(a) Authority. This part, known as Regulation C, is issued by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (Bureau) pursuant to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) (12 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.), as amended. The information-collection requirements have been approved by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under 44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. and have been assigned OMB numbers for institutions reporting data to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (1557-0159), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (3064-0046), the Federal Reserve System (7100-0247), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (2502-0529), the National Credit Union Administration (3133-0166), and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection (3170-0008).

(b) Purpose. (1) This part implements the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which is intended to provide the public with loan data that can be used:

(i) To help determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of their communities;

(ii) To assist public officials in distributing public-sector investment so as to attract private investment to areas where it is needed; and

(iii) To assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination statutes.

(2) Neither the act nor this part is intended to encourage unsound lending practices or the allocation of credit.

(c) Scope. This part applies to certain financial institutions, including banks, savings associations, credit unions, and other mortgage lending institutions, as defined in § 1003.2. The regulation requires an institution to report data to the appropriate Federal agency about home purchase loans, home improvement loans, and refinancings that it originates or purchases, or for which it receives applications; and to disclose certain data to the public.