Census Tract Geocoding for HMDA and CRA Reporting

Compliance-Grade Geocoding at 98%+ Accuracy

Every address goes through a 13-step process against a dozen reference sources, validated against Census Bureau TIGER data, to RATA’s published precision level of 98% or greater. Regulation C sets no numeric geocoding-accuracy floor; examiners test the census tract, county, state and MSA/MD fields for correctness the same as any other LAR field, which is why the precision has to come from the process rather than from a rule.

What comes back, and where it goes on the LAR

A geocode is not one number. For each address record you get the census tract, the county FIPS code, the state code and the MSA/MD — the four geography fields a HMDA LAR needs, and the fields a tract-level error surfaces in first. A geocode that lands a block out is a different census tract, and a different filing.

Three ways to run a file, and when each applies

• GeoPlus — full-service Compliance-grade processing for a HMDA or CRA submission. Export the address components from Comply and email the file to RATA; geocoded records come back when processing is 100% complete, typically within 2–3 business days.
• Fully Automated Processing (FAP) — runs every record through seven in-house automated geocoders and returns the best available result, with no online sources and no manual intervention. Used by banks and credit unions analysing portfolio data that sits outside the HMDA/CRA filing.
• Market-Grade — bulk/centroid geocoding for business and marketing analysis. Deliberately not a compliance product: it does not require highly accurate or 100% complete address matching, so it does not belong on a LAR.

Looking for API access rather than a batch service? QuickPoint Web Services is RATA’s RESTful API for real-time Compliance-grade geocoding — call it from your loan origination system and get a result per address instead of waiting on a file. Same 13-step process as GeoPlus, called address-by-address rather than file-by-file.

For the addresses no automated pass resolves, ZOOM Geocoder puts eight geocoders on one map so you can compare every candidate and pick the correct tract — for the last stubborn records, and for auditing a tract you have already filed.

GeoPlus is RATA's premier Compliance-grade geocoding solution for Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and/or Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) reporting institutions of all sizes. GeoPlus is the answer to your institution's geocoding needs if you prefer to outsource this processing rather than internally purchase and maintain a mainframe or desktop geocoder; train and retain an experienced staff of geocoding analysts; and purchase and maintain address reference data, Census Tract books and maps. GeoPlus delivers high-quality, cost-effective geocoding through RATA's experienced staff of geocoding professionals, while freeing your resources for more productive activities.

GeoPlus processing is also accessible through RATA's COMPLY Suite, the HMDA/CRA compliance industry's leading desktop software solution. GeoPlus is very easy to use. After you import your lending data into the COMPLY software, you simply export the address data components from your selected loan file(s), and email the data to RATA for processing. RATA's geocoding staff does all of the tedious geocoding work for you, and returns the geocoded records back to you by email when our processing is 100% complete. You then apply the geocoded data that RATA provides as an update and the job is done. It's that simple!

Address records Geocoded to Compliance-grade Standards will:

• Reflect Data Definitions for the current reporting year only
• Contain Geocode results for every address record processed
• Have NO detectable errors
• Have a verifiable precision level of 98% or greater
• Contain Geocode results that are traceable to the address matching engine and reference file used to produce them

What does CRA reporting need geocoding for?

The same four geography fields a HMDA LAR needs: census tract, county FIPS code, state and MSA/MD. CRA then puts a second job on them. Assessment area performance is measured tract by tract, so a record geocoded to the wrong tract does not simply fail an edit, it moves lending out of one assessment area and into another, and the Disclosure Tables, Performance reports and Assessment Area reports are all built on that assignment. RATA’s Compliance-grade processing returns a geocode for every address record at a published precision level of 98% or greater, traceable to the matching engine and reference file that produced it, and the same result feeds CRA reporting in Comply rather than being geocoded a second time.

Last updated: September 29, 2026