May 03, 2019

Brown Condemns CFPB'S Plan To Help Lenders Hide Mortgage Data

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) – Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs –  is opposing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) proposed rule allowing lenders to no longer report any data under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) about the mortgage loans they make. HMDA data is a primary tool to measure trends and disparities in mortgage credit access.  Rural and urban areas and communities of color are most likely to be left behind by lenders when HMDA data is not readily available.

“Weakening mortgage oversight 10 years after a foreclosure crisis is yet another attempt by Trump regulators to harm rather than help consumers,” said Brown. “Reducing HMDA reporting will make it easier for lenders to discriminate against people of color, and it will reduce access to credit in small towns and rural areas. Director Kraninger should stop repealing rules and start enforcing them.”

Earlier this week, Sen. Brown demanded that CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger reverse her decision to remove Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Explorer and the Public Data Platform Application Programming Interface (API) from the CFPB website. The CFPB’s HMDA Explorer and API have made it easier for local organizations without sophisticated data analytics tools to assess access to mortgage credit in their communities.

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