U.S. Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-IL), Andy Barr (R-KY) and Mia Love (R-UT) recently introduced a bill to prevent the disclosure of information made public under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) until the risk of releasing consumers’ sensitive information is properly analyzed.
The Homeowner Information Privacy Protection Act (HIPPA), H.R. 4993, would direct the U.S. comptroller general to study the impacts of private consumer information being made public under HMDA.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized a rule adding mortgage information disclosure requirements that lenders are required to report under HDMA in October. This information includes borrower age, credit score, property value and interest rate.
“My constituents do not want their sensitive information, such as credit scores, exposed to the world on an obscure page of a government website, but this is exactly what the CFPB is proposing,” Hultgren said. “The bureau says such data would be protected. But experts agree that connecting the dots between such ‘anonymized’ information and the specific individual is too easy and puts their information and finances at risk of abuse. Federal regulators should not put the personal information of American homeowners at unnecessary risk. The Homeowner Information Privacy Protection Act requires an independent study to ensure Americans are protected before regulators make new information available to the public.”
Under HIPPA, no additional consumer information would be made public until the comptroller general report determines the impact of making the information public.