA to the Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection 

(Bureau), effective July 21, 2011. See 

sections 1061 and 1094 of the DoddFrank Act. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank 

Act and HMDA, as amended, the Bureau 

is publishing for public comment an 

interim final rule establishing a new 

Regulation C (Home Mortgage 

Disclosure), 12 CFR Part 1003, 

implementing HMDA. 

II. Summary of the Interim Final Rule 

A. General 

The interim final rule substantially 

duplicates the Board’s Regulation C as 

the Bureau’s new Regulation C, 12 CFR 

Part 1003, making only certain nonsubstantive, technical, formatting, and 

stylistic changes. To minimize any 

potential confusion, the Bureau is 

preserving the past numbering of the 

Board’s Regulation C, other than the 

new part number and the enumeration 

of the individual definitions in § 1003.2. 

While this interim final rule generally 

incorporates the Board’s existing 

regulatory text, appendices (including 

model forms and clauses), and 

supplements, the rule has been edited as 

necessary to reflect nomenclature and 

other technical amendments required by 

the Dodd-Frank Act. Notably, this 

interim final rule does not impose any 

new substantive obligations on 

regulated entities. In future 

rulemakings, the Bureau expects to 

amend Regulation C to implement 

certain changes to HMDA made by the 

Dodd-Frank Act. 

B. Specific Changes 

The rule has been changed to effect 

technical, non-substantive changes to 

the Board’s existing regulatory text of 

Regulation C. References to the Board 

and its administrative structure have 

been replaced with references to the 

Bureau. Conforming edits have been 

made to internal cross-references and 

addresses for filing documentation. 

Paragraph lettering for definitions has 

been removed. Conforming edits have 

been made to reflect the scope of the 

Bureau’s authority pursuant to HMDA, 

as amended by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

Historical references that are no longer 

applicable, and references to effective 


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78466 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

2Public Law 111–203, section 1094(3)(A). 

3Public Law 111–203, section 1094(3)(F). 

4Public Law 111–203, section 1061(a)(1). 

Effective on the designated transfer date, July 21, 

2011, the Bureau was also granted ‘‘all powers and 

duties’’ vested in each of the Federal agencies, 

relating to the consumer financial protection 

functions, on the day before the designated transfer 

date. Until this and other interim final rules take 

effect, existing regulations for which rulemaking 

authority transferred to the Bureau continue to 

govern persons covered by this rule. See 76 FR 

43569 (July 21, 2011). 

5Public Law 111–203, section 1002(14) (defining 

‘‘Federal consumer financial law’’ to include the 

‘‘enumerated consumer laws’’); id. section 1002(12) 

(defining ‘‘enumerated consumer laws’’ to include 

HMDA). 

6 section 1066 of the Dodd-Frank Act grants the 

Secretary of the Treasury interim authority to 

perform certain functions of the Bureau. Pursuant 

to that authority, Treasury is publishing this interim 

final rule on behalf of the Bureau. 

7 5 U.S.C. 551 et seq. 

8 5 U.S.C. 553(b), (c). 

9 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(3)(A), (B). 

dates that have passed, have been 

removed. 

Conforming edits have also been 

made to reflect new Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) control 

numbers issued for information 

collections required by Regulation C. 

Specifically, Form FR HMDA–LAR, the 

Loan/Application Register Transmittal 

Sheet, has been edited to add OMB 

control numbers for the Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection and the 

National Credit Union Administration 

and to remove the control number 

formerly used by the Office of Thrift 

Supervision. 

This interim final rule modifies the 

current regulatory text by including the 

Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection as an appropriate Federal 

agency for receiving reports and 

removes the Office of Thrift Supervision 

as an entity to whom financial 

institutions may be required to report 

data under HMDA. The Bureau is 

issuing guidance concurrently with the 

issuance of this interim rule regarding 

the appropriate Federal agency to which 

each financial institution should report 

2011 data pursuant to HMDA. 

The Dodd-Frank Act amended HMDA 

to require covered financial institutions 

to report data with respect to, among 

other things, the age of mortgagors and 

mortgage applicants, points and fees 

payable at origination in connection 

with a mortgage, the difference between 

the annual percentage rate associated 

with a loan and a benchmark rates or 

rates for all loans, the term in months 

of any prepayment penalty or other fee 

or charge payable on repayment of some 

portion of principal or the entire 

principal in advance of scheduled 

payment, the value of the real property 

pledged or proposed to be pledged as 

collateral, the actual or proposed term 

in months of any introductory period 

after which the rates of interest may 

change for a loan, the presence of 

contractual terms or proposed contract 

terms that would allow the mortgagor or 

applicant to make payments other than 

fully amortizing payments during any 

portion of the loan term, the actual or 

proposed term in months of the 

mortgage, the channel through which 

the mortgage application was made, and 

the credit score of mortgage applicants 

and mortgagors.2 A change to the 

regulatory text to require collection of 

additional data pursuant to the DoddFrank Act is a substantive change that 

is beyond the scope of this interim final 

rule. Therefore, the Bureau will address 

those substantive amendments to the 

HMDA data elements in a future 

rulemaking. 

Institutions are not required to report 

additional data required by section 

304(b)(5) and (6) of HMDA, as amended, 

‘‘before the first January 1 that occurs 

after the end of the 9-month period 

beginning on the date on which 

regulations are issued by the Bureau in 

final form with respect to such 

disclosures.’’ 3 Further, financial 

institutions are unable to comply with 

the obligation to report data regarding 

the age of mortgagors and mortgage 

applicants, which is required pursuant 

to section 304(b)(4) of HMDA, until the 

Bureau provides the necessary guidance 

on the manner of such reporting, 

including modification of the HMDA 

Loan/Application Register (HMDA– 

LAR) form to accommodate the 

reporting of age data. Therefore, the 

Bureau believes that the requirements to 

report all of the new data elements 

under HMDA section 304(b)(4)-(6) 

cannot be effective until the Bureau 

completes a future rulemaking with 

respect to the reporting of such data. 

III. Legal Authority 

A. Rulemaking Authority 

The Bureau is issuing this interim 

final rule pursuant to its authority under 

HMDA and the Dodd-Frank Act. 

Effective July 21, 2011, section 1061 of 

the Dodd-Frank Act transferred to the 

Bureau the ‘‘consumer financial 

protection functions’’ previously vested 

in certain other Federal agencies. The 

term ‘‘consumer financial protection 

function’’ is defined to include ‘‘all 

authority to prescribe rules or issue 

orders or guidelines pursuant to any 

Federal consumer financial law, 

including performing appropriate 

functions to promulgate and review 

such rules, orders, and guidelines.’’ 4

The HMDA is a Federal consumer 

financial law.5 Accordingly, effective 

July 21, 2011, the authority of the Board 

to issue regulations pursuant to HMDA 

transferred to the Bureau.6

B. Authority To Issue an Interim Final 

Rule Without Prior Notice and Comment 

The Administrative Procedure Act 

(APA) 7 generally requires public notice 

and an opportunity to comment before 

promulgation of regulations.8 The APA 

provides exceptions to notice-andcomment procedures, however, where 

an agency for good cause finds that such 

procedures are impracticable, 

unnecessary, or contrary to the public 

interest or when a rulemaking relates to 

agency organization, procedure, and 

practice.9 The Bureau finds that there is 

good cause to conclude that providing 

notice and opportunity for comment 

would be unnecessary and contrary to 

the public interest under these 

circumstances. In addition, substantially 

all the changes made by this interim 

final rule, which were necessitated by 

the Dodd-Frank Act’s transfer of HMDA 

authority from the Board to the Bureau, 

relate to agency organization, procedure, 

and practice and are thus exempt from 

the APA’s notice-and-comment 

requirements. 

The Bureau’s good cause findings are 

based on the following considerations. 

As an initial matter, the Board’s existing 

regulation was a result of notice-andcomment rulemaking to the extent 

required. Moreover, the interim final 

rule published today does not impose 

any new, substantive obligations on 

regulated entities. Rather, the interim 

final rule makes only non-substantive, 

technical changes to the existing text of 

the regulation, such as renumbering, 

changing internal cross-references, 

replacing appropriate nomenclature to 

reflect the transfer of authority to the 

Bureau, and changing the addresses for 

filing applications and notices. Given 

the technical nature of these changes, 

and the fact that the interim final rule 

does not impose any additional 

substantive requirements on covered 

entities, an opportunity for prior public 

comment is unnecessary. In addition, 

recodifying the Board’s regulations to 

reflect the transfer of authority to the 

Bureau will help facilitate compliance 

with HMDA and its implementing 

regulations, and the new regulations 

will help reduce uncertainty regarding 

the applicable regulatory framework. 

Using notice-and-comment procedures 

would delay this process and thus be 

contrary to the public interest. 

The APA generally requires that rules 

be published not less than 30 days 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 78467 

10This interim final rule is one of 14 companion 

rulemakings that together restate and recodify the 

implementing regulations under 14 existing 

consumer financial laws (part III.C, below, lists the 

14 laws involved). In the interest of proper 

coordination of this overall regulatory framework, 

which includes numerous cross-references among 

some of the regulations, the Bureau is establishing 

the same effective date of December 30, 2011 for 

those rules published on or before that date and 

making those published thereafter (if any) effective 

immediately. 

11Section 1022(b)(2)(A) of the Dodd-Frank Act 

addresses the consideration of the potential benefits 

and costs of regulation to consumers and covered 

persons, including the potential reduction of access 

by consumers to consumer financial products or 

services; the impact on depository institutions and 

credit unions with $10 billion or less in total assets 

as described in section 1026 of the Dodd-Frank Act; 

and the impact on consumers in rural areas. Section 

1022(b)(2)(B) requires that the Bureau ‘‘consult with 

the appropriate prudential regulators or other 

Federal agencies prior to proposing a rule and 

during the comment process regarding consistency 

with prudential, market, or systemic objectives 

administered by such agencies.’’ The manner and 

extent to which these provisions apply to interim 

final rules and to benefits, costs, and impacts that 

are compelled by statutory changes rather than 

discretionary Bureau action is unclear. 

Nevertheless, to inform this rulemaking more fully, 

the Bureau performed the described analyses and 

consultations. 

12The fourteen laws implemented by this and its 

companion rulemakings are: the Consumer Leasing 

Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (except with 

respect to section 920 of that Act), the Equal Credit 

Opportunity Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act 

(except with respect to sections 615(e) and 628 of 

that act), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 

Subsections (b) through (f) of section 43 of the 

Federal Deposit Insurance Act, sections 502 through 

509 of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (except for 

section 505 as it applies to section 501(b)), the 

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, the Real Estate 

Settlement Procedures Act, the S.A.F.E. Mortgage 

Licensing Act, the Truth in Lending Act, the Truth 

in Savings Act, section 626 of the Omnibus 

Appropriations Act, 2009, and the Interstate Land 

Sales Full Disclosure Act. 

13 In light of the technical but voluminous nature 

of this recodification project, the Bureau focused 

the consultation process on a representative sample 

of the recodified regulations, while making 

information on the other regulations available. The 

Bureau expects to conduct differently its future 

consultations regarding substantive rulemakings. 

14 5 U.S.C. 601 et seq. 

15 5 U.S.C. 603; 5 U.S.C. 604; 5 U.S.C. 605(b). 

before their effective dates. See 5 U.S.C. 

553(d). As with the notice and comment 

requirement, however, the APA allows 

an exception when ‘‘otherwise provided 

by the agency for good cause found and 

published with the rule.’’ 5 U.S.C. 

553(d)(3). The Bureau finds that there is 

good cause for providing less than 30 

days notice here. A delayed effective 

date would harm consumers and 

regulated entities by needlessly 

perpetuating discrepancies between the 

amended statutory text and the 

implementing regulation, thereby 

hindering compliance and prolonging 

uncertainty regarding the applicable 

regulatory framework.10

In addition, delaying the effective 

date of the interim final rule for 30 days 

would provide no practical benefit to 

regulated entities in this context and in 

fact could operate to their detriment. As 

discussed above, the interim final rule 

published today does not impose any 

new, substantive obligations on 

regulated entities. Instead, the rule 

makes only non-substantive, technical 

changes to the existing text of the 

regulation. Thus, regulated entities that 

are already in compliance with the 

existing rules will not need to modify 

business practices as a result of this 

rule. To the extent that one-time 

modifications to forms are required, the 

Bureau has provided an ample 

implementation period to allow 

appropriate advance notice and 

facilitate compliance without 

suspending the benefits of the interim 

final rule during the intervening period. 

