RATA
2025 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Small Business, Small Farm and Community Development Lending Data: What Changed and What to Do Next
The FDIC, Federal Reserve and OCC released the 2025 Community Reinvestment Act small business, small farm and community development lending data on November 5, 2026, acting as members of the FFIEC (OCC News Release 2026-98; FDIC press release). The CRA regulations require the agencies to disclose this data every year. Along with the institution-level data, the FFIEC prepared aggregate reports of small business and small farm lending for every MSA and every county. For a CRA reporter, this is the market your 2025 lending will be measured against. Key takeaways The 2025 CRA aggregate and disclosure reports and flat files are now on the FFIEC CRA data products page, covering 1996 through 2025. Reporters originated 8,559,067 small business loans in 2025, about 2% fewer than in 2024, but…
The CFPB's Semiannual Report: What Narrower Federal Enforcement Means for Fair Lending, HMDA and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Programs
On October 27, 2026, the CFPB sent Congress its Semi-Annual Report for January through June 2026. The fair lending chapter is short and blunt. The Bureau now pursues "direct evidence of intentional discrimination on a prohibited basis and identified victims," it cited no fair lending violations in the period, and it made no pattern-or-practice referrals to the Department of Justice. This article reads the full report (PDF) for what changed, what did not, and what a fair lending, HMDA or Community Reinvestment Act program should keep doing. Key takeaways The CFPB says it will bring fair lending cases only on intentional discrimination with identified victims, and it will not pursue redlining "based solely on statistical correlation." For banks and credit unions with $10 billion or less…
How to Choose Section 1071 Software: What to Test Before Your First Filing
Most Section 1071 software demos look the same. A clean sample file goes in, a green checkmark comes out, and nobody in the room learns what happens to your own messy small business applications. This guide is for the compliance officer or lending manager who has to pick a tool before the first collection year starts and then defend that choice to an examiner. It covers who has to file under the rule as revised in May 2026, what the software has to collect, and the tests worth running in a demo before you sign. We sell one of these products, so read the section on Comply SBL as coming from an interested party. The tests apply to every vendor, us included. Key takeaways Test the import first: load a real extract from your loan origination system, with its gaps, and see what the…
The Regulation B Lawsuits: What Your Fair Lending Program Should Keep Doing While the Rule Is in Court
Two lawsuits now ask federal judges to throw out the CFPB's April 2026 amendments to Regulation B, the rule that implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The amendments drop the "effects test" for disparate impact, narrow what counts as discouraging an applicant, and restrict how for-profit lenders can run special purpose credit programs. They took effect on July 21, 2026, and no court has paused them. This article covers what the rule changed, who sued and what they want, which fair lending obligations the case does not touch, and which monitoring a fair lending program should keep running while it waits. Everything below is read from the final rule, the complaints and the coverage linked in each paragraph. None of it is legal advice, and we make no guess about how either case will…
Comply 2026 Version 26.0 is Here!
New Features, Enhanced Reporting, Improved Mapping, and 2026 Submission ReadinessWe are pleased to announce that Comply 26 is now available for download from the RATA Support Site. This latest release continues our commitment to providing powerful, reliable, and easy-to-use compliance software while incorporating enhancements driven by feedback from our clients. Comply 26 includes the latest edit and submission updates for the 2026 HMDA and CRA reporting requirements, along with support for the new 2027 reporting year so you can begin preparing for the next reporting cycle. Beyond the regulatory updates, this release includes numerous enhancements across Comply, with particular emphasis on ComplyBI, Mapping, Fair Lending, and overall usability. ComplyBI – More Powerful Reporting and…
- California's New Fair Lending Exam Law: What State-Chartered Banks, Credit Unions and Mortgage Licensees Should Have Ready
- How to Benchmark Your CRA and HMDA Lending Against Peer Data
- HMDA vs CRA vs Section 1071: What Each Rule Collects and Who Has to File
- Fair Lending Regression Analysis: What It Controls For and How to Explain a Pricing Disparity
- 2026 HMDA Data: Your Filing Checklist for the March 1, 2027 Deadline
- November 2026
- October 2026
- September 2026
- August 2026
- March 2026
- February 2026
- January 2026
- 2025
- 2022
- 2021
- 2020
- 2017
- HMDA Plus: What It Actually Changed in the LAR Workflow
- How to Fix the 10 Most Common HMDA Edit Check Errors
- CFPB and DOJ Settle Redlining Claims Against Non-Depository Mortgage Companies Before Change in Administration
- How to Evaluate Fair Lending and CRA Software: What to Test Before You Sign
- What a Fair Lending Exam Actually Asks For
- Fair Servicing: What Examiners Test in Servicing Data, and How to Test It First
- What Actually Counts as a Small Business Loan Under Section 1071
- Section 1071 in 2026: What Lenders Need to Know About Small Business Lending Data
