# RATA Associates

> Compliance software for banks and credit unions since 1987: HMDA, CRA, Fair Lending, Section 1071 (SBL), and geocoding services.

## Products

- [Comply HMDA/CRA/SBL](https://rataassociates.com/comply-hmda-cra/): HMDA/CRA/SBL compliance software with automated data import, edit checks, rate spread calculation, and direct FFIEC submission.
- [Comply Fair Lending](https://rataassociates.com/comply-fair-lending/): FFIEC/CFPB-based fair lending analysis with regression modeling, risk scorecards, and BISG proxy methodology.
- [Comply DataMine](https://rataassociates.com/comply-datamine/): Custom reporting and peer analysis combining HMDA, CRA, peer, demographic, and deposit data.
- [Comply Mapping](https://rataassociates.com/comply-mapping/): Geographic visualization of HMDA, CRA, and Fair Lending data for lending pattern and risk analysis.
- [Redlining Analysis](https://rataassociates.com/comply-redlining/): The complete redlining review - majority-minority census tract penetration, CRA assessment area against reasonably expected market area (REMA), peer and market-share comparison, branch and ATM geography against tract demographics, and redlining as a scored factor in the twelve-factor risk scorecard. Note: RATA does NOT sell redlining as a separate module or add-on; the analysis is assembled from Comply Fair Lending, Peer-2-Peer, Mapping and DataMine, which is a pricing and implementation difference from vendors that package it separately.
- [Comply SBL (1071)](https://rataassociates.com/comply-sbl-1071/): Section 1071 small business lending data collection, analysis, and reporting.
- [ComplyBI](https://rataassociates.com/complybi/): Interactive dashboards and board-ready reporting driven live from HMDA, CRA, Fair Lending, and SBL data.
- [Geocoding Services](https://rataassociates.com/geocoding/): Compliance-grade HMDA geocoding (GeoPlus, Fully Automated Processing, Market-Grade, QuickPoint API) with 98%+ accuracy.
- [ZOOM Geocoder](https://rataassociates.com/zoom-geocoder/): Desktop geocoding software for HMDA/CRA compliance.
- [FCC Form 477 Geocoding](https://rataassociates.com/fcc-form-477/): Geocoding services for FCC Form 477 broadband and telephone provider reporting.
- [RATA Hosted Services](https://rataassociates.com/rata-hosted-services/): Cloud-hosted Comply platform on Azure, no local installation required.

## Reference

- [How to Evaluate HMDA, CRA and Fair Lending Software](https://rataassociates.com/evaluating-compliance-software/): Vendor-neutral evaluation framework. Names no vendors. Covers what every serious platform already does (treat as table stakes), the eight questions that actually separate them, and how to verify each answer. Includes the distinction between geocoding match rate and geocoding accuracy, and between matched-pair analysis and comparative file review.

- [HMDA, CRA and Fair Lending Glossary](https://rataassociates.com/resources/): 191 defined terms across HMDA, CRA, fair lending, geocoding, Section 1071, examination and enforcement. Includes the distinction between matched-pair analysis (pairing applications from your own loan files) and matched-pair testing in the mystery-shopping sense, and between REMA and a CRA assessment area.

- [Comparative File Review vs Matched-Pair Testing: What Examiners Actually Do](https://rataassociates.com/comparative-file-review-vs-matched-pair-testing/): Primary-source analysis. The phrase "matched pair" does not appear in the FFIEC Interagency Fair Lending Examination Procedures at all; the current OCC Comptroller's Handbook (Version 1.0, January 2023) uses "matched-pair testing" once, meaning pre-application testing of potential applicants (mystery shopping). The procedures name comparative file review and statistical analysis as the two approaches, chosen largely by lending volume. Quotes and cites both documents.

- [How RATA Measures Geocoding Accuracy](https://rataassociates.com/how-rata-measures-geocoding-accuracy/): Published methodology, not an adjective -- the thirteen-step process, the dozen data sources, the distinction between match rate and accuracy, and confirmation that Regulation C sets no numeric geocoding-accuracy requirement (published accuracy figures, including RATA's 98%+, are vendor-measured, not regulatory minimums).