C. Section 1022(b)(2) of the Dodd-Frank 

Act 

In developing the interim final rule, 

the Bureau has conducted an analysis of 

potential benefits, costs, and impacts.11

The Bureau believes that the interim 

final rule will benefit consumers and 

covered persons by updating and 

recodifying Regulation C to reflect the 

transfer of authority to the Bureau and 

certain other changes mandated by the 

Dodd-Frank Act. This will help 

facilitate compliance with HMDA and 

its implementing regulations and help 

reduce any uncertainty regarding the 

applicable regulatory framework. The 

interim final rule will not impose any 

new substantive obligations on 

consumers or covered persons and is 

not expected to have any impact on 

consumers’ access to consumer financial 

products and services. 

Although not required by the interim 

final rule, financial institutions may 

incur some costs in updating 

compliance manuals and related 

materials to reflect the new numbering 

and other technical changes reflected in 

the new Regulation C. The Bureau has 

worked to reduce any such burden by 

preserving the existing numbering to the 

extent possible and believes that such 

costs will likely be minimal. These 

changes could be handled in the short 

term by providing a short, standalone 

summary alerting users to the changes 

and in the long term could be combined 

with other updates at the creditor’s 

convenience. The Bureau intends to 

continue investigating the possible costs 

to affected entities of updating manuals 

and related materials to reflect these 

changes and solicits comments on this 

and other issues discussed in this 

section. 

The interim final rule will have no 

unique impact on depository 

institutions or credit unions with $10 

billion or less in assets as described in 

section 1026(a) of the Dodd-Frank Act. 

Also, the interim final rule will have no 

unique impact on rural consumers. 

In undertaking the process of 

recodifying Regulation C, as well as 

regulations implementing thirteen other 

existing consumer financial laws,12 the 

Bureau consulted the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation, the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, the 

National Credit Union Administration, 

the Board of Governors of the Federal 

Reserve System, the Federal Trade 

Commission, and the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development, 

including with respect to consistency 

with any prudential, market, or systemic 

objectives that may be administered by 

such agencies.13 The Bureau also has 

consulted with the Office of 

Management and Budget for technical 

assistance. The Bureau expects to have 

further consultations with the 

appropriate Federal agencies during the 

comment period. 

IV. Request for Comment 

Although notice and comment 

rulemaking procedures are not required, 

the Bureau invites comments on this 

notice. Commenters are specifically 

encouraged to identify any technical 

issues raised by the rule. The Bureau is 

also seeking comment in response to a 

notice published at 76 FR 75825 (Dec. 

5, 2011) concerning its efforts to identify 

priorities for streamlining regulations 

that it has inherited from other Federal 

agencies to address provisions that are 

outdated, unduly burdensome, or 

unnecessary. 

V. Regulatory Flexibility Act 

The Regulatory Flexibility Act (RFA), 

as amended by the Small Business 

Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 

1996, requires each agency to consider 

the potential impact of its regulations on 

small entities including small 

businesses, small governmental units, 

and small not-for-profit organizations.14

The RFA generally requires an agency to 

conduct an initial regulatory flexibility 

analysis (IRFA) and a final regulatory 

flexibility analysis (FRFA) of any rule 

subject to notice-and-comment 

rulemaking requirements, unless the 

agency certifies that the rule will not 

have a significant economic impact on 

a substantial number of small entities.15

The Bureau also is subject to certain 

additional procedures under the RFA 

involving the convening of a panel to 

consult with small business 


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78468 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

16 5 U.S.C. 603(d). 

17 5 U.S.C. 603(a), 604(a); 5 U.S.C. 553(b)(B). 

18 5 U.S.C. 609(b). 

representatives regarding any rule for 

which an IRFA is required.16

The IRFA and FRFA requirements 

described above apply only where a 

notice of proposed rulemaking is 

required,17 and the panel requirement 

applies only when a rulemaking 

requires an IRFA.18 As discussed above 

in Part III, a notice of proposed 

rulemaking is not required for this 

rulemaking. 

In addition, as discussed above, this 

interim final rule has only a minor 

impact on entities subject to Regulation 

C. The rule imposes no new, substantive 

obligations on covered entities. 

Accordingly, the undersigned certifies 

that this interim final rule will not have 

a significant economic impact on a 

substantial number of small entities. 

VI. Paperwork Reduction Act 

The Bureau may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a respondent is not 

required to respond to, an information 

collection unless it displays a currently 

valid Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) control number. This rule 

contains information collection 

requirements under the Paperwork 

Reduction Act (PRA), which have been 

previously approved by OMB, and the 

ongoing PRA burden for which is 

unchanged by this rule. There are no 

new information collection 

requirements in this interim final rule. 

The Bureau’s OMB control number for 

this information collection is: 3170– 

0008. 

List of Subjects in 12 CFR Part 1003 

Banks, Banking, Credit unions, 

Mortgages, National banks, Savings 

associations, Reporting and 

recordkeeping requirements. 

Authority and Issuance 

For the reasons set forth above, the 

Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection adds Part 1003 to Chapter X 

in Title 12 of the Code of Federal 

Regulations to read as follows: 

PART 1003—HOME MORTGAGE 

DISCLOSURE (REGULATION C) 

Sec. 

1003.1 Authority, purpose, and scope. 

1003.2 Definitions. 

1003.3 Exempt institutions. 

1003.4 Compilation of loan data. 

1003.5 Disclosure and reporting. 

1003.6 Enforcement. 

Appendix A to Part 1003—Form and 

Instructions for Completion of HMDA 

Loan/Application Register 

Appendix B to Part 1003—Form and 

Instructions for Data Collection on 

Ethnicity, Race, and Sex 

Supplement I to Part 1003—Staff 

Commentary 

Authority: 12 U.S.C. 2803, 2804, 2805, 

5512, 5581. 

§ 1003.1 Authority, purpose, and scope. 

(a) Authority. This part, known as 

Regulation C, is issued by the Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) 

pursuant to the Home Mortgage 

Disclosure Act (HMDA) (12 U.S.C. 2801 

et seq.), as amended. The informationcollection requirements have been 

approved by the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) under 

44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and have been 

assigned OMB numbers for institutions 

reporting data to the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency (1557– 

0159), the Federal Deposit Insurance 

Corporation (3064–0046), the Federal 

Reserve System (7100–0247), the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development (HUD) (2502–0529), the 

National Credit Union Administration 

(3133–0166), and the Bureau of 

Consumer Financial Protection (3170– 

0008). 

(b) Purpose. (1) This part implements 

the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, 

which is intended to provide the public 

with loan data that can be used: 

(i) To help determine whether 

financial institutions are serving the 

housing needs of their communities; 

(ii) To assist public officials in 

distributing public-sector investment so 

as to attract private investment to areas 

where it is needed; and 

(iii) To assist in identifying possible 

discriminatory lending patterns and 

enforcing antidiscrimination statutes. 

(2) Neither the act nor this part is 

intended to encourage unsound lending 

practices or the allocation of credit. 

(c) Scope. This part applies to certain 

financial institutions, including banks, 

savings associations, credit unions, and 

other mortgage lending institutions, as 

defined in § 1003.2. The regulation 

requires an institution to report data to 

the appropriate Federal agency about 

home purchase loans, home 

improvement loans, and refinancings 

that it originates or purchases, or for 

which it receives applications; and to 

disclose certain data to the public. 

§ 1003.2 Definitions. 

In this part: 

Act means the Home Mortgage 

Disclosure Act (HMDA) (12 U.S.C. 2801 

et seq.), as amended. 

Application.—(1) In general. 

Application means an oral or written 

request for a home purchase loan, a 

home improvement loan, or a 

refinancing that is made in accordance 

with procedures used by a financial 

institution for the type of credit 

requested. 

(2) Preapproval programs. A request 

for preapproval for a home purchase 

loan is an application under this section 

if the request is reviewed under a 

program in which the financial 

institution, after a comprehensive 

analysis of the creditworthiness of the 

applicant, issues a written commitment 

to the applicant valid for a designated 

period of time to extend a home 

purchase loan up to a specified amount. 

The written commitment may not be 

subject to conditions other than: 

(i) Conditions that require the 

identification of a suitable property; 

(ii) Conditions that require that no 

material change has occurred in the 

applicant’s financial condition or 

creditworthiness prior to closing; and 

(iii) Limited conditions that are not 

related to the financial condition or 

creditworthiness of the applicant that 

the lender ordinarily attaches to a 

traditional home mortgage application 

(such as certification of a clear termite 

inspection). 

Branch office means: 

(1) Any office of a bank, savings 

association, or credit union that is 

approved as a branch by a Federal or 

state supervisory agency, but excludes 

free-standing electronic terminals such 

as automated teller machines; and 

(2) Any office of a for-profit mortgagelending institution (other than a bank, 

savings association, or credit union) that 

takes applications from the public for 

home purchase loans, home 

improvement loans, or refinancings. A 

for-profit mortgage-lending institution is 

also deemed to have a branch office in 

an MSA or in a Metropolitan Division, 

if, in the preceding calendar year, it 

received applications for, originated, or 

purchased five or more home purchase 

loans, home improvement loans, or 

refinancings related to property located 

in that MSA or Metropolitan Division, 

respectively. 

Dwelling means a residential structure 

(whether or not attached to real 

property) located in a state of the United 

States of America, the District of 

Columbia, or the Commonwealth of 

Puerto Rico. The term includes an 

individual condominium unit, 

cooperative unit, or mobile or 

manufactured home. 

Financial institution means: 

(1) A bank, savings association, or 

credit union that: 

(i) On the preceding December 31 had 

assets in excess of the asset threshold 

established and published annually by 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 78469 

the Bureau for coverage by the act, 

based on the year-to-year change in the 

average of the Consumer Price Index for 

Urban Wage Earners and Clerical 

Workers, not seasonally adjusted, for 

each twelve month period ending in 

November, with rounding to the nearest 

million; 

(ii) On the preceding December 31, 

had a home or branch office in an MSA; 

(iii) In the preceding calendar year, 

originated at least one home purchase 

loan (excluding temporary financing 

such as a construction loan) or 

refinancing of a home purchase loan, 

secured by a first lien on a one-to fourfamily dwelling; and 

(iv) Meets one or more of the 

following three criteria: 

(A) The institution is Federally 

insured or regulated; 

(B) The mortgage loan referred to in 

paragraph (1)(iii) of this definition was 

insured, guaranteed, or supplemented 

by a Federal agency; or 

(C) The mortgage loan referred to in 

paragraph (1)(iii) of this definition was 

intended by the institution for sale to 

Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac; and 

(2) A for-profit mortgage-lending 

institution (other than a bank, savings 

association, or credit union) that: 

(i) In the preceding calendar year, 

either: 

(A) Originated home purchase loans, 

including refinancings of home 

purchase loans, that equaled at least 10 

percent of its loan-origination volume, 

measured in dollars; or 

(B) Originated home purchase loans, 

including refinancings of home 

purchase loans, that equaled at least $25 

million; and 

(ii) On the preceding December 31, 

had a home or branch office in an MSA; 

and 

(iii) Either: 

(A) On the preceding December 31, 

had total assets of more than $10 

million, counting the assets of any 

parent corporation; or 

(B) In the preceding calendar year, 

originated at least 100 home purchase 

loans, including refinancings of home 

purchase loans. 

Home-equity line of credit means an 

open-end credit plan secured by a 

dwelling as defined in Regulation Z 

(Truth in Lending), 12 CFR part 1026. 

Home improvement loan means: 

(1) A loan secured by a lien on a 

dwelling that is for the purpose, in 

whole or in part, of repairing, 

rehabilitating, remodeling, or improving 

a dwelling or the real property on which 

it is located; and 

(2) A non-dwelling secured loan that 

is for the purpose, in whole or in part, 

of repairing, rehabilitating, remodeling, 

or improving a dwelling or the real 

property on which it is located, and that 

is classified by the financial institution 

as a home improvement loan. 

