Has anyone received a request for your HMDA data from FITECHS? I am not familiar with them. Thanks!

There is no "non legit" request.

(c) Public disclosure of modified loan/application register. A financial institution shall make its loan/application register available to the public after removing the following information regarding each entry: The application or loan number, the date that the application was received, and the date action was taken. An institution shall make its modified register available following the calendar year for which the data are compiled, by March 31 for a request received on or before March 1, and within thirty calendar days for a request received after March 1. The modified register need only contain data relating to the MSA or Metropolitan Division for which the request is made.

They are asking for 2013 data that was just submitted. They want the file emailed to them. This is not a normal request like we have received from the CRA public file, so that is why I am asking if anyone else received. Thanks for your assistance.

You have to provide within 30 calendar days but mail, email, hard copy etc is up to you.

Thanks!

You're not the only one who got this letter, Bama Blondie.

My gut reaction is who is Fitechs? I can find nothing online. Did you call the number and ask for info? I'm out of pocket till Monday when I'll be doing that as step one. Then I'll be taking my letter to the top for direction on how to respond.

Read this for more information.

Hi TR. I called and it is just voicemail that states leave a message - no company name, or person. Reverse look up shows a mobile phone in Utah. the P.O. Box on the request is in Lima Pennsylvania. That was my main concern that they gave an email at fitechs.com, but nothing comes up on google and there is no website. Definitely will not provide electronically. Thanks for your assistance!

Thanks for the info, Blondie. I'll be taking this to management on Monday.

Could you clarify this Kathleen? Does the clock start as of the date of receipt or the date of the letter?

I took this to our Audit Committee yesterday. We will not be providing it electronically. Our standard procedure is to direct those inquiring to one of our offices to view the report. We will offer to mail the printed report for this request. We are also forwarding the request to our primary regulator.

The regulations mentions 30 days from date received. See post above with the cite from HMDA.

Definitely providing a hard copy. I remember getting a similar request a couple of years ago, I wonder if this is the same "company".

I was wondering the same thing about the request letter from FITECHS. I sent them a hard copy yesterday and today have a letter from Bank of America requesting an electronic copy. Do you always send hard copies to these requests?

The part of the request you have to comply with is providing the information. HOW you provide it is your choice. Decided here that the locked down electronic version discussed in the thread I linked above is cheaper and faster than a paper copy. That's how we'll respond to these requests.

If someone is looking for bullets to shoot you with, I would be handing them the slug, gunpowder, casing and primer separately and let them put it together.

Hmmm, electronic copy - easy to order, get and analyze. Paper copy, more costly for them, longer to get the information, and they have to scan and convert the data before they use it.

At banks I've been at: determine your costs for copying, packaging and postage and request reimbursement before mailing out the HMDA data. It may cut down on the requests once you tell them how the bank provides it.

But remember, it will be public in the fall anyway. In an easy to use format.

I wonder the motivation for asking for this now. I've been around for 20+ years and this is the first time, another bank has asked for it.

There are all sorts of reasons:

>industry analysis for publication, not necessarily by consumer groups
>consumer groups monitoring the directions of the market, potential discrimination, etc.
>large banks or other lenders looking to see who might be a new source of loans to purchase

I have read a few threads on this. A few years ago there was another company that was sending around similar requests to all the FIs. It was suggested that the institutions require a "reasonable" fee before providing the reports.

My question is- what if the fee is never paid? If they don't send us the money up front, does this remove our obligation to send them the report?

If you send the company a letter that reads 'we will forward the report to you upon receipt of your check for $___' and they never respond then I think it's safe to say you can consider the request withdrawn.

UPDATE:
I just received a copy of Mortgage TrueView's 2013 HMDA Survey and Case Study, Volume 1: Survey Summary. It appears Mortgage TrueView apparently used our responses as a marketing tool to source data.

Anyone else gotten their 'free' Volume 1?
Comments???

Additional point from the report:
Mortgage TrueView's "...research identified "chat room" content as far back as 2007 in which HMDA preparers expressed concern that their data was being requested for purposes they deemed unacceptable." It then goes on to explain FITECHS role in this survey. This whole thing is making for very interesting reading...as I'm sure my posts are making more fodder for Mortgage TrueView's next report.

I read that TR, and thought to myself "were they trolling BOL for purposes of their study?"