Frequently Asked Questions
What is HMDA and why does it exist?
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires most mortgage lenders to report detailed data about their loan applications and originations. Enacted in 1975, HMDA was designed to help regulators, researchers, and the public monitor fair lending practices and identify potential discrimination in mortgage markets. The CFPB publishes the data annually.
How many lenders are covered in your database?
Our database covers 4,908 reporting institutions from the CFPB's 2024 HMDA Snapshot dataset, representing over 11 million individual mortgage applications filed across the United States.
What is an origination rate?
The origination rate is the percentage of completed applications that resulted in a loan being made. A lender with a 70% origination rate approved and funded 70 out of every 100 completed applications. Withdrawn and incomplete applications are excluded from this calculation.
Why do some lenders have very high or very low denial rates?
Denial rates reflect the mix of applicants a lender receives, not just its credit policies. A lender focused on non-conforming or high-risk products may have higher denial rates. A lender that pre-screens applicants before formal applications are submitted may have very low denial rates. Raw denial rates should not be interpreted as evidence of discrimination without additional context.
Does this data include individual loan records?
No. PlainLender aggregates individual HMDA loan records into institution-level and geographic summaries. No personally identifiable information or individual loan-level data is stored or displayed on this site.
How current is the data?
PlainLender uses the 2024 HMDA Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset published by the CFPB. The CFPB releases updated annual data with a 12–18 month lag from the reference year. We update our database when new CFPB data is published.
Is PlainLender affiliated with the CFPB or any government agency?
No. PlainLender is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, FFIEC, or any federal government agency. We present publicly available data to make it more accessible.