The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (HMDA) requires most mortgage lending institutions with offices in metropolitan areas to disclose to the public detailed information about their home lending activity each year. The HMDA data include the disposition of each application for mortgage credit; the type, purpose, and characteristics of each home mortgage that lenders originate or purchase during the calendar year; the census tract designations of the properties related to those loans; loan pricing information; personal demographic and other information about loan applicants, including their race or ethnicity and income; and information about loan sales. HMDA was enacted to help members of the public determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their local communities and treating borrowers and loan applicants fairly, providing information that could facilitate the efforts of public entities to distribute funds to local communities for the purpose of attracting private investment and help households decide where they may want to deposit their savings. The data have proven to be valuable for research and are often used in public policy deliberations related to the mortgage market. The 2012 HMDA data consist of information pertaining to more than 15.3 million applications for home loans resulting in nearly 9.8 million loans reported by 7,400 home lenders, including all of the nation’s largest mortgage originators. Together, the home purchase, refinance, and home improvement loans reported represent most home lending nationwide and thus are broadly representative of all such lending in the United States.