Home purchase loan means a loan 

secured by and made for the purpose of 

purchasing a dwelling. 

Manufactured home means any 

residential structure as defined under 

regulations of the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development 

establishing manufactured home 

construction and safety standards (24 

CFR 3280.2). 

Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA 

and Metropolitan Division or MD. (1) 

Metropolitan Statistical Area or MSA 

means a metropolitan statistical area as 

defined by the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget. 

(2) Metropolitan Division or MD 

means a metropolitan division of an 

MSA, as defined by the U.S. Office of 

Management and Budget. 

Refinancing means a new obligation 

that satisfies and replaces an existing 

obligation by the same borrower, in 

which: 

(1) For coverage purposes, the existing 

obligation is a home purchase loan (as 

determined by the lender, for example, 

by reference to available documents; or 

as stated by the applicant), and both the 

existing obligation and the new 

obligation are secured by first liens on 

dwellings; and 

(2) For reporting purposes, both the 

existing obligation and the new 

obligation are secured by liens on 

dwellings. 

§ 1003.3 Exempt institutions. 

(a) Exemption based on state law. (1) 

A state-chartered or state-licensed 

financial institution is exempt from the 

requirements of this part if the Bureau 

determines that the institution is subject 

to a state disclosure law that contains 

requirements substantially similar to 

those imposed by this part and that 

contains adequate provisions for 

enforcement. 

(2) Any state, state-chartered or statelicensed financial institution, or 

association of such institutions, may 

apply to the Bureau for an exemption 

under paragraph (a) of this section. 

(3) An institution that is exempt 

under paragraph (a) of this section shall 

use the disclosure form required by its 

state law and shall submit the data 

required by that law to its state 

supervisory agency for purposes of 

aggregation. 

(b) Loss of exemption. An institution 

losing a state-law exemption under 

paragraph (a) of this section shall 

comply with this part beginning with 

the calendar year following the year for 

which it last reported loan data under 

the state disclosure law. 

§ 1003.4 Compilation of loan data. 

(a) Data format and itemization. A 

financial institution shall collect data 

regarding applications for, and 

originations and purchases of, home 

purchase loans, home improvement 

loans, and refinancings for each 

calendar year. An institution is required 

to collect data regarding requests under 

a preapproval program (as defined in 

§ 1003.2) only if the preapproval request 

is denied or results in the origination of 

a home purchase loan. All reportable 

transactions shall be recorded, within 

thirty calendar days after the end of the 

calendar quarter in which final action is 

taken (such as origination or purchase of 

a loan, or denial or withdrawal of an 

application), on a register in the format 

prescribed in Appendix A of this part. 

The data recorded shall include the 

following items: 

(1) An identifying number for the loan 

or loan application, and the date the 

application was received. 

(2) The type of loan or application. 

(3) The purpose of the loan or 

application. 

(4) Whether the application is a 

request for preapproval and whether it 

resulted in a denial or in an origination. 

(5) The property type to which the 

loan or application relates. 

(6) The owner-occupancy status of the 

property to which the loan or 

application relates. 

(7) The amount of the loan or the 

amount applied for. 

(8) The type of action taken, and the 

date. 

(9) The location of the property to 

which the loan or application relates, by 

MSA or by Metropolitan Division, by 

state, by county, and by census tract, if 

the institution has a home or branch 

office in that MSA or Metropolitan 

Division. 

(10) The ethnicity, race, and sex of the 

applicant or borrower, and the gross 

annual income relied on in processing 

the application. 

(11) The type of entity purchasing a 

loan that the institution originates or 

purchases and then sells within the 

same calendar year (this information 

need not be included in quarterly 

updates). 

(12)(i) For originated loans subject to 

Regulation Z, 12 CFR part 1026, the 

difference between the loan’s annual 

percentage rate (APR) and the average 

prime offer rate for a comparable 

transaction as of the date the interest 

rate is set, if that difference is equal to 

or greater than 1.5 percentage points for 

loans secured by a first lien on a 


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78470 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

dwelling, or equal to or greater than 3.5 

percentage points for loans secured by 

a subordinate lien on a dwelling. 

(ii) ‘‘Average prime offer rate’’ means 

an annual percentage rate that is derived 

from average interest rates, points, and 

other loan pricing terms currently 

offered to consumers by a representative 

sample of creditors for mortgage loans 

that have low-risk pricing 

characteristics. The Bureau publishes 

average prime offer rates for a broad 

range of types of transactions in tables 

updated at least weekly, as well as the 

methodology the Bureau uses to derive 

these rates. 

(13) Whether the loan is subject to the 

Home Ownership and Equity Protection 

Act of 1994, as implemented in 

Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.32). 

(14) The lien status of the loan or 

application (first lien, subordinate lien, 

or not secured by a lien on a dwelling). 

(b) Collection of data on ethnicity, 

race, sex, and income. (1) A financial 

institution shall collect data about the 

ethnicity, race, and sex of the applicant 

or borrower as prescribed in Appendix 

B of this part. 

(2) Ethnicity, race, sex, and income 

data may but need not be collected for 

loans purchased by the financial 

institution. 

(c) Optional data. A financial 

institution may report: 

(1) The reasons it denied a loan 

application; 

(2) Requests for preapproval that are 

approved by the institution but not 

accepted by the applicant; and 

(3) Home-equity lines of credit made 

in whole or in part for the purpose of 

home improvement or home purchase. 

(d) Excluded data. A financial 

institution shall not report: 

(1) Loans originated or purchased by 

the financial institution acting in a 

fiduciary capacity (such as trustee); 

(2) Loans on unimproved land; 

(3) Temporary financing (such as 

bridge or construction loans); 

(4) The purchase of an interest in a 

pool of loans (such as mortgageparticipation certificates, mortgagebacked securities, or real estate 

mortgage investment conduits); 

(5) The purchase solely of the right to 

service loans; or 

(6) Loans acquired as part of a merger 

or acquisition, or as part of the 

acquisition of all of the assets and 

liabilities of a branch office as defined 

in § 1003.2. 

(e) Data reporting for banks and 

savings associations that are required to 

report data on small business, small 

farm, and community development 

lending under CRA. Banks and savings 

associations that are required to report 

data on small business, small farm, and 

community development lending under 

regulations that implement the 

Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 

(12 U.S.C. 2901 et seq.) shall also collect 

the location of property located outside 

MSAs and Metropolitan Divisions in 

which the institution has a home or 

branch office, or outside any MSA. 

§ 1003.5 Disclosure and reporting. 

(a) Reporting to agency. (1) By March 

1 following the calendar year for which 

the loan data are compiled, a financial 

institution shall send its complete loan/ 

application register to the agency office 

specified in Appendix A of this part. 

The institution shall retain a copy for its 

records for at least three years. 

(2) A subsidiary of a bank or savings 

association shall complete a separate 

loan/application register. The subsidiary 

shall submit the register, directly or 

through its parent, to the same agency 

as its parent. 

(b) Public disclosure of statement. (1) 

The Federal Financial Institutions 

Examination Council (FFIEC) will 

prepare a disclosure statement from the 

data each financial institution submits. 

(2) An institution shall make its 

disclosure statement (prepared by the 

FFIEC) available to the public at the 

institution’s home office no later than 

three business days after receiving the 

disclosure statement from the FFIEC. 

(3) In addition, an institution shall 

either: 

(i) Make its disclosure statement 

available to the public, within ten 

business days of receiving it, in at least 

one branch office in each other MSA 

and each other Metropolitan Division 

where the institution has offices (the 

disclosure statement need only contain 

data relating to the MSA or 

Metropolitan Division where the branch 

is located); or 

(ii) Post the address for sending 

written requests in the lobby of each 

branch office in other MSAs and 

Metropolitan Divisions where the 

institution has offices; and mail or 

deliver a copy of the disclosure 

statement within fifteen calendar days 

of receiving a written request (the 

disclosure statement need only contain 

data relating to the MSA or 

Metropolitan Division for which the 

request is made). Including the address 

in the general notice required under 

paragraph (e) of this section satisfies 

this requirement. 

(c) Public disclosure of modified loan/ 

application register. A financial 

institution shall make its loan/ 

application register available to the 

public after removing the following 

information regarding each entry: The 

application or loan number, the date 

that the application was received, and 

the date action was taken. An institution 

shall make its modified register 

available following the calendar year for 

which the data are compiled, by March 

31 for a request received on or before 

March 1, and within thirty calendar 

days for a request received after March 

1. The modified register need only 

contain data relating to the MSA or 

Metropolitan Division for which the 

request is made. 

(d) Availability of data. A financial 

institution shall make its modified 

register available to the public for a 

period of three years and its disclosure 

statement available for a period of five 

years. An institution shall make the data 

available for inspection and copying 

during the hours the office is normally 

open to the public for business. It may 

impose a reasonable fee for any cost 

incurred in providing or reproducing 

the data. 

(e) Notice of availability. A financial 

institution shall post a general notice 

about the availability of its HMDA data 

in the lobby of its home office and of 

each branch office located in an MSA 

and Metropolitan Division. An 

institution shall provide promptly upon 

request the location of the institution’s 

offices where the statement is available 

for inspection and copying, or it may 

include the location in the lobby notice. 

(f) Loan aggregation and central data 

depositories. Using the loan data 

submitted by financial institutions, the 

FFIEC will produce reports for 

individual institutions and reports of 

aggregate data for each MSA and 

Metropolitan Division, showing lending 

patterns by property location, age of 

housing stock, and income level, sex, 

ethnicity, and race. These reports will 

be available to the public at central data 

depositories located in each MSA and 

Metropolitan Division. A listing of 

central data depositories can be 

obtained from the Federal Financial 

Institutions Examination Council, 

Washington, DC 20006. 

§ 1003.6 Enforcement. 

(a) Administrative enforcement. A 

violation of the Act or this part is 

subject to administrative sanctions as 

provided in section 305 of the Act, 

including the imposition of civil money 

penalties, where applicable. Compliance 

is enforced by the agencies listed in 

section 305 of the Act (12 U.S.C. 2804). 

(b) Bona fide errors. (1) An error in 

compiling or recording loan data is not 

a violation of the act or this part if the 

error was unintentional and occurred 

despite the maintenance of procedures 

reasonably adapted to avoid such errors. 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 78471 

(2) An incorrect entry for a census 

tract number is deemed a bona fide 

error, and is not a violation of the act 

or this part, provided that the institution 

maintains procedures reasonably 

adapted to avoid such errors. 

(3) If an institution makes a good-faith 

effort to record all data concerning 

covered transactions fully and 

accurately within thirty calendar days 

after the end of each calendar quarter, 

and some data are nevertheless 

inaccurate or incomplete, the error or 

omission is not a violation of the act or 

this part provided that the institution 

corrects or completes the information 

prior to submitting the loan/application 

register to its regulatory agency. 

Appendix A to Part 1003—Form and 

Instructions for Completion of HMDA Loan/ 

Application Register 

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice 

This report is required by law (12 U.S.C. 

2801–2810 and 12 CFR 1003). An agency 

may not conduct or sponsor, and an 

organization is not required to respond to, a 

collection of information unless it displays a 

valid Office of Management and Budget 

(OMB) Control Number. See 12 CFR 

1003.1(a) for the valid OMB Control Numbers 

applicable to this information collection. 

Send comments regarding this burden 

estimate or any other aspect of this collection 

of information, including suggestions for 

reducing the burden, to the respective 

agencies and to OMB, Office of Information 

and Regulatory Affairs, Paperwork Reduction 

Project, Washington, DC 20503. Be sure to 

reference the applicable agency and the OMB 

Control Number, as found in 12 CFR 

1003.1(a), when submitting comments to 

OMB. 

I. Instructions for Completion of Loan/ 

Application Register 

A. Application or Loan Information 

1. Application or Loan Number. Enter an 

identifying loan number that can be used 

later to retrieve the loan or application file. 

It can be any number of your institution’s 

choosing (not exceeding 25 characters). You 

may use letters, numerals, or a combination 

of both. 

