Missing Race Data in HMDA

We have reported the fallacies in various studies based on the data reported in compliance with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). While these studies misused the data in an effort to "prove" racial discrimination in mortgage lending, a study recently released by the Office of the Comptroller of Currency (OCC) reveals that missing racial data seriously undermines efforts to monitor or prove race discrimination in mortgage lending. The basic conclusion of the study: "Home Montage Disclosure Act (HMDA) contains high and increasing percentages of applications that lack race data. As HMDA data are an integral part of current efforts to monitor banks' compliance with fair lending laws, regulators must understand the reasons for, and consequences of, these patterns."

The full report is titled: Jason Dietrich, "Missing Race Data in HMDA and the Implications for the Monitoring of Fair Lending Compliance," Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, E&PA Working Paper 2001-1, March 2001. Address: Communications Division. Mail Stop 3-3. Office of the Comptroller of Currency, Washington, DC 20219.