The specific data fields examiners will typically use to test and validate the accuracy and reliability of the data banks collect under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which will be fewer in number for some institutions due to last year’s regulatory relief statute, are detailed in a bulletin issued Thursday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).
The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act (EGRRCPA), enacted last May, provided some institutions a partial exemption from collecting, recording, and reporting some data fields under HMDA – implemented through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) Regulation C – so examiners at OCC will be testing 21 data fields for those eligible for the exemption, instead of 37.
The partial exemption applies with respect to data points such as length of term, points and fees, prepayment penalties, reasons for denial, and annual percentage rate (APR) for originated or purchased loans. OCC’s bulletin provides complete lists of the data fields to be tested for banks that are and are not eligible for the partial exemption under EGRRCPA.
To qualify for EGRRCPA’s partial exemption for closed-end mortgage loans, a bank must have originated fewer than 500 closed-end mortgage loans in each of the two preceding calendar years. For the partial exemption for open-end lines of credit, a bank must have originated fewer than 500 open-end lines of credit during the preceding two years. The partial exemption, the agency notes, is not available to banks that do not meet certain Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluation rating standards.
OCC reiterated that it does not intend to require data resubmission for HMDA data collected in 2018 and reported in 2019, unless data errors are material. It also does not intend to assess penalties with respect to errors in data collected in 2018 and reported in 2019.
“Collection and submission of the 2018 HMDA data will provide banks with an opportunity to identify any gaps in their implementation of the amended Regulation C and make improvements in their HMDA compliance management systems for future years,” the bulletin notes. “Any examinations of 2018 HMDA data will be diagnostic, to help banks identify compliance weaknesses, and the OCC will credit good-faith compliance efforts.”