OCC Scraps Redundant Loan Data Rules to Ease Banks’ Burden

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has used the Fair Housing Home Loan Data System since 1979 to monitor fair mortgage lending by national banks and their subsidiaries. However, 12 CFR Part 27 later became duplicative of and inconsistent with other regulations, creating uneven reporting burdens across the industry while providing data of limited utility.

The OCC issued a final rule on March 3, 2026, eliminating requirements concerning quarterly mortgage records and institutions receiving more than 50 applications annually. The rule was published in the Federal Register on March 4 and takes effect on April 3, with no monetary threshold. The OCC said existing data remain sufficient to support fair-housing supervision. It also expanded community banks’ eligibility for streamlined or expedited application procedures.