Congress enacted the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) in 1975. On July 21, 2011, the rule-writing authority was transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This regulation provides the public access to loan data that helps ensure equality of housing and financial assistance.

 

It is believed that some financial institutions were the cause of the decline in many geographic areas by not providing adequate home financing with reasonable terms and conditions to qualified applicants. Financial institutions focused on higher quality neighborhoods and neglected to provide service to those in need in certain urban areas. To prevent this from occurring and discriminatory practices from continuing, HMDA was developed.