[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 7 (Tuesday, January 12, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1405-1407]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00442]


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BUREAU OF CONSUMER FINANCIAL PROTECTION

[Docket No.: CFPB-2015-0058]


Request for Information Regarding Home Mortgage Disclosure Act 
Resubmission Guidelines

AGENCY: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

ACTION: Notice and request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) supervises 
and enforces compliance with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) 
for certain financial institutions and maintains a resubmission 
schedule and guidelines (Resubmission Guidelines) describing when 
supervised institutions should correct and resubmit HMDA data. The 
Bureau is considering whether changes to its HMDA Resubmission 
Guidelines may be appropriate for HMDA data that will be submitted 
under recent amendments to Regulation C, which implements HMDA. The 
Bureau requests information from the public on what changes to the 
Bureau's

[[Page 1406]]

Resubmission Guidelines may be needed.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 14, 2016 to 
be assured of consideration.

ADDRESSES: You may submit responsive information and other comments, 
identified by Docket No. CFPB-2015-0058, by any of the following 
methods:
     Electronic: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the 
instructions for submitting comments.
     Mail: Monica Jackson, Office of the Executive Secretary, 
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW., Washington, DC 
20552.
     Hand Delivery/Courier: Monica Jackson, Office of the 
Executive Secretary, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1275 First 
Street NE., Washington, DC 20552.
    Instructions: The Bureau encourages the early submission of 
comments. All submissions must include the document title and docket 
number. Because paper mail in the Washington, DC area and at the Bureau 
is subject to delay, commenters are encouraged to submit comments 
electronically. Please note the number associated with any question to 
which you are responding at the top of each response (you are not 
required to answer all questions to receive consideration of your 
comments). In general, all comments received will be posted without 
change to http://www.regulations.gov. In addition, comments will be 
available for public inspection and copying at 1275 First Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20002, on official business days between the hours of 10 
a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can make an appointment to 
inspect the documents by telephoning 202-435-7275.
    All submissions, including attachments and other supporting 
materials, will become part of the public record and subject to public 
disclosure. Sensitive personal information, such as account numbers or 
Social Security numbers, should not be included. Submissions will not 
be edited to remove any identifying or contact information.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For submission process questions 
please contact Monica Jackson, Office of Executive Secretary, at 202-
435-7275. For inquires related to the substance of this request, please 
contact Tim Lambert, Senior Counsel, Office of Fair Lending and Equal 
Opportunity, at 202-435-7523 or [email protected].

    Authority: 12 U.S.C. 5511(c).


