Elizabeth A Duke: Opening remarks at the public hearing on potential
revisions to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
Opening remarks by Ms Elizabeth A Duke, Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal
Reserve System, at the public hearing on potential revisions to the Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act, Washington DC, 24 September 2010.
* * *
Good Morning. On behalf of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, I'd like
to welcome everyone to the last of our series of public hearings held to discuss changes to
the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The knowledge and feedback we have gained
from these hearings will help us to assess the adequacy of current mortgage data, examine
the need for additional data, and explore possible changes to Regulation C, which
implements HMDA. I'd like to thank our colleagues at the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta,
San Francisco, and Chicago for hosting the first three hearings.
Our series of hearings kicked off just as Congress passed regulatory reform legislation
earlier this summer. The Dodd-Frank Act provides for some changes to HMDA data
collection and submission, and we look forward to hearing from our panelists and members
of the public about the implementation of these changes. The new law also transfers
authority for HMDA rulemaking from the Board of Governors to the new Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB). All information gleaned from these hearings will inform our own
work for the time that we continue to have rulewriting authority. When that authority transfers
to the CFPB, be assured that we will hand over the most current thinking about changes to
Regulation C.
Over the course of these hearings, we have heard from key players in the home mortgage
market: lenders and other market participants, academics and researchers, consumer
advocacy and community development organizations, data experts, regulators, and other
public officials. Although they play different roles, we believe that all share a common goal:
To ensure that the mortgage market is responsible, transparent, efficient, and serves the
needs of consumers and market participants alike.
Clearly, the recent mortgage crisis has highlighted the potential ramifications of a mortgage
market that is not functioning well. HMDA data do not create the market or solve all market
problems, but they do help us understand what is happening in the market. The time is
certainly ripe for reviewing and revising the data elements, standards, and reporting formats.
HMDA has three purposes. One is to provide the public and government officials with data
that will help show whether lenders are serving the housing needs of the neighborhoods and
communities in which they are located. A second is to help government officials target public
investment to promote private investment where it is needed. A third purpose is to provide
data to assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and facilitate the
enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, such as the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
Today's hearing is intended to serve as a venue to discuss whether or not the 2002 revisions
to Regulation C provided useful and accurate information about the mortgage market, to
gather information that will help assess the need for additional data elements or
improvements, and to identify emerging issues in the mortgage market that may require
additional research. As I said earlier, we are also interested in any comments on the
implementation of the HMDA elements of the regulatory reform legislation.
We have gathered this morning an impressive array of panelists representing a broad
spectrum of vantage points, and we look forward to their comments. This input, together with
the input of the preceding hearings and written comments submitted from the public, will be
carefully weighed as we consider changes to Regulation C.