[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 25 (Monday, February 7, 1994)] [Unknown Section] [Page 0] From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] [FR Doc No: 94-2648] [[Page Unknown]] [Federal Register: February 7, 1994] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS EXAMINATION COUNCIL Home Mortgage Disclosure Act; Census Data for Disclosure Statements and Aggregate MSA Reports agency: Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. action: Notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- summary: The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announces the availability for purchase of census data that the FFIEC will use in preparing the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) individual disclosure statements and aggregate reports for calendar year 1994. The FFIEC's 1994 census data file, which reflects data from the Bureau of the Census's 1990 decennial Census of Population and Housing, includes information on the population, income, and housing characteristics of census tracts that fall within the geographic boundaries of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that were established by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in its announcement of June 30, 1993. These census data are used by the FFIEC to prepare tables for individual disclosure statements relating to the disposition of mortgage loan applications based on the characteristics (racial composition, income characteristics, and income and racial composition) of the census tracts to which the loan applications relate. The census data also are used to prepare two tables in the aggregate reports. Lending institutions covered by HMDA do not need the FFIEC's census data file to prepare their loan register data submissions, but institutions may find the census data useful for conducting analyses of their institution's lending activity. for further information contact: Glenn B. Canner, Senior Economist, 202/452-2910, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, DC 20551. supplementary information: The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires lending institutions located in metropolitan areas to report annually information on the geographic distribution of their home purchase and home improvement loans, and also to provide certain information about loan applicants and borrowers. Covered lenders submit a loan application register to their supervisory agency (the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, or the Department of Housing and Urban Development) on which they record the location of the property to which the loan or application relates (MSA, state, county, and census tract) for metropolitan areas in which they have an office, as well as information about the race or national origin, sex, and income of applicants and borrowers for such applications. The Federal Reserve Board, on behalf of member agencies of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and HUD, processes the data and prepares individual disclosure statements for reporting institutions and also prepares aggregate reports for all lenders in each metropolitan area. The individual disclosure statements are made available to the public by each covered institution and by central data depositories in each MSA; the aggregate reports are available at the central data depositories. The census data now available from the FFIEC are the data that the FFIEC will use to prepare Tables 7-1 through 7-6, which are contained both in the individual disclosure statements and in the aggregate reports, and to prepare Table 9 and Table 10 of the aggregate reports. Lending institutions do not need the FFIEC's census file in order to prepare their HMDA-LAR for submission to their supervisory agencies, but they may obtain the census data if they plan to conduct statistical analyses examining the demographics of the census tracts in which they make loans. Included in the FFIEC's 1994 census file is information on the median family income of each census tract together with an estimated median family income for each MSA. These data were obtained by the FFIEC from the 1990 decennial Census of Population and Housing, and reflect information pertaining to the geographic boundaries for MSAs that were established by the Office of Management and Budget in their June 30, 1993, announcement of MSA designations. One consequence of these new OMB designations is that the median family income estimates for roughly 100 MSAs will have changed as a reflection of the addition or deletion of geographic areas to these MSAs. It should be noted that these revisions in estimates of median family income do not reflect updated surveys of consumers, but rather the effects of the redefinitions of MSA boundaries by OMB. The FFIEC uses the median family income estimates contained in the census data file for categorizing census tracts into one of three income categories--low or moderate income, middle income and upper income--when the FFIEC produces the HMDA disclosure reports. The FFIEC notes that as a consequence of OMB's June 1993 changes in MSA boundaries--and the resulting revised MSA median family income estimates--some census tracts may no longer fall into the income category that they were previously assigned. For example, some tracts previously categorized as low or moderate income may now be categorized as middle income. For the most part the changes are small, but for some MSAs the revised income estimates are more significant. For categorizing applicant income relative to the median income for each MSA, the FFIEC uses estimates of median family income that are published by HUD each year. The HUD figures are more current than the income data from the Bureau of the Census. (A description of the precise methodology used by HUD to calculate their estimates of current MSA median family incomes can be obtained from the FFIEC.) The estimates of median family income that will apply to the categorization of the 1994 HMDA data are not yet available from HUD, and thus are not contained on the FFIEC data tape. The HUD figures will affect Tables 3, 4-1 through 4-6, 5-1 through 5-6, 6-1 through 6-6, and 8-1 through 8-6. The 1994 census data file is available for purchase on magnetic tape for $250. A copy of the HMDA Data order form can be obtained from the Federal Reserve Board by telephoning the Board's automated answering system at (202) 452-2016, which can provide the order form by mail or by fax transmission. Dated: February 1, 1994. Joe M. Cleaver, Executive Secretary, Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. [FR Doc. 94-2648 Filed 2-4-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6210-01-M