we had a commercial broker wander in on a tour of local banks. he is shopping a multifamily project for a undisclosed business person. sat down with loan officer and talked broad generalities. We said not interested due to lack of balance sheet strength.

did we have a hmda application or was it just an inquiry. and how do you all handle a commercial broker who is shopping a deal. Don't know who the ultimate applicant is.

HMDA defines an application as:

an oral or written request for a home purchase loan, a home improvement loan, or a refinancing that is made in accordance with procedures used by a financial institution for the type of credit requested.

(2) Preapproval programs. A request for preapproval for a home purchase loan is an application under this section if the request is reviewed under a program in which the financial institution, after a comprehensive analysis of the creditworthiness of the applicant, issues a written commitment to the applicant valid for a designated period of time to extend a home purchase loan up to a specified amount. The written commitment may not be subject to conditions other than:

(i) Conditions that require the identification of a suitable property;

(ii) Conditions that require that no material change has occurred in the applicant's financial condition or creditworthiness prior to closing; and

(iii) Limited conditions that are not related to the financial condition or creditworthiness of the applicant that the lender ordinarily attaches to a traditional home mortgage application (such as certification of a clear termite inspection).

This is a complicated topic and not enough information is given to know if you had an application or not. In fact, one little detail can swing a conversation from an "inquiry" to an "application". I teach a 2 hour webinar on this topic. You can find more info here:
https://www.bankersonline.com/bankerstor...roducts_id=1103

Typically, if the loan officer can say "No", then you have enough information to make a decision which would lead me to believe you had an application. Especially, when the loan officer is specific ("lack of balance sheet strength").

In short, inquiries are policy discussions (not specific to the person). Applications result in a Yes or No or you have enough information to say Yes or No.