The beta launch of a mortgage disclosure reporting platform for data collected this year was officially announced Friday by the umbrella group for federal financial institution regulators.
In a release, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced the beta launch of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) platform “The beta release provides financial institutions an opportunity to become familiar with the HMDA Platform and, in particular, determine whether their sample LAR data complies with the reporting requirements outlined in the Filing Instructions Guide for HMDA data collected in 2018,” FFIEC said.
According to the Exam Council, the HMDA Platform beta version allows financial institutions to establish log-in credentials, or use log-in credentials from the 2017 filing period; upload sample 2018 HMDA files and perform validation on their data; receive confirmation that their test data was submitted; and conclude the test HMDA filing process. The Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (BCFP, formerly known as CFPB) will continue to add functionality to the HMDA platform during the beta test period, the council said.
During the beta period, financial institutions may test and retest 2018 HMDA data files as often as they like, the FFICE said. Test data uploaded during the beta period will be removed from the system when the filing period opens next month.
The council also said that financial institutions that want to try the beta platform, or file 2018 data, need a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) which uniquely identifies the institution. The LEI, the council said, must be recognized by the HMDA Platform in order to create a new account or test data with an existing account.