The Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) today published the Summer 2005 edition of
the Community Developments newsletter, which provides various
perspectives and strategies on how the revised Home Mortgage Disclosure Act
(HMDA) reporting requirements could enhance mortgage-lending opportunities for
national banks and their customers.
Mortgage pricing data,
which is reported under the new HMDA rules, can be a beneficial tool for banks
committed to shaping financial products and services to fit the needs of all of
their customers, said Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan. This is
particularly true when banks partner with experienced housing counseling
organizations to improve the creditworthiness and financial savvy of potential
homeowners.
The newsletter
describes key changes to HMDA and how pricing information can be used to
identify mortgage lending opportunities; reviews the OCCs recent mortgage
lending guidelines to prevent abusive and predatory lending practices,
particularly within third-party loan origination channels; and discusses the
advantages to banks of establishing partnerships with housing counseling
agencies. This issue also identifies
nontraditional ways to establish creditworthiness.
The latest issue of Community
Developments offers a useful resource to help lenders tap new markets while
promoting compliance with consumer protection and anti-discrimination laws and
regulations. The newsletter also
includes news-you-can-use from the OCCs district offices, as well as helpful
Web sites.
The newsletter can be
accessed quickly by selecting Community Affairs on the OCC Internet home
page, located at www.occ.treas.gov, and choosing
Publications and Resource Materials.
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The Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency was created by Congress to charter national banks,
to oversee a nationwide system of banking institutions, and to assure that
national banks are safe and sound, competitive and profitable, and capable of
serving in the best possible manner the banking needs of their customers.