2. Date Application Received. Enter the 

date the loan application was received by 

your institution by month, day, and year. If 

your institution normally records the date 

shown on the application form you may use 

that date instead. Enter ‘‘NA’’ for loans 

purchased by your institution. For paper 

submissions only, use numerals in the form 

MM/DD/YYYY (for example, 01/15/2003). 

For submissions in electronic form, the 

proper format is YYYYMMDD. 

3. Type of Loan or Application. Indicate 

the type of loan or application by entering 

the applicable Code from the following: 

Code 1—Conventional (any loan other than 

FHA, VA, FSA, or RHS loans) 

Code 2—FHA-insured (Federal Housing 

Administration) 

Code 3—VA-guaranteed (Veterans 

Administration) 

Code 4—FSA/RHS-guaranteed (Farm Service 

Agency or Rural Housing Service) 

4. Property Type. Indicate the property 

type by entering the applicable Code from the 

following: 

Code 1—One-to four-family dwelling (other 

than manufactured housing) 

Code 2—Manufactured housing 

Code 3—Multifamily dwelling 

a. Use Code 1, not Code 3, for loans on 

individual condominium or cooperative 

units. 

b. If you cannot determine (despite 

reasonable efforts to find out) whether the 

loan or application relates to a manufactured 

home, use Code 1. 

5. Purpose of Loan or Application. Indicate 

the purpose of the loan or application by 

entering the applicable Code from the 

following: 

Code 1—Home purchase 

Code 2—Home improvement 

Code 3—Refinancing 

a. Do not report a refinancing if, under the 

loan agreement, you were unconditionally 

obligated to refinance the obligation, or you 

were obligated to refinance the obligation 

subject to conditions within the borrower’s 

control. 

6. Owner Occupancy. Indicate whether the 

property to which the loan or loan 

application relates is to be owner-occupied as 

a principal residence by entering the 

applicable Code from the following: 

Code 1—Owner-occupied as a principal 

dwelling 

Code 2—Not owner-occupied as a principal 

dwelling 

Code 3—Not applicable 

a. For purchased loans, use Code 1 unless 

the loan documents or application indicate 

that the property will not be owner-occupied 

as a principal residence. 

b. Use Code 2 for second homes or vacation 

homes, as well as for rental properties. 

c. Use Code 3 if the property to which the 

loan relates is a multifamily dwelling; is not 

located in an MSA; or is located in an MSA 

or an MD in which your institution has 

neither a home nor a branch office. 

Alternatively, at your institution’s option, 

you may report the actual occupancy status, 

using Code 1 or 2 as applicable. 

7. Loan Amount. Enter the amount of the 

loan or application. Do not report loans 

below $500. Show the amount in thousands, 

rounding to the nearest thousand (round 

$500 up to the next $1,000). For example, a 

loan for $167,300 should be entered as 167 

and one for $15,500 as 16. 

a. For a home purchase loan that you 

originated, enter the principal amount of the 

loan. 

b. For a home purchase loan that you 

purchased, enter the unpaid principal 

balance of the loan at the time of purchase. 

c. For a home improvement loan, enter the 

entire amount of the loan—including unpaid 

finance charges if that is how such loans are 

recorded on your books—even if only a part 

of the proceeds is intended for home 

improvement. 

d. If you opt to report home-equity lines of 

credit, report only the portion of the line 

intended for home improvement or home 

purchase. 

e. For a refinancing, indicate the total 

amount of the refinancing, including both the 

amount outstanding on the original loan and 

any amount of ‘‘new money.’’ 

f. For a loan application that was denied 

or withdrawn, enter the amount for which 

the applicant applied. 

8. Request for Preapproval of a Home 

Purchase Loan. Indicate whether the 

application or loan involved a request for 

preapproval of a home purchase loan by 

entering the applicable Code from the 

following: 

Code 1—Preapproval requested 

Code 2—Preapproval not requested 

Code 3—Not applicable 

a. Enter Code 2 if your institution has a 

covered preapproval program but the 

applicant does not request a preapproval. 

b. Enter Code 3 if your institution does not 

have a preapproval program as defined in 

§ 1003.2. 

c. Enter Code 3 for applications or loans for 

home improvement or refinancing, and for 

purchased loans. 

B. Action Taken 

1. Type of Action. Indicate the type of 

action taken on the application or loan by 

using one of the following Codes. 

Code 1—Loan originated 

Code 2—Application approved but not 

accepted 

Code 3—Application denied 

Code 4—Application withdrawn 

Code 5—File closed for incompleteness 

Code 6—Loan purchased by your institution 

Code 7—Preapproval request denied 

Code 8—Preapproval request approved but 

not accepted (optional reporting) 

a. Use Code 1 for a loan that is originated, 

including one resulting from a request for 

preapproval. 

b. For a counteroffer (your offer to the 

applicant to make the loan on different terms 

or in a different amount from the terms or 

amount applied for), use Code 1 if the 

applicant accepts. Use Code 3 if the applicant 

turns down the counteroffer or does not 

respond. 

c. Use Code 2 when the application is 

approved but the applicant (or the loan 

broker or correspondent) fails to respond to 

your notification of approval or your 

commitment letter within the specified time. 

Do not use this Code for a preapproval 

request. 

d. Use Code 4 only when the application 

is expressly withdrawn by the applicant 

before a credit decision is made. Do not use 

Code 4 if a request for preapproval is 

withdrawn; preapproval requests that are 

withdrawn are not reported under HMDA. 

e. Use Code 5 if you sent a written notice 

of incompleteness under § 1002.9(c)(2) of 

Regulation B (Equal Credit Opportunity) and 

the applicant did not respond to your request 

for additional information within the period 

of time specified in your notice. Do not use 

this Code for requests for preapproval that 

are incomplete; these preapproval requests 

are not reported under HMDA. 

2. Date of Action. For paper submissions 

only, enter the date by month, day, and year, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with RULES
78472 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

using numerals in the form MM/DD/YYYY 

(for example, 02/22/2003). For submissions 

in electronic form, the proper format is 

YYYYMMDD. 

a. For loans originated, enter the settlement 

or closing date. 

b. For loans purchased, enter the date of 

purchase by your institution. 

c. For applications and preapprovals 

denied, applications and preapprovals 

approved but not accepted by the applicant, 

and files closed for incompleteness, enter the 

date that the action was taken by your 

institution or the date the notice was sent to 

the applicant. 

d. For applications withdrawn, enter the 

date you received the applicant’s express 

withdrawal, or enter the date shown on the 

notification from the applicant, in the case of 

a written withdrawal. 

e. For preapprovals that lead to a loan 

origination, enter the date of the origination. 

C. Property Location 

Except as otherwise provided, enter in 

these columns the applicable Codes for the 

MSA, or the MD if the MSA is divided into 

MDs, state, county, and census tract to 

indicate the location of the property to which 

a loan relates. 

1. MSA or Metropolitan Division.—For 

each loan or loan application, enter the MSA, 

or the MD number if the MSA is divided into 

MDs. MSA and MD boundaries are defined 

by OMB; use the boundaries that were in 

effect on January 1 of the calendar year for 

which you are reporting. A listing of MSAs 

and MDs is available from the appropriate 

Federal agency to which you report data or 

the FFIEC. 

2. State and County. Use the Federal 

Information Processing Standard (FIPS) twodigit numerical code for the state and the 

three-digit numerical code for the county. 

These codes are available from the 

appropriate Federal agency to which you 

report data or the FFIEC. 

3. Census Tract.—Indicate the census tract 

where the property is located. 

Notwithstanding paragraph 6, if the property 

is located in a county with a population of 

30,000 or less in the 2000 Census, enter 

‘‘NA’’ (even if the population has increased 

above 30,000 since 2000), or enter the census 

tract number. County population data can be 

obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

4. Census Tract Number.—For the census 

tract number, consult the resources provided 

by the U.S. Census Bureau or the FFIEC. 

5. Property Located Outside MSAs or 

Metropolitan Divisions.—For loans on 

property located outside the MSAs and MDs 

in which an institution has a home or branch 

office, or for property located outside of any 

MSA or MD, the institution may choose one 

of the following two options. Under option 

one, the institution may enter the MSA or 

MD, state and county codes and the census 

tract number; and if the property is not 

located in any MSA or MD, the institution 

may enter ‘‘NA’’ in the MSA or MD column. 

(Codes exist for all states and counties and 

numbers exist for all census tracts.) Under 

this first option, the codes and census tract 

number must accurately identify the property 

location. Under the second option, which is 

not available if paragraph 6 applies, an 

institution may enter ‘‘NA’’ in all four 

columns, whether or not the codes or 

numbers exist for the property location. 

6. Data Reporting for Banks and Savings 

Associations Required To Report Data on 

Small Business, Small Farm, and Community 

Development Lending Under the CRA 

Regulations.—If your institution is a bank or 

savings association that is required to report 

data under the regulations that implement 

the CRA, you must enter the property 

location on your HMDA/LAR even if the 

property is outside the MSAs or MDs in 

which you have a home or branch office, or 

is not located in any MSA. 

7. Requests for Preapproval. 

Notwithstanding paragraphs 1 through 6, if 

the application is a request for preapproval 

that is denied or that is approved but not 

accepted by the applicant, you may enter 

‘‘NA’’ in all four columns. 

D. Applicant Information—Ethnicity, Race, 

Sex, and Income 

Appendix B contains instructions for the 

collection of data on ethnicity, race, and sex, 

and also contains a sample form for data 

collection. 

1. Applicability. Report this information 

for loans that you originate as well as for 

applications that do not result in an 

origination. 

a. You need not collect or report this 

information for loans purchased. If you 

choose not to report this information, use the 

Codes for ‘‘not applicable.’’ 

b. If the borrower or applicant is not a 

natural person (a corporation or partnership, 

for example), use the Codes for ‘‘not 

applicable.’’ 

2. Mail, Internet, or Telephone 

Applications.—All loan applications, 

including applications taken by mail, 

internet, or telephone must use a collection 

form similar to that shown in Appendix B 

regarding ethnicity, race, and sex. For 

applications taken by telephone, the 

information in the collection form must be 

stated orally by the lender, except for 

information that pertains uniquely to 

applications taken in writing. If the applicant 

does not provide these data in an application 

taken by mail or telephone or on the internet, 

enter the Code for ‘‘information not provided 

by applicant in mail, internet, or telephone 

application’’ specified in paragraphs I.D.3., 

4., and 5. of this appendix. (See Appendix B 

for complete information on the collection of 

these data in mail, Internet, or telephone 

applications.) 

3. Ethnicity of Borrower or Applicant. Use 

the following Codes to indicate the ethnicity 

of the applicant or borrower under column 

‘‘A’’ and of any co-applicant or co-borrower 

under column ‘‘CA.’’ 

Code 1—Hispanic or Latino 

Code 2—Not Hispanic or Latino 

Code 3—Information not provided by 

applicant in mail, internet, or telephone 

application 

Code 4—Not applicable 

Code 5—No co-applicant 

4. Race of Borrower or Applicant. Use the 

following Codes to indicate the race of the 

applicant or borrower under column ‘‘A’’ and 

of any co-applicant or co-borrower under 

column ‘‘CA.’’ 

Code 1—American Indian or Alaska Native 

Code 2—Asian 

Code 3—Black or African American 

Code 4—Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific 

Islander 

Code 5—White 

Code 6—Information not provided by 

applicant in mail, internet, or telephone 

application 

Code 7—Not applicable 

Code 8—No co-applicant 

a. If an applicant selects more than one 

racial designation, enter all Codes 

corresponding to the applicant’s selections. 

b. Use Code 4 (for ethnicity) and Code 7 

(for race) for ‘‘not applicable’’ only when the 

applicant or co-applicant is not a natural 

person or when applicant or co-applicant 

information is unavailable because the loan 

has been purchased by your institution. 

c. If there is more than one co-applicant, 

provide the required information only for the 

first co-applicant listed on the application 

form. If there are no co-applicants or coborrowers, use Code 5 (for ethnicity) and 

Code 8 (for race) for ‘‘no co-applicant’’ in the 

co-applicant column. 

