Our LOS recently updated the property location to incorporate the following check boxes:

Property address not applicable
Property address not located in an MSA/MD or Institution not subject to 1003.4(e)
Census Tract not applicable

Are we not required to report census tract information for a loan that has collateral not located in an MSA or if we, as a bank, are not required to report small business, small farm, etc... for CRA purposes?

Not sure we will go this route and not report the census data but just wanted to make sure I understood the information.

Are you a large bank for CRA? If not, then .4(e) doesn't apply.
Are you a "small filer" (made <500 closed-end loans subject to HMDA in both of the last 2 years)?

We are an intermediate small bank and don't report CRA information. We also don't produced over 500 HMDA loans in either of the two prior calendar years.

We have always reported census data for HMDA loans which is why I am confused by this information within Reg C.

This actually isn't anything new. You've always been allowed to report either NA or the actual msa/tract info for the property location fields for any loan not located in an MSA in which you have a branch office.

But there are new rules for Small Filers. Small Filers are exempt from reporting address information for properties outside an MSA; however, if data is voluntarily provided for any field (e.g. street address), Small Filers must complete all fields for the data point for §1003.4(a)(9)(i) (i.e. street address, city, zip, and state).

Large CRA banks must provide all information (street address, city, state, zip code, county and census tract) for small business and community development loans that have property located outside of any MSA, even if they qualify as a Small Filer. [§1003.4(e)]

Thanks for the clarification. I figured it wasn't really new since it's in the regulation. I guess our LOS is just catching up with the regulation and incorporating it now. I think we'll just continue to report the census tract for those loans that are not in an MSA even though we have a branch office there.

We're not a large CRA bank either so I've never paid attention to this section. Just to clarify because we may pass the threshold to begin collection next year- §1003.4(e) impacts CRA collection, although it's in the HMDA regulation?

Yes, it's a strange crossover from CRA to HMDA. Here's another strange thing about this rule:

If you're a small filer (under 500 loans) but a large CRA bank, HMDA allows you to only report state, county and census tract for properties within your MSA [§1003.4(a)(9)(ii)], but if the property is outside your MSA, you have to report all 6 location information. Why and how does this fit within the sprit of the Regulatory Relief that Congress passed on 5/24th? (that's a rhetorical question)

One more thing about the large CRA rule: Technically, .4(e) says it applies to small business, small farm and community development loans. In my post above, I cut out the small farm loan wording because HMDA no longer applies to any small farm loans (purpose or collateral). This whole section should have been reworded in the 2018 rules and (I believe) should have been made exempt by the regulatory relief.

Here's my opinion: just give all 6 pieces of location information on all loans, because it will be hard to remember to do this for in/out of MSA properties - especially if you're a large CRA bank. I don't think the effort to report only what you have to is worth the hassle.

I would agree with you Dave.

But if we do opt to report the six pieces of location information, we are still held to all accuracy standards, correct? I would think it would be less risky to use the exemption to avoid any data point entry errors.

The information you report, regardless if it's voluntary, must be accurate.

If the bank elects to NOT report the information that is exempt; for pre-approval loans that don't originate, what should the codes for state/county/census tract be; exempt or NA?

Also, to make sure I'm clear, if the bank voluntarily reports the codes for state/county/census tract information for properties that are outside an MSA their branch is located; then they lose the exemption for the street address, city and zip; correct?

Keep in mind that the property location (i.e. state, county, & census tract) are not exempt. Therefore, these fields would be coded NA when a preapproval does not have an address. On the other hand, the property address (street address/city/zip) is exempt, so these fields would be coded exempt as applicable (in accordance with the FIG).


I would disagree. To explain, the property location (state/county/census tract) is NOT an exempt field. However, it is optional, as it always has been, for loans where the property is not located in an MSA/MD where the financial institution has a branch or main office (and the bank is NOT a large CRA reporter). Basically, reporting the property location (state/county/census tract) has nothing to do with the partial exemption and does not affect the property address exemption - other than state is not exempt because you have to report it according to how you report property location.

The biggest quirk in this is the state field since it is part of both the property address and property location data points. Basically, for exemption purposes, you have to think of the state field in terms of only the property location.

So, to answer your question: "if the bank voluntarily reports the codes for state/county/census tract information for properties that are outside an MSA their branch is located; then they lose the exemption for the street address, city and zip; correct?" The bank does not loose their exemption for street address, city and zip but must report state according to how they report the property location (state/count/census tract).