History

• During the 1970s, Congress found that some lenders were contributing to the decline in certain neighborhoods by failing to provide adequate financing and terms to qualified borrowers. To stop this, Congress enacted the Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA, in 1975, which is implemented by the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation C.
  
  

Significance

• HMDA requires all lenders to submit information on their loans and loan applications, to both the public and the government. Included in the reports are applicant ages, races, property locations, applicant incomes and the outcome of each loan application.
  
  

Function

• HDMA was passed to track neighborhood trends and subprime lending, identify discriminatory practices and ensure that lenders are meeting the needs of the neighborhoods they serve. The reports are sent to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) which, in turn, creates aggregate tables for each metropolitan statistical area from the information.