# Plain Language Summary: Let Lenders Lend Act

This bill would eliminate a federal rule that requires mortgage lenders to collect and report detailed information about who they're lending to and on what terms. Specifically, it targets a 2015 regulation called "Home Mortgage Disclosure" that expanded what data banks and lenders have to track and make public about their lending practices. If this bill passed, lenders would no longer have to follow these expanded reporting requirements.

The practical effect is that there would be less transparency about how mortgage lending actually works. Currently, lenders must report information like the race and ethnicity of borrowers, the loan amounts, interest rates, and whether loans were approved or denied. This data gets compiled and released publicly, allowing researchers, regulators, and advocacy groups to spot patterns—like whether certain groups of people are being charged higher rates or denied loans at higher rates than others. Eliminating this rule would make it much harder to detect potential discrimination in lending or to understand how fairly different communities are being treated by the mortgage industry.

For most people, the main impact would be reduced visibility into lending practices. Homebuyers and community advocates wouldn't have access to the same level of data about how lenders operate. Banks and mortgage companies argue that collecting and reporting this information is burdensome and costly, which is why they support eliminating the rule. Consumer advocates, however, worry that less transparency could make it easier for discriminatory lending practices to go undetected. The bill essentially trades regulatory burden on lenders for reduced public oversight of the mortgage lending industry.

Let Lenders Lend Act

Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5]

Let Lenders Lend Act This bill nullifies the final rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau titled Home Mortgage Disclosure (Regulation C) and published on October 28, 2015. (The rule expands the scope of information that financial institutions must disclose regarding home mortgages.)