Home Mortgage Disclosure Act

HMDA is a reporting framework, not a census of every U.S. mortgage and not a roster of every lender. Institutions that meet the legal tests send in data about applications they receive, loans they originate, and loans they purchase, subject to the rule’s definitions. The public files are privacy-modified to protect applicant and borrower privacy. Researchers can study community lending patterns with those files. They cannot treat a single row, or a simple disparity, as proof that a law was broken. An application that was denied or withdrawn can still appear. An originated loan is a different action. The Loan/Application Register is the record institutions keep and submit. It is the file, not a second statute.

Regulation C (12 CFR Part 1003) states HMDA’s purposes as helping the public see whether institutions are serving community housing needs, informing public officials, and assisting in identifying possible discriminatory patterns—without encouraging unsound lending (paraphrase of 12 CFR 1003.1). A financial institution is defined by tests in 12 CFR 1003.2(g). Current numeric volume thresholds are omitted. Last Regulation C context review: 2026-09-04.

Lender profiles use HMDA as a public activity source. If the glossary calls HMDA complete or adjudicative, every chart on those profiles will be over-read.

Institution A reports a denied application and an originated purchase loan in the same year. Both can be HMDA rows. They are not the same event, and neither row is a discrimination verdict.

• Conventional loan
• Legal Entity Identifier
• Lender
• RSSD ID

HMDA data cover institutions and transactions that meet Regulation C tests, and the public data are privacy-modified. This site does not treat HMDA as every mortgage, every lender, or proof of unlawful discrimination.