[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 16, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48185-48186]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-4457]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5001-N-01]


Transfer of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data Collection 
to Federal Reserve Board

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing--Federal Housing 
Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises mortgagees that are required by the Home 
Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Regulation C of the Federal Reserve 
Board (Board) to submit HMDA data to HUD to submit their annual HMDA 
reports, due on or before March 1st of each year, to the Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve, and not to HUD.

DATES: Effective September 15, 2005.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jerry Fasick, Office of Evaluation, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., 
Washington, DC 20410-8000, telephone (202) 755-7500 (this is not a 
toll-free number). Hearing- or speech-impaired individuals may access 
this number through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information 
Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Who Must Report HMDA Data

    All mortgagees, lenders, and loan correspondents that meet the 
requirements of Regulation C of the Board (see 12 U.S.C. part 203) must 
report each year data required by HMDA (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.). 
Coverage criteria and requirements are specified in ``A Guide To HMDA 
Reporting--Getting It Right!'' and on the Federal Financial 
Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) HMDA Web site at http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda. Those requirements apply to for-profit mortgage-
lending institutions (other than a bank, savings association, or credit 
union) that, in the preceding calendar year, either:
    (i)(A) Originated (made credit decision on) home purchase loans, 
including refinancing of home purchase loans, that equaled at least 10 
percent of its loan-origination volume, measured in dollars; or
    (B) Originated (made credit decision on) 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 a 
Metropolitan Statistical Area/Metropolitan Division (MSA/MD); or 
received applications for, originated or repurchased five or more home 
purchase loans, home improvement loans, or refinancings on property 
located in an MSA/MD; and
    (iii)(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 (made credit 
decision on) at least 100 home purchase loans, including refinancings 
of home purchase loans.
    HMDA requires at 12 U.S.C. 2803(h) that supervised lenders, whether 
or not they are lenders approved by the Federal Housing Administration 
(FHA), submit their HMDA data to their appropriate supervising 
agencies, i.e., the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 
the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, or the 
National Credit Union Administration. Currently, all HMDA data are 
submitted directly to the Board for initial processing. Non-supervised 
lenders, regardless of whether or not they are FHA-approved, must 
submit their HMDA data to HUD (through the Board) with one exception. 
Regulation C, Disclosure and Reporting, at 12 CFR 203.5(a)(2), provides 
that a subsidiary of a bank or savings association shall submit its 
data directly

[[Page 48186]]

or through its parents to the agency that supervises the parent. 
Therefore, non-supervised FHA-approved lenders and loan correspondents, 
which are subsidiaries of supervised lending institutions, are not 
required to submit their HMDA data to HUD.

FFIEC HMDA Data Entry Software

    The FFIEC HMDA data entry software is available for download from 
the FFIEC HMDA Web site. Note that the next scheduled release of the 
software, Version 3.10, for calendar year 2005 data collection is 
available by download from the FFIEC HMDA Web site. The software is 
free and can be utilized for editing, reporting and submitting HMDA 
information.
    The FFIEC HMDA Web site provides detailed information on the 
required file specifications for HMDA reporting (http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/fileformats.htm). HUD would like to emphasize that it is extremely 
important for an institution that uses a third-party vendor to prepare 
and transmit its HMDA report to notify the third-party vendor 
immediately of this change, i.e., that non-supervised FHA-approved 
lenders and loan correspondents, which are subsidiaries of supervised 
lending institutions, are not required to submit their HMDA data to 
HUD. It is also important that an institution inform its vendor of the 
Board's file specification and editing requirements.

HMDA Editing and Reporting

    In addition, an institution's HMDA data must be edited prior to 
submission using the FFIEC HMDA edits (http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda/edits.htm). Regulation C requires all HMDA data submissions to be free 
of validity errors prior to submission. An institution must submit a 
validity-free submission or the institution is at risk of 
noncompliance.
    If an institution utilizes a third-party vendor's software package, 
the institution can still take advantage of the benefits of the HMDA 
Data Entry Software by using the editing and reporting features. The 
software includes editing and reporting features to help the 
institution verify, complete, and analyze the institution's HMDA data. 
The `Import' feature will accept a valid `hmda.dat' file created in a 
third-party vendor's software that meets the HMDA file specifications. 
Once the file has been successfully imported into the software, the 
user can utilize the editing and reporting features. The `Export to 
Regulatory Agency via Internet e-mail' feature creates a validity 
error-free encrypted file that can be transmitted via Internet e-mail 
directly to the Board at [email protected]. Users may download a free 
copy of the software at http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda.
    Please note that reel tape submissions are not an accepted media 
type. Internet e-mail submission is the preferred electronic method to 
transmit an institution's data. Other electronic submission media types 
that can be used are diskette and CD-ROM. However, regardless of the 
media type chosen, users must follow the HMDA file specifications and 
edits.

HMDA Submission Checklist

 Prepare the HMDA data submission.
 Download a free copy of the FFIEC HMDA Data Entry Software 
(http://www.ffiec.gov/hmda).
 `Import' the correctly formatted 2004 `mda.dat' file for 
editing purposes.
 Perform a `Batch Edit' on the HMDA data and correct all 
validity errors.
 Choose the (1) `Export' option from the Front Page. Choose the 
(2) `Export to regulatory agency via Internet e-mail' option for 
encrypted submission to the Board.
 Address the e-mail to [email protected], include all the 
required institution information and attach the encrypted HMDA file 
named HMDAENCR.ENC located at the following path: 
C:[bs]HMDADES[bs]int[bs
]hmdaencr.enc.
 Send your encrypted, validity-free, HMDA data submission to 
the Board on or before March 1st of each year.

Submission Address

    Send the encrypted e-mail file to [email protected] for HMDA 
reporting on or before March 1st of each year. Sending the submission 
via Internet e-mail is the most efficient process for submitting the 
HMDA data. If an institution chooses to mail (overnight) its submission 
in one of the other acceptable media types--diskette or CD-ROM--the 
mailing address is as follows and the mailing must be postmarked by 
March 1 of each year:
    Federal Reserve Board, ATTN: HMDA Processing, HUD, 20th & 
Constitution Avenue, NW., MS N502, Washington, DC 20551-0001.

HMDA Questions

    Questions regarding the processing and reporting of HMDA data 
should be addressed to [email protected] or the HMDA Assistance Line on 
202-452-2016.

Information Collection Requirements

    The information collection requirements contained in this notice 
have been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) and assigned 
OMB control number 2502-0529. In accordance with the Paperwork 
Reduction Act, HUD may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 
required to respond to, a collection of information unless the 
collection displays a currently valid OMB number.

    Dated: August 5, 2005.
Brian Montgomery,
Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner.
[FR Doc. E5-4457 Filed 8-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4210-27-P