Nov. 2, 2012 – The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are partnering to create a national mortgage database that will provide detailed information about mortgage loans, the agencies announced Thursday.
The aim of the database is to support agencies’ policymaking and research efforts relating to mortgage lending, and help regulators better understand housing market trends. Once completed, database information will be shared with other federal agencies, academics, and the public, the agencies said.
The FHFA and CFPB are already developing the database by matching a nationwide sampling of credit bureau files on borrower’s mortgages and payment histories with files such as the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act database, property valuation models, and other data “to create a comprehensive picture for each mortgage,” according to the agencies. The plan is to update the database on a monthly basis and include data as far back as 1998.
More specifically, the database will include information that spans the life of a mortgage loan from origination through servicing and include a number of borrower characteristics. While the database will include loan-level data about the mortgage such as the borrower’s financial and credit profile, the mortgage product and terms, information on the property purchased or refinanced, it will not include information that identifies individual consumers.
The creation of the database will fulfill an FHFA requirement under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to conduct a monthly mortgage market survey.
The agencies say that early versions of the full dataset should be ready in 2013.