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HMDA and Regulation C require certain 
financial institutions to collect, report, and disclose data about 
originations and purchases of mortgage loans, as well as mortgage loan 
applications that do not result in originations.\1\ The Bureau 
previously published HMDA Resubmission Guidelines \2\ which set forth 
examination procedures for HMDA transaction testing of institutions 
that the Bureau supervises to verify the accuracy of reported HMDA data 
and determine when institutions should be required to correct and 
resubmit their HMDA data. On October 15, 2015, the Bureau issued on its 
Web site a final rule amending Regulation C.\3\ In comments to the 
Bureau's proposed changes to Regulation C, some commenters requested 
that the Bureau consider changes to its HMDA Resubmission Guidelines to 
reflect the expanded data the Bureau proposed to collect under 
Regulation C.
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    \1\ 12 U.S.C. 2801-2810; 12 CFR part 1003.
    \2\ CFPB Examination Procedures, HMDA Resubmission Schedule and 
Guidelines, available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201310_cfpb_hmda_resubmission-guidelines_fair-lending.pdf; CFPB 
Bulletin 2013-11, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Regulation 
C--Compliance Management; CFPB HMDA Resubmission Schedule and 
Guidelines; and HMDA Enforcement (Oct. 9, 2013), available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201310_cfpb_hmda_compliance-bulletin_fair-lending.pdf. See also CFPB Supervisory Highlights 19 
(Fall 2014), available at http://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/201410_cfpb_supervisory-highlights_fall-2014.pdf (noting that Bureau 
staff will follow the HMDA Resubmission Guidelines published in 2013 
for reviews of 2014 and subsequent HMDA data).
    \3\ The HMDA final rule was published in the Federal Register on 
October 28, 2015. 80 FR 66,128 (Oct. 28, 2015).
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    Currently, the Bureau's Resubmission Guidelines provide, among 
other things, that institutions reporting fewer than 100,000 loans or 
applications on the HMDA loan/application register (LAR) should be 
required to correct and resubmit HMDA data when errors are found in (1) 
ten percent or more of the HMDA LAR sample entries; or (2) five percent 
or more of sample entries within an individual data field. The Bureau's 
Resubmission Guidelines instruct that institutions reporting 100,000 or 
more entries on the HMDA LAR should be required to correct and resubmit 
HMDA data when errors are found in (1) four percent or more of the HMDA 
LAR sample entries; or (2) between two and four percent of the sample 
entries within an individual data field. The Resubmission Guidelines 
note that resubmission may be required even if sample error rates are 
below the specified thresholds if the errors make analysis of the 
institution's lending unreliable.
    The Bureau requests information on what modifications to the 
Bureau's Resubmission Guidelines may be appropriate for the data that 
will be reported under the amendments made to Regulation C in the 
Bureau's final rule. In particular, the Bureau asks commenters to 
respond to the following questions:
    1. Should the Bureau continue to use error percentage thresholds to 
determine the need for data resubmission? If not, how else may the 
Bureau ensure data integrity and compliance with HMDA and Regulation C?
    2. If the Bureau retains error percentage thresholds, should the 
thresholds be calculated differently than they are today? If so, how 
and why?
    3. If the Bureau retains error percentage thresholds, should it 
continue to maintain separate error thresholds for the entire HMDA LAR 
sample and individual data fields within the LAR sample? If not, why?
    4. If the Bureau retains error percentage thresholds, should it 
continue to provide different thresholds for institutions with 
different LAR sizes? If so, what thresholds should the Bureau apply to 
which LAR sizes? Specifically, should the Bureau retain the stricter 
resubmission thresholds it applies to institutions with 100,000 or more 
LAR entries? If not, should distinct error thresholds be based on 
criteria other than LAR size?
    5. If the Bureau retains error percentage thresholds, should it 
apply different thresholds to different HMDA data fields? If so, on 
what basis could the Bureau distinguish one kind or type of HMDA data 
field from another? If, for example, the Bureau were to identify 
certain data fields as ``key fields'' that are held to a more stringent 
resubmission standard than other fields, how could the Bureau determine 
which fields are ``key'' and determine the appropriate threshold?
    6. If the Bureau retains error percentage thresholds, should it 
treat systemic errors differently from non-systemic errors? If so, how 
should the Bureau distinguish between systemic and non-systemic errors?
    7. Should the Bureau separately survey a financial institution's 
internal data for HMDA-reportable transactions that were omitted from 
the institution's HMDA LAR? If so, how should the Bureau conduct the 
survey and determine when omissions require correction and 
resubmission?
    8. Should the Bureau, for some kinds or types of errors, require 
that an institution correct and resubmit its HMDA submission and, for 
other kinds or types of errors, require only that the

[[Page 1407]]

institution ensure such errors are not found in future HMDA 
submissions? If so, how should the Bureau decide when correction and 
resubmission of the HMDA LAR is necessary?
    9. Should the Bureau's HMDA review procedures or guidelines address 
circumstances in which HMDA data are reported by several financial 
institutions that have an affiliate and/or subsidiary relationship with 
each other? If so, how?
    10. Are any changes needed in how the Bureau selects HMDA samples 
to conduct HMDA data integrity reviews? If so, what changes are needed 
and why?
    11. Are any other changes needed in the manner in which the Bureau 
conducts its HMDA data integrity reviews? If so, what changes are 
needed and why?
    12. Are there any technological or other changes that could be made 
to the HMDA data collection system or to the process by which it 
applies edits to identify possible errors that could help HMDA 
reporters reduce the frequency of errors or otherwise promote data 
integrity?

To the extent possible, please provide a detailed explanation of any 
views expressed. For example, if a commenter suggests that an error 
threshold should be changed or apply to only certain HMDA data fields, 
the Bureau would be interested to understand how the commenter arrived 
at the suggestion. The Bureau encourages commenters to explain how any 
suggested changes to the Resubmission Guidelines could change HMDA 
compliance costs. Furthermore, the Bureau is interested in any comments 
regarding how changes to the Resubmission Guidelines may affect the 
reliability or usefulness of HMDA data.
    The Bureau anticipates that it will not separately propose and 
solicit public comment on any specific changes to its Resubmission 
Guidelines before finalizing and publishing the changes.

    Dated: December 17, 2015.
Richard Cordray,
Director, Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
[FR Doc. 2016-00442 Filed 1-11-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4810-AM-P