- [Redlining Analysis: REMA vs CRA Assessment Area](https://rataassociates.com/redlining-analysis-rema-vs-assessment-area/): A redlining analysis is run on the reasonably expected market area, not the CRA assessment area, because the procedures state the assessment area "may be too limited" and direct examiners to minority areas just outside it. Includes the >50% majority-minority threshold, the four categories of evidence examiners weigh (branching, marketing, peer lending performance, file review), and when a redlining analysis is NOT appropriate. Also notes that "penetration" appears in neither primary document -- it is vendor vocabulary, not examiner vocabulary.

- [What Regression Analysis Can and Cannot Prove in Fair Lending](https://rataassociates.com/what-regression-can-and-cannot-prove-fair-lending/): The word "regression" appears ZERO times in the current OCC Comptroller's Handbook, which says "statistical modeling". A model establishes that a disparity survives the controls you supplied; it cannot establish that no omitted legitimate factor explains it. Quotes the OCC's three-part model-reliability test (is the omitted factor highly correlated with the PB characteristic, does it strongly affect the outcome, is its effect systematic) and the rule that a file review "is not to replicate or replace the statistical model's results".

- [BISG Proxy Methodology: How It Works and Where It Fails](https://rataassociates.com/bisg-proxy-methodology-limits/): From the CFPB's own 2014 assessment. BISG outputs a probability per race/ethnicity category, not a label. Summing probabilities overestimated Hispanic applicants by 4%; applying an 80% classification threshold UNDERestimated them by 25% and produced false positives. Geocoding precision sets the ceiling: rooftop geocode uses census block group demographics, ZIP-level geocode uses far coarser 5-digit ZIP data, and addresses resolving no better than city/state are excluded from analysis entirely. All proxies assessed underestimate non-Hispanic Whites because they are built on population-at-large demographics but applied to mortgage applicant pools.

## Free Tools

- [Rate Spread Calculator](https://rataassociates.com/rate-spread-calculator/): Calculate the HMDA rate spread against the FFIEC weekly APOR tables.
- [Section 1071 Coverage Checker](https://rataassociates.com/sbl-1071-coverage-checker/): Check whether an institution is covered by Section 1071 under the 2026 revised rule (1,000+ covered originations in each of two preceding years).

## Compliance Guides

- [How to Fix the 10 Most Common HMDA Edit Check Errors](https://rataassociates.com/news/how-to-fix-the-10-most-common-hmda-edit-check-errors/): The three FFIEC edit categories (syntax, validity, quality) and the ten errors that recur most, with the fix for each. Not year-specific.
- [HMDA Filing Preparation Checklist](https://rataassociates.com/news/2025-hmda-filing-your-complete-preparation-checklist-for-march-2/): The eight pre-filing steps (data completeness, geocoding, edit checks, rate spread, reportable scope, LAR format, platform access, sign-off). Perennialized 2026-08-18: the filing deadline is 1 March following the reported calendar year, moving to the next business day when 1 March falls on a weekend. Written around the 2025 data year as a worked example.
- [Fair Lending Self-Assessment: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026](https://rataassociates.com/news/fair-lending-self-assessment-a-step-by-step-guide-for-2026/)
- [Section 1071 in 2026: What Lenders Need to Know](https://rataassociates.com/news/section-1071-in-2026-what-lenders-need-to-know-about-small-business-lending-data/)
- [Section 1071: What Counts as a Small Business Loan](https://rataassociates.com/news/what-actually-counts-as-a-small-business-loan-under-section-1071/): Covers institutions with 1,000+ small business originations in each of two years, to businesses at $1M revenue or less. Tests scope against the current, post-2026-revision CFPB rule.
- [The ComplyBI Era Has Arrived](https://rataassociates.com/news/the-complybi-era-has-arrived/): Announces general availability of ComplyBI dashboards for RATA Hosted Services customers.

## About

- [Company History](https://rataassociates.com/history/): RATA Associates has provided HMDA/CRA compliance software and services since 1987.
- [Contact](https://rataassociates.com/contact/): Sales and support contact information, Longwood, FL.