In 2010, Congress directed the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to collect more and better mortgage application and origination data. In July, the CFPB released its comprehensive proposal to improve mortgage data collection. We like six things in particular about the CFPB’s proposal.
Whatever your theory about why the last decade’s mortgage crisis happened, or even when it started, the underlying facts come from Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data. HMDA is a powerful statute: it requires mortgage lenders to publish a good deal of information about the applications they get, and the loans they make and buy. HMDA enlists the public–researchers, media, advocates, local officials, community residents, and others–in making national and local policy for the $10 trillion mortgage market. HMDA data also enable regulators to set standards and benchmarks and evaluate the performance of lenders and the market.
via The six things we like most in the CFPB’s new mortgage data proposal.