5. Sex of Borrower or Applicant. Use the 

following Codes to indicate the sex of the 

applicant or borrower under column ‘‘A’’ and 

of any co-applicant or co-borrower under 

column ‘‘CA.’’ 

Code 1—Male 

Code 2—Female 

Code 3—Information not provided by 

applicant in mail, internet, or telephone 

application 

Code 4—Not applicable 

Code 5—No co-applicant or co-borrower 

a. Use Code 4 for ‘‘not applicable’’ only 

when the applicant or co-applicant is not a 

natural person or when applicant or coapplicant information is unavailable because 

the loan has been purchased by your 

institution. 

b. If there is more than one co-applicant, 

provide the required information only for the 

first co-applicant listed on the application 

form. If there are no co-applicants or coborrowers, use Code 5 for ‘‘no co-applicant’’ 

in the co-applicant column. 

6. Income. Enter the gross annual income 

that your institution relied on in making the 

credit decision. 

a. Round all dollar amounts to the nearest 

thousand (round $500 up to the next $1,000), 

and show in thousands. For example, report 

$35,500 as 36. 

b. For loans on multifamily dwellings, 

enter ‘‘NA.’’ 

c. If no income information is asked for or 

relied on in the credit decision, enter ‘‘NA.’’ 

d. If the applicant or co-applicant is not a 

natural person or the applicant or coapplicant information is unavailable because 

the loan has been purchased by your 

institution, enter ‘‘NA.’’ 

E. Type of Purchaser 

Enter the applicable Code to indicate 

whether a loan that your institution 

originated or purchased was then sold to a 

secondary market entity within the same 

calendar year: 


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Code 0—Loan was not originated or was not 

sold in calendar year covered by register 

Code 1—Fannie Mae 

Code 2—Ginnie Mae 

Code 3—Freddie Mac 

Code 4—Farmer Mac 

Code 5—Private securitization 

Code 6—Commercial bank, savings bank, or 

savings association 

Code 7—Life insurance company, credit 

union, mortgage bank, or finance company 

Code 8—Affiliate institution 

Code 9—Other type of purchaser 

a. Use Code 0 for applications that were 

denied, withdrawn, or approved but not 

accepted by the applicant; and for files 

closed for incompleteness. 

b. Use Code 0 if you originated or 

purchased a loan and did not sell it during 

that same calendar year. If you sell the loan 

in a succeeding year, you need not report the 

sale. 

c. Use Code 2 if you conditionally assign 

a loan to Ginnie Mae in connection with a 

mortgage-backed security transaction. 

d. Use Code 8 for loans sold to an 

institution affiliated with you, such as your 

subsidiary or a subsidiary of your parent 

corporation. 

F. Reasons for Denial 

1. You may report the reason for denial, 

and you may indicate up to three reasons, 

using the following Codes. Leave this column 

blank if the ‘‘action taken’’ on the application 

is not a denial. For example, do not complete 

this column if the application was 

withdrawn or the file was closed for 

incompleteness. 

Code 1—Debt-to-income ratio 

Code 2—Employment history 

Code 3—Credit history 

Code 4—Collateral 

Code 5—Insufficient cash (downpayment, 

closing costs) 

Code 6—Unverifiable information 

Code 7—Credit application incomplete 

Code 8—Mortgage insurance denied 

Code 9—Other 

2. If your institution uses the model form 

for adverse action contained in Appendix C 

to Regulation B (Form C–1, Sample 

Notification Form), use the foregoing Codes 

as follows: 

a. Code 1 for: Income insufficient for 

amount of credit requested, and Excessive 

obligations in relation to income. 

b. Code 2 for: Temporary or irregular 

employment, and Length of employment. 

c. Code 3 for: Insufficient number of credit 

references provided; Unacceptable type of 

credit references provided; No credit file; 

Limited credit experience; Poor credit 

performance with us; Delinquent past or 

present credit obligations with others; 

Garnishment, attachment, foreclosure, 

repossession, collection action, or judgment; 

and Bankruptcy. 

d. Code 4 for: Value or type of collateral 

not sufficient. 

e. Code 6 for: Unable to verify credit 

references; Unable to verify employment; 

Unable to verify income; and Unable to verify 

residence. 

f. Code 7 for: Credit application 

incomplete. 

g. Code 9 for: Length of residence; 

Temporary residence; and Other reasons 

specified on notice. 

G. Pricing-Related Data 

1. Rate Spread. a. For a home-purchase 

loan, a refinancing, or a dwelling-secured 

home improvement loan that you originated, 

report the spread between the annual 

percentage rate (APR) and the average prime 

offer rate for a comparable transaction if the 

spread is equal to or greater than 1.5 

percentage points for first-lien loans or 3.5 

percentage points for subordinate-lien loans. 

To determine whether the rate spread meets 

this threshold, use the average prime offer 

rate in effect for the type of transaction as of 

the date the interest rate was set, and use the 

APR for the loan, as calculated and disclosed 

to the consumer under §§ 1026.6 or 1026.18, 

as applicable, of Regulation Z (12 CFR part 

1026). Current and historic average prime 

offer rates are set forth in the tables 

published on the FFIEC’s Web site (http:// 

www.ffiec.gov/hmda) entitled ‘‘Average 

Prime Offer Rates-Fixed’’ and ‘‘Average 

Prime Offer Rates-Adjustable.’’ Use the most 

recently available average prime offer rate. 

‘‘Most recently available’’ means the average 

prime offer rate set forth in the applicable 

table with the most recent effective date as 

of the date the interest rate was set. Do not 

use an average prime offer rate before its 

effective date. 

b. If the loan is not subject to Regulation 

Z, or is a home improvement loan that is not 

dwelling-secured, or is a loan that you 

purchased, enter ‘‘NA.’’ 

c. Enter ‘‘NA’’ in the case of an application 

that does not result in a loan origination. 

d. Enter the rate spread to two decimal 

places, and use a leading zero. For example, 

enter 03.29. If the difference between the 

APR and the average prime offer rate is a 

figure with more than two decimal places, 

round the figure or truncate the digits beyond 

two decimal places. 

e. If the difference between the APR and 

the average prime offer rate is less than 1.5 

percentage points for a first-lien loan and less 

than 3.5 percentage points for a subordinatelien loan, enter ‘‘NA.’’ 

2. Date the interest rate was set. The 

relevant date to use to determine the average 

prime offer rate for a comparable transaction 

is the date on which the loan’s interest rate 

was set by the financial institution for the 

final time before closing. If an interest rate is 

set pursuant to a ‘‘lock-in’’ agreement 

between the lender and the borrower, then 

the date on which the agreement fixes the 

interest rate is the date the rate was set. If a 

rate is re-set after a lock-in agreement is 

executed (for example, because the borrower 

exercises a float-down option or the 

agreement expires), then the relevant date is 

the date the rate is re-set for the final time 

before closing. If no lock-in agreement is 

executed, then the relevant date is the date 

on which the institution sets the rate for the 

final time before closing. 

3. HOEPA Status. a. For a loan that you 

originated or purchased that is subject to the 

Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act 

of 1994 (HOEPA), as implemented in 

Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.32), because the 

APR or the points and fees on the loan 

exceed the HOEPA triggers, enter Code 1. 

b. Enter Code 2 in all other cases. For 

example, enter Code 2 for a loan that you 

originated or purchased that is not subject to 

the requirements of HOEPA for any reason; 

also enter Code 2 in the case of an 

application that does not result in a loan 

origination. 

H. Lien Status 

Use the following Codes for loans that you 

originate and for applications that do not 

result in an origination: 

Code 1—Secured by a first lien. 

Code 2—Secured by a subordinate lien. 

Code 3—Not secured by a lien. 

Code 4—Not applicable (purchased loan). 

a. Use Codes 1 through 3 for loans that you 

originate, as well as for applications that do 

not result in an origination (applications that 

are approved but not accepted, denied, 

withdrawn, or closed for incompleteness). 

b. Use Code 4 for loans that you purchase. 

II. Appropriate Federal Agencies for HMDA 

Reporting 

A. You are strongly encouraged to submit 

your loan/application register via email. If 

you elect to use this method of transmission 

and the appropriate Federal agency for your 

institution is the Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection, the Office of the 

Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal 

Deposit Insurance Corporation, or the 

National Credit Union Administration, then 

you should submit your institution’s files to 

the email address dedicated to that purpose 

by the Bureau, which can be found on the 

Web site of the FFIEC. If one of the foregoing 

agencies is the appropriate Federal agency for 

your institution and you elect to submit your 

data by regular mail, then use the following 

address: HMDA, Federal Reserve Board, 

Attention: HMDA Processing, (insert name of 

the appropriate Federal agency for your 

institution), 20th & Constitution Ave NW., 

MS N502, Washington, DC 20551–0001. 

B. If the Federal Reserve System (but not 

the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection) is the appropriate Federal agency 

for your institution, you should use the email 

or regular mail address of your district bank 

indicated on the Web site of the FFIEC. If the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development is the appropriate Federal 

agency for your institution, then you should 

use the email or regular mail address 

indicated on the Web site of the FFIEC. 

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BILLING CODE 4810–AM–C 


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Appendix B to Part 1003—Form and 

Instructions for Data Collection on 

Ethnicity, Race, and Sex 

I. Instructions on Collection of Data on 

Ethnicity, Race, and Sex 

You may list questions regarding the 

ethnicity, race, and sex of the applicant on 

your loan application form, or on a separate 

form that refers to the application. (See the 

sample form below for model language.) 

II. Procedures 

A. You must ask the applicant for this 

information (but you cannot require the 

applicant to provide it) whether the 

application is taken in person, by mail or 

telephone, or on the internet. For 

applications taken by telephone, the 

information in the collection form must be 

stated orally by the lender, except for that 

information which pertains uniquely to 

applications taken in writing. 

B. Inform the applicant that the Federal 

government requests this information in 

order to monitor compliance with Federal 

statutes that prohibit lenders from 

discriminating against applicants on these 

bases. Inform the applicant that if the 

information is not provided where the 

application is taken in person, you are 

required to note the data on the basis of 

visual observation or surname. 

C. You must offer the applicant the option 

of selecting one or more racial designations. 

D. If the applicant chooses not to provide 

the information for an application taken in 

person, note this fact on the form and then 

note the applicant’s ethnicity, race, and sex 

on the basis of visual observation and 

surname, to the extent possible. 

E. If the applicant declines to answer these 

questions or fails to provide the information 

on an application taken by mail or telephone 

or on the internet, the data need not be 

provided. In such a case, indicate that the 

application was received by mail, telephone, 

or Internet, if it is not otherwise evident on 

the face of the application. 

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BILLING CODE 4810–AM–C 

Supplement I to Part 1003—Staff 

Commentary 

Introduction 

1. Status. The commentary in this 

supplement is the vehicle by which the 

Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection 

issues formal staff interpretations of 

Regulation C (12 CFR part 1003). 

Section 1003.1—Authority, Purpose, and 

Scope 

1(c) Scope. 

1. General. The comments in this section 

address issues affecting coverage of 

institutions and exemptions from coverage. 

2. The broker rule and the meaning of 

‘‘broker’’ and ‘‘investor.’’ For the purposes of 

the guidance given in this commentary, an 

institution that takes and processes a loan 

application and arranges for another 

institution to acquire the loan at or after 

closing is acting as a ‘‘broker,’’ and an 

institution that acquires a loan from a broker 

at or after closing is acting as an ‘‘investor.’’ 

(The terms used in this commentary may 

have different meanings in certain parts of 

the mortgage lending industry, and other 

terms may be used in place of these terms, 

for example in the Federal Housing 

Administration mortgage insurance 

programs.) Depending on the facts, a broker 

may or may not make a credit decision on an 

application (and thus it may or may not have 

reporting responsibilities). If the broker 

makes a credit decision, it reports that 

decision; if it does not make a credit 

decision, it does not report. If an investor 

reviews an application and makes a credit 

decision prior to closing, the investor reports 

that decision. If the investor does not review 

the application prior to closing, it reports 

only the loans that it purchases; it does not 

report the loans it does not purchase. An 

institution that makes a credit decision on an 

application prior to closing reports that 

decision regardless of whose name the loan 

closes in. 

