CFPB reminds: Use 2020 Census info for tract information in HMDA reporting after Jan. 1

Financial institutions should use census tract information provided in the 2020 Census for mortgage-related data collected beginning next year, the federal consumer financial protection agency said Monday.

In a “HMDA Reminder,” the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) noted that Regulation C (which implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA) requires financial institutions to provide census tract information for certain purposes. “To determine what to report for this data point, a covered financial institution must look to the ‘most recent decennial census conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau’ and ‘use the boundaries and codes in effect on Jan. 1 of the calendar year covered by the loan/application register that it is reporting,'” it said.

Census tract data provided by the 2020 census must be applied to data collected beginning Jan. 1, 2022, the bureau said.

Additionally, according to the agency, the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council’s (FFIEC) “Geocoder” will use census tract information from the 2020 census also beginning with the new year. (Geocoder is a web-based tool designed to help financial institutions meet the legal requirement to report information on mortgage, business, and farm loans.)

FFIEC Geocoder