CFPB launches online tools for HMDA reporting

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Wednesday launched a rate spread calculator and validation tool for financial companies reporting Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data starting Jan. 1.

The CFPB said its rate spread calculator and validation tool, called HMDA Check Digit Tool, will be available to financial institutions throughout the 2018 collection period to support the calculation of data field values required for disclosure act reporting. The bureau also has a searchable portal with answers to frequently asked questions.

Financial institutions will be able to submit HMDA data to the CFPB through a new online platform in 2018. Mortgage lenders can use the platform to upload files, perform validation checks on their data and review edits to complete the disclosure act filing process, the bureau said.

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

The CFPB announced last week that it plans to reopen its HMDA rulemaking and will not assess penalties against mortgage lenders for any "material" errors in data collected in 2018. The change is part of acting Director Mick Mulvaney's plan to cut regulations and reconsider pending rules promulgated under former CFPB Director Richard Cordray.

Mortgage lenders have complained about the compliance burden of submitting expanded HMDA data that the CFPB added in 2015 as part of changes to Regulation C, which implements the disclosure act. Some of the expanded HMDA data was mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act.

Enacted in 1975, the HMDA requires that most mortgage lenders report information on home loan applications, which are used for a variety of purposes, including fair-lending enforcement.