The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has released its annual residential mortgage lending activity and trends report, noting shifts from refinance loans in 2020 to home purchase loans in 2021.
The CFPB report’s data was gleaned from thousands of the nation’s lending institutions via the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) – reflecting a greater share of home purchase loans going to Asian, Black and Hispanic white borrowers relative to the share of home purchase loans for non-Hispanic white borrowers.
Officials noted the HMDA requires financial institutions to collect and report mortgage loan-level information on applications and originations – aiding in facilitating funds distribution to local communities as a means of attracting private investment and aiding in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and to enforcing antidiscrimination statutes.
The CFPB report’s highlights include a rise in mortgage originations triggered by home purchase loans as refinance loans fell and the number of mortgage lending institutions reporting HMDA data declined in 2021.
The 2015 HMDA rule updated institution and transaction report criteria, according to the CFPB, and revised the data points covered institutions must report.
Additionally, the CFPB noted consumers can submit complaints about mortgage or refinance issues or other financial products or services by visiting the agency’s website or by calling (855) 411-CFPB (2372).