3. Illustrations of the broker rule. Assume 

that, prior to closing, four investors receive 

the same application from a broker; two deny 

it, one approves it, and one approves it and 

acquires the loan. In these circumstances, the 

first two report denials, the third reports the 

transaction as approved but not accepted, 

and the fourth reports an origination 

(whether the loan closes in the name of the 

broker or the investor). Alternatively, assume 

that the broker denies a loan before sending 

it to an investor; in this situation, the broker 

reports a denial. 

4. Broker’s use of investor’s underwriting 

criteria. If a broker makes a credit decision 

based on underwriting criteria set by an 

investor, but without the investor’s review 

prior to closing, the broker has made the 

credit decision. The broker reports as an 

origination a loan that it approves and closes, 

and reports as a denial an application that it 

turns down (either because the application 

does not meet the investor’s underwriting 

guidelines or for some other reason). The 

investor reports as purchases only those 

loans it purchases. 

5. Insurance and other criteria. If an 

institution evaluates an application based on 

the criteria or actions of a third party other 

than an investor (such as a government or 

private insurer or guarantor), the institution 

must report the action taken on the 

application (loan originated, approved but 

not accepted, or denied, for example). 

6. Credit decision of agent is decision of 

principal. If an institution approves loans 

through the actions of an agent, the 

institution must report the action taken on 

the application (loan originated, approved 

but not accepted, or denied, for example). 

State law determines whether one party is 

the agent of another. 

7. Affiliate bank underwriting (250.250 

review). If an institution makes an 

independent evaluation of the 

creditworthiness of an applicant (for 

example, as part of a preclosing review by an 

affiliate bank under 12 CFR 250.250, a 

regulation of the Board of Governors of the 

Federal Reserve System that interprets 

section 23A of the Federal Reserve Act), the 

institution is making a credit decision. If the 

institution then acquires the loan, it reports 

the loan as an origination whether the loan 

closes in the name of the institution or its 

affiliate. An institution that does not acquire 

the loan but takes some other action reports 

that action. 

8. Participation loan. An institution that 

originates a loan and then sells partial 

interests to other institutions reports the loan 

as an origination. An institution that acquires 

only a partial interest in such a loan does not 

report the transaction even if it has 

participated in the underwriting and 

origination of the loan. 

9. Assumptions. An assumption occurs 

when an institution enters into a written 

agreement accepting a new borrower as the 

obligor on an existing obligation. An 

institution reports an assumption (or an 

application for an assumption) as a home 

purchase loan in the amount of the 

outstanding principal. If a transaction does 

not involve a written agreement between a 

new borrower and the institution, it is not an 

assumption for HMDA purposes and is not 

reported. 

Section 1003.2—Definitions 

Application. 

1. Consistency With Regulation B. Bureau 

interpretations that appear in the official staff 

commentary to Regulation B (Equal Credit 

Opportunity, 12 CFR part 1002, Supplement 

I) are generally applicable to the definition of 

an application under Regulation C. However, 

under Regulation C the definition of an 

application does not include prequalification 

requests. 

2. Prequalification. A prequalification 

request is a request by a prospective loan 

applicant (other than a request for 

preapproval) for a preliminary determination 

on whether the prospective applicant would 

likely qualify for credit under an institution’s 

standards, or for a determination on the 

amount of credit for which the prospective 

applicant would likely qualify. Some 

institutions evaluate prequalification 

requests through a procedure that is separate 

from the institution’s normal loan 

application process; others use the same 

process. In either case, Regulation C does not 

require an institution to report 

prequalification requests on the HMDA/LAR, 

even though these requests may constitute 

applications under Regulation B for purposes 

of adverse action notices. 

3. Requests for preapproval. To be a 

covered preapproval program, the written 

commitment issued under the program must 

result from a full review of the 

creditworthiness of the applicant, including 

such verification of income, resources and 

other matters as is typically done by the 

institution as part of its normal credit 

evaluation program. In addition to conditions 

involving the identification of a suitable 

property and verification that no material 

change has occurred in the applicant’s 

financial condition or creditworthiness, the 

written commitment may be subject only to 

other conditions (unrelated to the financial 

condition or creditworthiness of the 

applicant) that the lender ordinarily attaches 

to a traditional home mortgage application 

approval. These conditions are limited to 

conditions such as requiring an acceptable 

title insurance binder or a certificate 

indicating clear termite inspection, and, in 

the case where the applicant plans to use the 

proceeds from the sale of the applicant’s 

present home to purchase a new home, a 

settlement statement showing adequate 

proceeds from the sale of the present home. 

Branch office. 

1. Credit union. For purposes of Regulation 

C, a ‘‘branch’’ of a credit union is any office 

where member accounts are established or 

loans are made, whether or not the office has 

been approved as a branch by a Federal or 

state agency. (See 12 U.S.C. 1752.) 

2. Depository institution. A branch of a 

depository institution does not include a 

loan-production office, the office of an 

affiliate, or the office of a third party such as 

a loan broker. (But see Appendix A, 

paragraph I.C.6, which requires certain 

depository institutions to report property 

location even for properties located outside 

those MSAs or Metropolitan Divisions in 

which the institution has a home or branch 

office.) 

3. Nondepository institution. For a 

nondepository institution, ‘‘branch office’’ 

does not include the office of an affiliate or 

other third party such as a loan broker. (But 

note that certain nondepository institutions 

must report property location even in MSAs 

or Metropolitan Divisions where they do not 

have a physical location.) 

Dwelling. 

1. Coverage. The definition of ‘‘dwelling’’ 

is not limited to the principal or other 

residence of the applicant or borrower, and 

thus includes vacation or second homes and 

rental properties. A dwelling also includes a 

multifamily structure such as an apartment 

building. 

2. Exclusions. Recreational vehicles such 

as boats or campers are not dwellings for 

purposes of HMDA. Also excluded are 

transitory residences such as hotels, 

hospitals, and college dormitories, whose 

occupants have principal residences 

elsewhere. 

Financial institution. 

1. General. An institution that met the test 

for coverage under HMDA in year 1, and then 


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ceases to meet the test (for example, because 

its assets fall below the threshold on 

December 31 of year 2) stops collecting 

HMDA data beginning with year 3. Similarly, 

an institution that did not meet the coverage 

test for a given year, and then meets the test 

in the succeeding year, begins collecting 

HMDA data in the calendar year following 

the year in which it meets the test for 

coverage. For example, a for-profit mortgage 

lending institution (other than a bank, 

savings association, or credit union) that, in 

year 1, falls below the thresholds specified in 

the definition of Financial institution in 

§ 1003.2, but meets one of them in year 2, 

need not collect data in year 2, but begins 

collecting data in year 3. 

2. Adjustment of exemption threshold for 

depository institutions. For data collection in 

2011, the asset-size exemption threshold is 

$40 million. Depository institutions with 

assets at or below $40 million as of December 

31, 2010 are exempt from collecting data for 

2011. 

3. Coverage after a merger. Several 

scenarios of data-collection responsibilities 

for the calendar year of a merger are 

described below. Under all the scenarios, if 

the merger results in a covered institution, 

that institution must begin data collection 

January 1 of the following calendar year. 

i. Two institutions are not covered by 

Regulation C because of asset size. The 

institutions merge. No data collection is 

required for the year of the merger (even if 

the merger results in a covered institution). 

ii. A covered institution and an exempt 

institution merge. The covered institution is 

the surviving institution. For the year of the 

merger, data collection is required for the 

covered institution’s transactions. Data 

collection is optional for transactions 

handled in offices of the previously exempt 

institution. 

iii. A covered institution and an exempt 

institution merge. The exempt institution is 

the surviving institution, or a new institution 

is formed. Data collection is required for 

transactions of the covered institution that 

take place prior to the merger. Data collection 

is optional for transactions taking place after 

the merger date. 

iv. Two covered institutions merge. Data 

collection is required for the entire year. The 

surviving or resulting institution files either 

a consolidated submission or separate 

submissions for that year. 

4. Originations. HMDA coverage depends 

in part on whether an institution has 

originated home purchase loans. To 

determine whether activities with respect to 

a particular loan constitute an origination, 

institutions should consult, among other 

parts of the staff commentary, the discussion 

of the broker rule under §§ 1003.1(c) and 

1003.4(a). 

5. Branches of foreign banks—treated as 

banks. A Federal branch or a state-licensed 

insured branch of a foreign bank is a ‘‘bank’’ 

under section 3(a)(1) of the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1813(a)), and is 

covered by HMDA if it meets the tests for a 

depository institution found in § 1003.2 of 

Regulation C. 

6. Branches and offices of foreign banks— 

treated as for-profit mortgage lending 

institutions. Federal agencies, state-licensed 

agencies, state-licensed uninsured branches 

of foreign banks, commercial lending 

companies owned or controlled by foreign 

banks, and entities operating under section 

25 or 25A of the Federal Reserve Act, 12 

U.S.C. 601 and 611 (Edge Act and agreement 

corporations) are not ‘‘banks’’ under the 

Federal Deposit Insurance Act. These entities 

are nonetheless covered by HMDA if they 

meet the tests for a for-profit nondepository 

mortgage lending institution found in 

§ 1003.2 of Regulation C. 

Home improvement loan. 

1. Classification requirement for loans not 

secured by a lien on a dwelling. An 

institution has ‘‘classified’’ a loan that is not 

secured by a lien on a dwelling as a home 

improvement loan if it has entered the loan 

on its books as a home improvement loan, or 

has otherwise coded or identified the loan as 

a home improvement loan. For example, an 

institution that has booked a loan or reported 

it on a ‘‘call report’’ as a home improvement 

loan has classified it as a home improvement 

loan. An institution may also classify loans 

as home improvement loans in other ways 

(for example, by color-coding loan files). 

2. Improvements to real property. Home 

improvements include improvements both to 

a dwelling and to the real property on which 

the dwelling is located (for example, 

installation of a swimming pool, construction 

of a garage, or landscaping). 

3. Commercial and other loans. A home 

improvement loan may include a loan 

originated outside an institution’s residential 

mortgage lending division (such as a loan to 

improve an apartment building made through 

the commercial loan department). 

4. Mixed-use property. A loan to improve 

property used for residential and commercial 

purposes (for example, a building containing 

apartment units and retail space) is a home 

improvement loan if the loan proceeds are 

used primarily to improve the residential 

portion of the property. If the loan proceeds 

are used to improve the entire property (for 

example, to replace the heating system), the 

loan is a home improvement loan if the 

property itself is primarily residential. An 

institution may use any reasonable standard 

to determine the primary use of the property, 

such as by square footage or by the income 

generated. An institution may select the 

standard to apply on a case-by-case basis. If 

the loan is unsecured, to report the loan as 

a home improvement loan the institution 

must also have classified it as such. 

5. Multiple-category loans. If a loan is a 

home improvement loan as well as a 

refinancing, an institution reports the loan as 

a home improvement loan. 

Home purchase loan. 

1. Multiple properties. A home purchase 

loan includes a loan secured by one dwelling 

and used to purchase another dwelling. 

2. Mixed-use property. A dwelling-secured 

loan to purchase property used primarily for 

residential purposes (for example, an 

apartment building containing a convenience 

store) is a home purchase loan. An institution 

may use any reasonable standard to 

determine the primary use of the property, 

such as by square footage or by the income 

generated. An institution may select the 

standard to apply on a case-by-case basis. 

3. Farm loan. A loan to purchase property 

used primarily for agricultural purposes is 

not a home purchase loan even if the 

property includes a dwelling. An institution 

may use any reasonable standard to 

determine the primary use of the property, 

such as by reference to the exemption from 

Regulation X (Real Estate Settlement 

Procedures, 12 CFR 1024.5(b)(1)) for a loan 

on property of 25 acres or more. An 

institution may select the standard to apply 

on a case-by-case basis. 

4. Commercial and other loans. A home 

purchase loan may include a loan originated 

outside an institution’s residential mortgage 

lending division (such as a loan for the 

purchase of an apartment building made 

through the commercial loan department). 

5. Construction and permanent financing. 

A home purchase loan includes both a 

combined construction/permanent loan and 

the permanent financing that replaces a 

construction-only loan. It does not include a 

construction-only loan, which is considered 

‘‘temporary financing’’ under Regulation C 

and is not reported. 

