PlainLender

About PlainLender

Our Mission

We believe mortgage lending data should be accessible to the people it affects most. Every year, millions of Americans apply for mortgages, and every application generates a detailed record filed with the federal government. This data reveals where lenders operate, who they approve and deny, what rates they charge, and how lending patterns differ across communities, but it is locked in a 4-gigabyte CSV file that most people will never download, let alone analyze.

We built PlainLender to unlock that data. Our mission is to transform the raw Home Mortgage Disclosure Act filings into an intuitive, searchable resource that serves homebuyers researching lenders, regulators monitoring fair lending practices, journalists investigating mortgage markets, researchers studying housing finance, and community organizations tracking lending patterns in their neighborhoods.

Our philosophy is that transparency in mortgage lending leads to better outcomes for borrowers and communities. HMDA was enacted precisely to shine light on lending practices, we extend that light to a wider audience.

Our Data Sources

PlainLender uses the HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset published annually by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This is the most comprehensive public mortgage dataset in the United States.

  • Source: CFPB HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (2024 filing year)
  • Coverage: 11+ million mortgage applications from 4,908 reporting institutions
  • Geographic scope: All 50 US states, District of Columbia, and territories
  • Record types: Loan applications, originations, denials, withdrawals, and purchased loans
  • Reference data: FFIEC Transmittal Sheet (lender metadata), Panel file (institution details), and MSA/MD geographic definitions

HMDA data is public domain, collected under federal mandate (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) and published to promote fair lending transparency. No individual records contain personally identifiable information, the CFPB applies privacy protections before public release.

What Is HMDA?

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted by Congress in 1975 and significantly expanded in 2018. It requires most mortgage lenders to report detailed information about their lending activity, including loan applications, originations, denials, and the demographic characteristics of applicants. HMDA data is used by federal regulators, state agencies, researchers, and the public to monitor fair lending practices, detect discriminatory patterns, and understand mortgage market dynamics.

How We Process the Data

Our methodology transforms millions of individual loan records into meaningful, aggregated intelligence through the following pipeline:

  1. Data acquisition - We download the complete CFPB Snapshot dataset including the Loan Application Register (LAR), Transmittal Sheet (TS), Panel file, and MSA/MD geographic reference files.
  2. Record streaming - The 4+ GB LAR file is streamed line-by-line rather than loaded into memory, processing over 11 million application records efficiently.
  3. Institution profiling - Individual loan records are aggregated by lender (identified by Legal Entity Identifier), computing origination rates, denial rates, median loan amounts, and geographic distribution for each institution.
  4. Geographic aggregation - Records are aggregated at state, county, and metropolitan area levels, providing market-level lending statistics.
  5. Demographic analysis - Lending patterns are computed using the CFPB's own derived race and ethnicity categories, following Census Bureau standards for reporting race and ethnicity separately. Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity category, shown separately from race categories.
  6. Denial reason tabulation - Self-reported denial reasons are aggregated by lender and geography, showing the most common reasons applications are denied.
  7. Loan type and purpose breakdown - Records are classified by loan type (Conventional, FHA, VA, USDA) and purpose (purchase, refinancing, home improvement) with aggregate statistics for each combination.

No individual loan records or personally identifiable information are stored or displayed on PlainLender. All data shown is aggregated from the underlying records. No data is estimated or adjusted beyond standard aggregation.

Data Currency

The CFPB publishes the annual HMDA Snapshot dataset each spring, containing the prior year's lending data. Our current dataset reflects the 2024 filing year. We update our database when each new annual release becomes available.

HMDA data represents a point-in-time snapshot of reported lending activity. Lender mergers, name changes, branch openings or closures, and changes in lending policies that occur after the reporting period are not reflected in the current data. Lending patterns can shift significantly year to year based on interest rate environments, housing market conditions, and regulatory changes.

Demographic Data

Demographic lending patterns shown on this site use the CFPB's derived race and ethnicity categories. Race and ethnicity are reported separately following Census Bureau standards - Hispanic/Latino is an ethnicity category, shown separately from race categories. All demographic data reflects self-reported information from mortgage applicants as collected by the lending institution.

Editorial Independence

Content on PlainLender is compiled by our editorial team. Raw data from the CFPB Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Snapshot dataset and the FFIEC Transmittal Sheet / Panel files is transformed into readable lender, county, metro, and state profiles by our continuous editorial pipeline, then validated against the source before publication. The PlainLender editorial team, operating under PlainLender is responsible for editorial standards, methodology, and corrections.

We do not accept payment, sponsorship, or promoted placement from mortgage lenders, banks, credit unions, brokers, real-estate firms, or any other covered entity or advertiser of mortgage products. Our only revenue source is contextual display advertising served by Google AdSense, advertisers do not influence which lenders or geographies we cover, how we present HMDA data, or the ranking and denial-rate figures shown on any page.

Limitations and Disclaimers

Users should be aware of the following limitations when using PlainLender:

  • Not affiliated with CFPB - PlainLender is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the CFPB, FFIEC, or any federal government agency.
  • Not financial advice - The data on this site is provided for informational and educational purposes only. PlainLender does not provide financial advice, lending recommendations, mortgage pre-qualification, or credit counseling.
  • Reporting variations - HMDA data may contain reporting errors or inconsistencies from the original lender filings. Small lenders below the reporting threshold are not included in the dataset.
  • Aggregated statistics - All data shown is aggregated. Denial rates, loan amounts, and demographic patterns reflect portfolio-level statistics and may not predict individual application outcomes.
  • Annual snapshot - Data reflects one calendar year of lending activity. Market conditions, lender policies, and interest rate environments change continuously and may differ significantly from what is shown.
  • Context matters - Differences in lending metrics between geographic areas or demographic groups can reflect many factors beyond lender behavior, including income levels, credit profiles, property values, and application volumes. Data alone does not establish discriminatory intent.

Contact

For questions about this site, please email hello@plainlender.com.