CFPB takes action to improve information on access to credit in mortgage market

This story appeared in Bank Digest.

In an effort to better understand borrowers' access to credit, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking steps to improve information reported about the residential mortgage market. As a first step in the rulemaking process, the CFPB is convening a panel of small businesses to provide feedback on potential changes to mortgage information reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). The CFPB indicated it will work to ease the cumbersome process of collecting and submitting HMDA information for lenders. In addition, in coordination with the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, the bureau has launched a new HMDA tool that provides the public with easier access to mortgage data for 2007 through 2012.

"Today we are asking for small businesses to provide feedback on ideas to improve the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which monitors the largest consumer financial market in the world," said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. "We want there to be better information, better collection, and better access to this important information."

• Press release
• Factsheet
• Small Business Review Panel for HMDA
• Small Business Review Panel and Cost Of Credit Consultation
• Fact Sheet: Small Business Review Panel Process 
• Cordray remarks
• CFPB blog