The numbers were small. A study conducted by Calvin Bradford, then at the University of Minnesota, found that for each request at a central depository, many people had access to the data. Often, one group's HMDA analysis was shared with many other organizations. These days, no one questions the extent to which HMDA data are used. Community groups in New York, North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, California, and elsewhere use HMDA data to analyze bank performance.
Some groups issue annual reports based on the data.
HMDA data is also being used for fair housing impediments analyses for HUD and to target lenders for fair lending investigations, among other purposes. Technology can be your friend. In the 1970s, HMDA data was analyzed with hand-held calculators. In the 80s, regulators were forced to computerize the data, but that improved access only for people with mainframe computers. After the dramatic expansion of the data in 1989, its shear bulk made it inaccessible for many community groups.