RATA
CFPB Releases Preliminary 2025 HMDA Peer Data
The CFPB released the "preliminary" 2025 HMDA Peer data file on March 31st, which is now available in Comply. As always, this data release does not include the Transmittal File that tells us who each reporter is. RATA downloads the file, links up the Transmittal information from last year based on the LEI number with any institutions that match, and then look up any institutions' LEI information for the ones that don't match. This year that happened to be nearly 130 institutions which needed to be looked up manually. Keep in mind this is not the official final version of the peer data. The official release usually contains updates to the data, late reporter data, and the official transmittal data for each institution. The official data is typically released in June or July, but we are…
Fair Lending Self-Assessment: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026
Fair lending compliance is not only about passing your next exam. It is about being able to show that your institution treats every applicant consistently, and being able to show it with evidence you generated yourself rather than evidence an examiner generated for you. A thorough self-assessment identifies potential issues before examiners do, demonstrates proactive risk management, and protects the institution from enforcement actions that begin as findings nobody looked for. This guide walks through a comprehensive fair lending self-assessment using the same methodology regulators use when they examine an institution. The ten steps are in the order an examiner would work through them, which is also the order in which each step's output becomes the input to the next. Why Conduct a…
How to Fix the 10 Most Common HMDA Edit Check Errors
Every year thousands of financial institutions rush to meet the March 1 HMDA filing deadline, and every year edit check errors slow them down. These validation failures range from simple data entry mistakes to logic conflicts between fields that need careful analysis to resolve. After helping institutions file HMDA data for nearly four decades we see the same ones appear again and again, and the pattern behind most of them is not carelessness but a mapping between an origination system and the LAR that was defined once and never revisited. Here is how to identify and fix the ten most common HMDA edit check errors before they delay your submission. Every edit number below is quoted from the FFIEC Filing Instructions Guide for 2026, which is linked at the end. If you would rather test a…
Section 1071 in 2026: What Lenders Need to Know About Small Business Lending Data
Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act represents the most significant expansion of lending data collection requirements since HMDA. As 2026 unfolds, more financial institutions are entering the compliance timeline, making this an important moment to understand what's required and how to prepare. This guide covers the current state of Section 1071 implementation, who needs to comply and when, and practical steps for building your compliance infrastructure. What Is Section 1071? Section 1071 requires financial institutions to collect and report data on small business lending applications. The goal mirrors HMDA's purpose for mortgage lending: to identify potential discrimination and ensure fair access to credit for minority-owned, women-owned, and other small businesses. The Consumer…
RATA announces the release of the Year-End Geocode Redo file: Please apply before submitting
Thank you as always for using the RATA Comply software and Geocoding services to help with your HMDA and/or CRA submissions. As part of our efforts to ensure that you have the highest quality and most current geocode results for submission, we re-geocode every application that was submitted prior to January 22nd to try and improve the precision codes. We go through the file to look for improvements to any geocodes based on the precision codes and then return any improved results in the Year-End (YE) geocode update file. This file should be applied to your Comply system at your earliest convenience to assure that these improved results are a part of your submission. The YE update file will only affect records submitted before January 22, 2026. If you have submitted more geocoding after…
- How to Evaluate Fair Lending and CRA Software: What to Test Before You Sign
- How to Evaluate Fair Lending and CRA Software: What to Test Before You Sign
- HMDA Plus: What It Actually Changed in the LAR Workflow
- What a Fair Lending Exam Actually Asks For
- Fair Servicing: What Examiners Test in Servicing Data, and How to Test It First
- HMDA Plus: What It Actually Changed in the LAR Workflow
- How to Fix the 10 Most Common HMDA Edit Check Errors
- 2025 HMDA Filing: Your Complete Preparation Checklist for March 2
- 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
- How to Evaluate Fair Lending and CRA Software: What to Test Before You Sign
- Special Report: Geocoding - Achieving the Highest Accuracy
