Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council	Press Release
For Immediate Release	July 19, 2000

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced today the availability of data on 1999 mortgage lending transactions at individual lenders in metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) throughout the nation. These data, in the form of disclosure statements, are available from the 7,833 lenders covered by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

The FFIEC prepares and distributes the HMDA statements for individual lenders on behalf of its member agencies - the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Office of Thrift Supervision - and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A lender must make its statement available to the public at its home office within three business days of receiving the statement. In addition, if a lender has branch offices in other MSAs, it must either make a copy of the statement available at one branch per MSA or provide a copy upon written request.

The disclosure statements report home purchase and home improvement loans and refinancings of these loans. The statements present data about loan originations, loan purchases, and applications that did not result in a loan, as well as about three characteristics of applicants or borrowers: race or national origin, sex, and annual income. For loans relating to property located in MSAs, as well as some loans relating to property located outside of MSAs, the statements identify the geographic location, usually by census tract.

The 1999 data include 22.9 million reported loans and applications, a decrease of about 7 percent from 1998. This decrease is largely attributable to decreased refinancing activity partially offset by increased home purchase lending.

The FFIEC also prepares aggregate reports that include data for all lenders in an MSA. By early August, the FFIEC will send these aggregate reports and individual lenders' disclosure statements to a central depository in each MSA for public inspection. The locations of these central depositories can be obtained by calling the FFIEC (202/872-7500) or by visiting the FFIEC's Web site at this page: www.ffiec.gov/hmdacf/centdep/main.cfm.

In addition, the FFIEC makes HMDA data directly available to the public in various formats, including cartridge tape, CD-ROM, and at the FFIEC Web site. Some data are available in paper form (tables for 1999 showing the nationwide aggregates and key demographic information for MSAs, for instance). An order form can be obtained by calling 202/452-2016 (an automated response system) and selecting menu options 4 and then 1, or by faxing a request for an order form to 202/452-6497. The order form is also available at the FFIEC Web site at this page: www.ffiec.gov/hmda/orderform.htm. The order form gives descriptions of the various reports, prices, and formats. Advance orders may be placed to be filled when data become available.

The FFIEC also provides data from seven major private mortgage insurance (PMI) companies. The 1999 PMI data include information on approximately 1.8 million applications for mortgage insurance, about 1.3 million of which were to insure home purchase mortgages, while about 0.5 million were to insure mortgages to refinance existing obligations. These data will be available at individual PMI companies; the data will also be available, by early August, at the central depository in each MSA and from the FFIEC, in the same types of reports and in the same formats as the HMDA data.

Questions about a HMDA report for a specific lender should be directed to the lender's supervisory agency at the number listed below:

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, HMDA Assistance Line - 202/452-2016

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation - 800/934-3342

National Credit Union Administration, Office of Examination - 703/518-6392

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Community and Consumer Policy - 202/874-4446

Office of Thrift Supervision, Reports Division - 972/281-2411

Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Housing - 202/755-7530