The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act was enacted by Congress in 1975 and implemented by the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation C. On July 21, 2011, the rule-writing authority of Regulation C was transferred to the CFPB. Although this regulation seems to be black and white on the surface, many institutions would agree that it can sometimes be grey.

HMDA helps determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities. Additionally, it helps public officials in distributing public-sector investments, so as to attract private investments to areas where they are needed. In the most recent years in the fair lending world, it is used in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns. HMDA is a requirement for most financial institutions that meet the following qualifications:

• The depository institution is a bank, credit union or savings association;

• The assets of the institution total more than $44 million on the preceding Dec. 31;

• The institution has a home or branch office in a metropolitan statistical area or metropolitan division (MSA/MD) on the preceding Dec. 31;

• In the preceding calendar year, the institution originated at least one home purchase loan or refinancing of a home purchase loan secured by a first lien on a one-to-four-family dwelling; and

• The institution is federally-insured or regulated, or the mortgage loan was insured, guaranteed or supplemented by a federal agency, or the loan was intended for sale to the Federal National Mortgage Association or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation.

New HMDA will make old HMDA a distant memory, like a good friend we have to put to rest. New HMDA data reporting adds not only 17 new data fields responsive to Dodd-Frank requirements, but also 20 more fields that the CFPB believes are necessary to "fill information and data gaps" in its monitoring of "access to credit," "how the Ability-to-Repay rule is impacting the market" and "developments in specific markets such as multifamily housing, affordable housing and manufactured housing."

The HMDA Rule, which was finalized in 2016, will have a staggered rollout, with various parts kicking in at different times throughout the coming years. We need to pencil in and keep track of all these milestone dates. Jan. 1 in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 should be engraved on your calendar. Jan. 1, 2018 will be the most important deadline for many lenders who are required HMDA reporters. This is the date when new reporting requirements take effect and old HMDA will be a distant, happy memory. Remember, new HMDA will require lenders to report a greater number of data fields (for a new total of 48), including more sophisticated information on race and ethnicity. We need to follow all the existing HMDA collection rules on applications received in 2017, but if the final action is taken in 2018, the new HMDA rules will apply for that application. There is a new Universal Residential Loan Application with expanded fields that will collect the information that will be required on the 2018 Loan Application Register.