6. Second mortgages that finance the 

downpayments on first mortgages. If an 

institution making a first mortgage loan to a 

home purchaser also makes a second 

mortgage loan to the same purchaser to 

finance part or all of the home purchaser’s 

downpayment, the institution reports each 

loan separately as a home purchase loan. 

7. Multiple-category loans. If a loan is a 

home purchase loan as well as a home 

improvement loan, or a refinancing, an 

institution reports the loan as a home 

purchase loan. 

Manufactured home. 

1. Definition of a manufactured home. The 

definition in § 1003.2 refers to the Federal 

building code for factory-built housing 

established by the Department of Housing 

and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD 

code requires generally that housing be 

essentially ready for occupancy upon leaving 

the factory and being transported to a 

building site. Modular homes that meet all of 

the HUD code standards are included in the 

definition because they are ready for 

occupancy upon leaving the factory. Other 

factory-built homes, such as panelized and 

pre-cut homes, generally do not meet the 

HUD code because they require a significant 

amount of construction on site before they 

are ready for occupancy. Loans and 

applications relating to manufactured homes 

that do not meet the HUD code should not 

be identified as manufactured housing under 

HMDA. 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 

Metropolitan Divisions. 

1. Use of terms ‘‘Metropolitan Statistical 

Area’’ and ‘‘Metropolitan Division.’’ The U.S. 

Office of Management and Budget defines 

Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 

Metropolitan Divisions to provide nationally 

consistent definitions for collecting, 

tabulating, and publishing Federal statistics 

for a set of geographic areas. OMB divides 

every Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) 

with a population of 2.5 million or more into 

Metropolitan Divisions (MDs); MSAs with 

populations under 2.5 million population are 

not so divided. 67 FR 82228 (December 27, 


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2000). For all purposes under Regulation C, 

if an MSA is divided by OMB into MDs, the 

appropriate geographic unit to be used is the 

MD; if an MSA is not so divided by OMB into 

MDs, the appropriate geographic unit to be 

used is the MSA. 

Section 1003.4—Compilation of Loan Data 

4(a) Data format and itemization. 

1. Reporting requirements. i. An institution 

reports data on loans that it originated and 

loans that it purchased during the calendar 

year described in the report. An institution 

reports these data even if the loans were 

subsequently sold by the institution. 

ii. An institution reports the data for loan 

applications that did not result in 

originations—for example, applications that 

the institution denied or that the applicant 

withdrew during the calendar year covered 

by the report. 

iii. In the case of brokered loan 

applications or applications forwarded 

through a correspondent, the institution 

reports as originations the loans that it 

approved and subsequently acquired per a 

pre-closing arrangement (whether or not they 

closed in the institution’s name). 

Additionally, the institution reports the data 

for all applications that did not result in 

originations—for example, applications that 

the institution denied or that the applicant 

withdrew during the calendar year covered 

by the report (whether or not they would 

have closed in the institution’s name). For all 

of these loans and applications, the 

institution reports the required data 

regarding the borrower’s or applicant’s 

ethnicity, race, sex, and income. 

iv. Loan originations are to be reported 

only once. If the institution is the loan broker 

or correspondent, it does not report as 

originations the loans that it forwarded to 

another lender for approval prior to closing, 

and that were approved and subsequently 

acquired by that lender (whether or not they 

closed in the institution’s name). 

v. An institution reports applications that 

were received in the previous calendar year 

but were acted upon during the calendar year 

covered by the current register. 

vi. A financial institution submits all 

required data to the appropriate Federal 

agency in one package, with the prescribed 

transmittal sheet. An officer of the institution 

certifies to the accuracy of the data. 

vii. The transmittal sheet states the total 

number of line entries contained in the 

accompanying data transmission. 

2. Updating—agency requirements. Certain 

state or Federal regulations, such as the 

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s 

regulations, may require an institution to 

update its data more frequently than is 

required under Regulation C. 

3. Form of quarterly updating. An 

institution may maintain the quarterly 

updates of the HMDA/LAR in electronic or 

any other format, provided the institution 

can make the information available to its 

regulatory agency in a timely manner upon 

request. 

Paragraph 4(a)(1). 

1. Application date—consistency. In 

reporting the date of application, an 

institution reports the date the application 

was received or the date shown on the 

application. Although an institution need not 

choose the same approach for its entire 

HMDA submission, it should be generally 

consistent (such as by routinely using one 

approach within a particular division of the 

institution or for a category of loans). 

2. Application date—application 

forwarded by a broker. For an application 

forwarded by a broker, an institution reports 

the date the application was received by the 

broker, the date the application was received 

by the institution, or the date shown on the 

application. Although an institution need not 

choose the same approach for its entire 

HMDA submission, it should be generally 

consistent (such as by routinely using one 

approach within a particular division of the 

institution or for a category of loans). 

3. Application date—reinstated 

application. If, within the same calendar 

year, an applicant asks an institution to 

reinstate a counteroffer that the applicant 

previously did not accept (or asks the 

institution to reconsider an application that 

was denied, withdrawn, or closed for 

incompleteness), the institution may treat 

that request as the continuation of the earlier 

transaction or as a new transaction. If the 

institution treats the request for 

reinstatement or reconsideration as a new 

transaction, it reports the date of the request 

as the application date. 

4. Application or loan number. An 

institution must ensure that each identifying 

number is unique within the institution. If an 

institution’s register contains data for branch 

offices, for example, the institution could use 

a letter or a numerical code to identify the 

loans or applications of different branches, or 

could assign a certain series of numbers to 

particular branches to avoid duplicate 

numbers. Institutions are strongly 

encouraged not to use the applicant’s or 

borrower’s name or social security number, 

for privacy reasons. 

5. Application—year action taken. An 

institution must report an application in the 

calendar year in which the institution takes 

final action on the application. 

Paragraph 4(a)(3). 

1. Purpose—statement of applicant. An 

institution may rely on the oral or written 

statement of an applicant regarding the 

proposed use of loan proceeds. For example, 

a lender could use a check-box, or a purpose 

line, on a loan application to determine 

whether or not the applicant intends to use 

loan proceeds for home improvement 

purposes. 

2. Purpose—multiple-purpose loan. If a 

loan is a home purchase loan as well as a 

home improvement loan, or a refinancing, an 

institution reports the loan as a home 

purchase loan. If a loan is a home 

improvement loan as well as a refinancing, 

an institution reports the loan as a home 

improvement loan. 

Paragraph 4(a)(6). 

1. Occupancy—multiple properties. If a 

loan relates to multiple properties, the 

institution reports the owner occupancy 

status of the property for which property 

location is being reported. (See the comments 

to paragraph 4(a)(9)). 

Paragraph 4(a)(7). 

1. Loan amount—counteroffer. If an 

applicant accepts a counteroffer for an 

amount different from the amount initially 

requested, the institution reports the loan 

amount granted. If an applicant does not 

accept a counteroffer or fails to respond, the 

institution reports the loan amount initially 

requested. 

2. Loan amount—multiple-purpose loan. 

Except in the case of a home-equity line of 

credit, an institution reports the entire 

amount of the loan, even if only a part of the 

proceeds is intended for home purchase or 

home improvement. 

3. Loan amount—home-equity line. An 

institution that has chosen to report homeequity lines of credit reports only the part 

that is intended for home-improvement or 

home-purchase purposes. 

4. Loan amount—assumption. An 

institution that enters into a written 

agreement accepting a new party as the 

obligor on a loan reports the amount of the 

outstanding principal on the assumption as 

the loan amount. 

Paragraph 4(a)(8). 

1. Action taken—counteroffers. If an 

institution makes a counteroffer to lend on 

terms different from the applicant’s initial 

request (for example, for a shorter loan 

maturity or in a different amount) and the 

applicant does not accept the counteroffer or 

fails to respond, the institution reports the 

action taken as a denial on the original terms 

requested by the applicant. 

2. Action taken—rescinded transactions. If 

a borrower rescinds a transaction after 

closing, the institution may report the 

transaction either as an origination or as an 

application that was approved but not 

accepted. 

3. Action taken—purchased loans. An 

institution reports the loans that it purchased 

during the calendar year, and does not report 

the loans that it declined to purchase. 

4. Action taken—conditional approvals. If 

an institution issues a loan approval subject 

to the applicant’s meeting underwriting 

conditions (other than customary loan 

commitment or loan-closing conditions, such 

as a clear-title requirement or an acceptable 

property survey) and the applicant does not 

meet them, the institution reports the action 

taken as a denial. 

5. Action taken date—approved but not 

accepted. For a loan approved by an 

institution but not accepted by the applicant, 

the institution reports any reasonable date, 

such as the approval date, the deadline for 

accepting the offer, or the date the file was 

closed. Although an institution need not 

choose the same approach for its entire 

HMDA submission, it should be generally 

consistent (such as by routinely using one 

approach within a particular division of the 

institution or for a category of loans). 

6. Action taken date—originations. For 

loan originations, an institution generally 

reports the settlement or closing date. For 

loan originations that an institution acquires 

through a broker, the institution reports 

either the settlement or closing date, or the 

date the institution acquired the loan from 

the broker. If the disbursement of funds takes 

place on a date later than the settlement or 

closing date, the institution may use the date 


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78482 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 

of disbursement. For a construction/ 

permanent loan, the institution reports either 

the settlement or closing date, or the date the 

loan converts to the permanent financing. 

Although an institution need not choose the 

same approach for its entire HMDA 

submission, it should be generally consistent 

(such as by routinely using one approach 

within a particular division of the institution 

or for a category of loans). Notwithstanding 

this flexibility regarding the use of the 

closing date in connection with reporting the 

date action was taken, the year in which an 

origination goes to closing is the year in 

which the institution must report the 

origination. 

7. Action taken—pending applications. An 

institution does not report any loan 

application still pending at the end of the 

calendar year; it reports that application on 

its register for the year in which final action 

is taken. 

Paragraph 4(a)(9). 

1. Property location—multiple properties 

(home improvement/refinance of home 

improvement). For a home improvement 

loan, an institution reports the property being 

improved. If more than one property is being 

improved, the institution reports the location 

of one of the properties or reports the loan 

using multiple entries on its HMDA/LAR 

(with unique identifiers) and allocating the 

loan amount among the properties. 

2. Property location—multiple properties 

(home purchase/refinance of home 

purchase). For a home purchase loan, an 

institution reports the property taken as 

security. If an institution takes more than one 

property as security, the institution reports 

the location of the property being purchased 

if there is just one. If the loan is to purchase 

multiple properties and is secured by 

multiple properties, the institution reports 

the location of one of the properties or 

reports the loan using multiple entries on its 

HMDA/LAR (with unique identifiers) and 

allocating the loan amount among the 

properties. 

3. Property location—loans purchased 

from another institution. The requirement to 

report the property location by census tract 

in an MSA or Metropolitan Division where 

the institution has a home or branch office 

applies not only to loan applications and 

originations but also to loans purchased from 

another institution. This includes loans 

purchased from an institution that did not 

have a home or branch office in that MSA or 

Metropolitan Division and did not collect the 

property-location information. 

4. Property location—mobile or 

manufactured home. If information about the 

potential site of a mobile or manufactured 

home is not available, an institution reports 

using the Code for ‘‘not applicable.’’ 

Paragraph 4(a)(10). 

1. Applicant data—completion by 

applicant. An institution reports the 

monitoring information as provided by the 

applicant. For example, if an applicant 

checks the ‘‘Asian’’ box the institution 

reports using the ‘‘Asian’’ Code. 

2. Applicant data—completion by lender. If 

an applicant fails to provide the requested 

information for an application taken in 

person, the institution reports the data on the 

basis of visual observation or surname. 

3. Applicant data—application completed 

in person. When an applicant meets in 

person with a lender to complete an 

application that was begun by mail, internet, 

or telephone, the institution must request the 

monitoring information. If the meeting occurs 

after the application process is complete, for 

example, at closing, the institution is not 

required to obtain monitoring information. 

4. Applicant data—joint applicant. A joint 

applicant may enter the government 

monitoring information on behalf of an 

absent joint applicant. If the information is 

not provided, the institution reports using 

the Code for ‘‘information not provided by 

applicant in mail, internet, or telephone 

application.’’ 

5. Applicant data—video and other 

electronic-application processes. An 

institution that accepts applications through 

electronic media with a video component 

treats the applications as taken in person and 

collects the information about the ethnicity, 

race, and sex of applicants. An institution 

that accepts applications through electronic 

media without a video component (for 

example, the internet or facsimile) treats the 

applications as accepted by mail. 

6. Income data—income relied on. An 

institution reports the gross annual income 

relied on in evaluating the creditworthiness 

of applicants. For example, if an institution 

relies on an applicant’s salary to compute a 

debt-to-income ratio but also relies on the 

applicant’s annual bonus to evaluate 

creditworthiness, the institution reports the 

salary and the bonus to the extent relied 

upon. Similarly, if an institution relies on the 

income of a cosigner to evaluate 

creditworthiness, the institution includes 

this income to the extent relied upon. But an 

institution does not include the income of a 

guarantor who is only secondarily liable. 

7. Income data—co-applicant. If two 

persons jointly apply for a loan and both list 

income on the application, but the institution 

relies only on the income of one applicant in 

computing ratios and in evaluating 

creditworthiness, the institution reports only 

the income relied on. 

8. Income data—loan to employee. An 

institution may report ‘‘NA’’ in the income 

field for loans to its employees to protect 

their privacy, even though the institution 

relied on their income in making its credit 

decisions. 

Paragraph 4(a)(11). 

1. Type of purchaser—loan-participation 

interests sold to more than one entity. An 

institution that originates a loan, and then 

sells it to more than one entity, reports the 

‘‘type of purchaser’’ based on the entity 

purchasing the greatest interest, if any. If an 

institution retains a majority interest, it does 

not report the sale. 

2. Type of purchaser—swapped loans. 

Loans ‘‘swapped’’ for mortgage-backed 

securities are to be treated as sales; the 

purchaser is the type of entity receiving the 

loans that are swapped. 

Paragraph 4(a)(12)(ii). 

1. Average prime offer rate. Average prime 

offer rates are annual percentage rates 

derived from average interest rates, points, 

and other loan pricing terms offered to 

borrowers by a representative sample of 

lenders for mortgage loans that have low-risk 

pricing characteristics. Other pricing terms 

include commonly used indices, margins, 

and initial fixed-rate periods for variable-rate 

transactions. Relevant pricing characteristics 

include a consumer’s credit history and 

transaction characteristics such as the loanto-value ratio, owner-occupant status, and 

purpose of the transaction. To obtain average 

prime offer rates, the Bureau uses a survey 

of lenders that both meets the criteria of 

§ 1003.4(a)(12)(ii) and provides pricing terms 

for at least two types of variable-rate 

transactions and at least two types of nonvariable-rate transactions. An example of 

such a survey is the Freddie Mac Primary 

Mortgage Market Survey®. 

2. Comparable transaction. The rate spread 

reporting requirement applies to a reportable 

loan with an annual percentage rate that 

exceeds by the specified margin (or more) the 

average prime offer rate for a comparable 

transaction as of the date the interest rate is 

set. The tables of average prime offer rates 

published by the Bureau (see comment 

4(a)(12)(ii)–3) indicate how to identify the 

comparable transaction. 

3. Bureau tables. The Bureau publishes on 

the FFIEC’s Web site (http://www.ffiec.gov/ 

hmda), in table form, average prime offer 

rates for a wide variety of transaction types. 

The Bureau calculates an annual percentage 

rate, consistent with Regulation Z (see 12 

CFR 1026.22 and Part 1026, Appendix J), for 

each transaction type for which pricing terms 

are available from the survey described in 

comment 4(a)(12)(ii)–1. The Bureau estimates 

annual percentage rates for other types of 

transactions for which direct survey data are 

not available based on the loan pricing terms 

available in the survey and other 

information. The Bureau publishes on the 

FFIEC’s Web site the methodology it uses to 

arrive at these estimates. 

Paragraph 4(a)(14). 

1. Determining lien status for applications 

and loans originated. i. Lenders are required 

to report lien status for loans they originate 

and applications that do not result in 

originations. Lien status is determined by 

reference to the best information readily 

available to the lender at the time final action 

is taken and to the lender’s own procedures. 

Thus, lenders may rely on the title search 

they routinely perform as part of their 

underwriting procedures—for example, for 

home purchase loans. Regulation C does not 

require lenders to perform title searches 

solely to comply with HMDA reporting 

requirements. Lenders may rely on other 

information that is readily available to them 

at the time final action is taken and that they 

reasonably believe is accurate, such as the 

applicant’s statement on the application or 

the applicant’s credit report. For example, 

where the applicant indicates on the 

application that there is a mortgage on the 

property or where the applicant’s credit 

report shows that the applicant has a 

mortgage—and that mortgage is not going to 

be paid off as part of the transaction—the 

lender may assume that the loan it originates 

is secured by a subordinate lien. If the same 

application did not result in an origination— 

for example, because the application is 

denied or withdrawn—the lender would 


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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 243 / Monday, December 19, 2011 / Rules and Regulations 78483 

report the application as an application for a 

subordinate-lien loan. 

ii. Lenders may also consider their 

established procedures when determining 

lien status for applications that do not result 

in originations. For example, a consumer 

applies to a lender to refinance a $100,000 

first mortgage; the consumer also has a home 

equity line of credit for $20,000. If the 

lender’s practice in such a case is to ensure 

that it will have first-lien position—through 

a subordination agreement with the holder of 

the mortgage on the home equity line—then 

the lender should report the application as an 

application for a first-lien loan. 

Paragraph 4(c)(3). 

1. An institution that opts to report homeequity lines reports the disposition of all 

applications, not just originations. 

4(d) Excluded data. 

1. Mergers, purchases in bulk, and branch 

acquisitions. If a covered institution acquires 

loans in bulk from another institution (for 

example, from the receiver for a failed 

institution) but no merger or acquisition of 

the institution, or acquisition of a branch, is 

involved, the institution reports the loans as 

purchased loans. 

Section 1003.5(a)—Disclosure and Reporting 

5(a) Reporting to agency. 

1. Submission of data. Institutions submit 

data to the appropriate Federal agencies in an 

automated, machine-readable form. The 

format must conform to that of the HMDA/ 

LAR. An institution should contact the 

appropriate Federal agency for information 

regarding procedures and technical 

specifications for automated data submission; 

in some cases, agencies also make software 

available for automated data submission. The 

data are edited before submission, using the 

edits included in the agency-supplied 

software or equivalent edits in software 

available from vendors or developed inhouse. 

2. Submission in paper form. Institutions 

that report twenty-five or fewer entries on 

their HMDA/LAR may collect and report the 

data in paper form. An institution that 

submits its register in non-automated form 

sends two copies that are typed or computer 

printed and must use the format of the 

HMDA/LAR (but need not use the form 

itself). Each page must be numbered along 

with the total number of pages (for example, 

‘‘Page 1 of 3’’). 

3. Procedures for entering data. The 

required data are entered in the register for 

each loan origination, each application acted 

on, and each loan purchased during the 

calendar year. The institution should decide 

on the procedure it wants to follow—for 

example, whether to begin entering the 

required data, when an application is 

received, or to wait until final action is taken 

(such as when a loan goes to closing or an 

application is denied). 

4. Options for collection. An institution 

may collect data on separate registers at 

different branches, or on separate registers for 

different loan types (such as for home 

purchase or home improvement loans, or for 

loans on multifamily dwellings). Entries need 

not be grouped on the register by MSA or 

Metropolitan Division, or chronologically, or 

by census tract numbers, or in any other 

particular order. 

5. Change in appropriate Federal agency. 

If the appropriate Federal agency for a 

covered institution changes (as a 

consequence of a merger or a change in the 

institution’s charter, for example), the 

institution must report data to the new 

appropriate Federal agency beginning with 

the year of the change. 

6. Subsidiaries. An institution is a 

subsidiary of a bank or savings association 

(for purposes of reporting HMDA data to the 

same agency as the parent) if the bank or 

savings association holds or controls an 

ownership interest that is greater than 50 

percent of the institution. 

7. Transmittal sheet—additional data 

submissions. If an additional data submission 

becomes necessary (for example, because the 

institution discovers that data were omitted 

from the initial submission, or because 

revisions are called for), that submission 

must be accompanied by a transmittal sheet. 

8. Transmittal sheet—revisions or 

deletions. If a data submission involves 

revisions or deletions of previously 

submitted data, it must state the total of all 

line entries contained in that submission, 

including both those representing revisions 

or deletions of previously submitted entries, 

and those that are being resubmitted 

unchanged or are being submitted for the first 

time. Depository institutions must provide a 

list of the MSAs or Metropolitan Divisions in 

which they have home or branch offices. 

5(b) Public disclosure of statement. 

1. Business day. For purposes of § 1003.5, 

a business day is any calendar day other than 

a Saturday, Sunday, or legal public holiday. 

2. Format. An institution may make the 

disclosure statement available in paper form 

or, if the person requesting the data agrees, 

in electronic form. 

5(c) Public disclosure of modified loan/ 

application register. 

1. Format. An institution may make the 

modified register available in paper or 

electronic form. Although institutions are not 

required to make the modified register 

available in census tract order, they are 

strongly encouraged to do so in order to 

enhance its utility to users. 

5(e) Notice of availability. 

1. Poster—suggested text. An institution 

may use any text that meets the requirements 

of the regulation. Some of the Federal 

agencies that receive HMDA data provide 

HMDA posters that an institution can use to 

inform the public of the availability of its 

HMDA data, or the institution may create its 

own posters. If an institution prints its own, 

the following language is suggested but is not 

required: 

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Notice 

The HMDA data about our residential 

mortgage lending are available for review. 

The data show geographic distribution of 

loans and applications; ethnicity, race, sex, 

and income of applicants and borrowers; and 

information about loan approvals and 

denials. Inquire at this office regarding the 

locations where HMDA data may be 

inspected. 

2. Additional language for institutions 

making the disclosure statement available on 

request. An institution that posts a notice 

informing the public of the address to which 

a request should be sent could include the 

following sentence, for example, in its 

general notice: ‘‘To receive a copy of these 

data send a written request to [address].’’ 

Section 1003.6—Enforcement 

6(b) Bona fide errors. 

1. Bona fide error—information from third 

parties. An institution that obtains the 

property-location information for 

applications and loans from third parties 

(such as appraisers or vendors of 

‘‘geocoding’’ services) is responsible for 

ensuring that the information reported on its 

HMDA/LAR is correct. 

Dated: October 24, 2011. 

Alastair M. Fitzpayne, 

Deputy Chief of Staff and Executive Secretary, 

Department of the Treasury. 

[FR Doc. 2011–31712 Filed 12–20–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4810–AM–P 

BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL 

PROTECTION 

12 CFR Part 1007 and 1008 

[Docket No. CFPB–2011–0023] 

RIN 3170–AA06 

S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act 

(Regulations G & H) 

AGENCY: Bureau of Consumer Financial 

Protection. 

ACTION: Interim final rule with request 

for public comment. 

SUMMARY: Title X of the Dodd-Frank 

Wall Street Reform and Consumer 

Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) 

transferred rulemaking authority for a 

number of consumer financial 

protection laws from seven Federal 

agencies to the Bureau of Consumer 

Financial Protection (Bureau) as of July 

21, 2011. The Bureau is in the process 

of republishing the regulations 

implementing those laws with technical 

and conforming changes to reflect the 

transfer of authority and certain other 

changes made by the Dodd-Frank Act. 

In light of the transfer to the Bureau of 

the rulemaking authority of the Board of 

Governors of the Federal Reserve 

System, the Comptroller of the 

Currency, the National Credit Union 

Administration, the Federal Deposit 

Insurance Corporation, and the 

Department of Housing and Urban 

Development for the Secure and Fair 

Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act 

(S.A.F.E. Act), the Bureau is publishing 

for public comment an interim final rule 

establishing a new Regulation G 

(S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act— 

Federal Registration of Residential 

Mortgage Loan Originators) and a new 


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