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About OpenFileData.com

What OpenFileData Is

OpenFileData is a data transparency project that makes government datasets accessible, searchable, and easier to understand for everyday citizens, researchers, and community organizations.

Modern government agencies collect and publish vast amounts of valuable public records. However, these datasets are often distributed as multi-gigabyte text files containing hundreds of technical codes, specialized regulatory terminology, and complex record layouts. For most people—including prospective homebuyers, local journalists, and civic advocates—accessing and interpreting this data requires specialized programming skills and database infrastructure.

OpenFileData processes these official public records using transparent, open-source analytical pipelines and presents the findings through clear, searchable, and neutral summaries.

What the Mortgage Lending Section Measures

The Mortgage Lending section of OpenFileData analyzes annual lending activity collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).

Specifically, this section examines:

  • Market Activity: The volume and dollar value of consumer home purchase and refinance mortgages originated across states, metropolitan areas, and counties.
  • Credit Decisions: The distribution of lender approvals, denials, withdrawals, and incomplete applications for closed-end consumer residential mortgages.
  • Household Income Patterns: Application outcomes grouped across annual applicant income tiers.
  • Demographic Patterns: Lending outcomes across standardized racial and ethnic categories as reported under federal guidelines.
  • Lender Activity: The most active lending institutions by originated loan count in each state and metro area, along with their reported approval and denial rates.
  • Year-over-Year Shifts: Changes in application volumes, approval rates, and median loan amounts between the primary reporting year and the prior year.

Where the Data Comes From

All mortgage data published on OpenFileData comes directly from official federal government sources:

  • The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
  • Primary Dataset: The 2025 Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset, frozen by federal regulators on June 2, 2026.
  • Comparison Dataset: The 2024 One-Year National Loan-Level Dataset, frozen on June 2, 2026, which includes updates submitted by reporting institutions during the 12-month period following initial filing.
  • Institutional Mapping: Institution legal names are mapped using the official 2025 Public Transmittal Sheet released by the FFIEC.

OpenFileData does not collect private financial information, scrape private lender websites, or purchase commercial credit bureau data.

How Our Calculations Differ from Official HMDA Terminology

To understand the metrics on OpenFileData, it is essential to understand how our calculations relate to official government reporting:

  1. No Official “Approval Rate” in HMDA:

The federal government (through Regulation C) requires financial institutions to report an action_taken code (values 1 through 8) for every application or loan record. However, Regulation C does not define an official government “approval rate.” 2. OpenFileData’s Analytical Definition: The approval and denial rates displayed on OpenFileData are our derived analytical metrics, formulated according to standard public-interest and fair-lending analytical conventions:

  • Approval Rate: The percentage of decisioned applications that resulted in an approval (Originated loans [Action 1] + Approved but not accepted [Action 2]) divided by all actionable applications (Actions 1, 2, and 3).
  • Denial Rate: The percentage of decisioned applications that were denied by the institution (Action 3) divided by all actionable applications (Actions 1, 2, and 3).
  1. Treatment of Withdrawn and Incomplete Applications:

Applications withdrawn by the borrower (Action 4) and files closed for incompleteness (Action 5) are retained in our broader Consumer Mortgage Universe for transparency. However, because no formal credit decision was reached by the lender, they are strictly excluded from the denominator of our Approval Rate and Denial Rate calculations.

Full mathematical definitions and SQL formulas are published in our Mortgage Lending Methodology.

Who This Site Is For

OpenFileData is designed for anyone seeking objective, verifiable facts about mortgage lending:

  • Consumers and Homebuyers: To view factual approval rates, median loan amounts, and active lenders in their state or metropolitan area.
  • Housing Counselors and Nonprofits: To understand local lending patterns and identify community credit trends.
  • Journalists and Researchers: To access auditable, reproducible aggregations backed by transparent methodology and government sources.
  • Policymakers and Civic Leaders: To review empirical baseline data on residential credit distribution in their jurisdictions.

What OpenFileData Does NOT Do

To maintain the project’s public-interest purpose and analytical integrity, OpenFileData maintains strict boundaries:

  • We do not offer or broker mortgages: OpenFileData is not a financial institution, mortgage lender, broker, or loan originator.
  • We do not endorse or rank lenders: We do not label lenders as “best,” “worst,” “top-rated,” or “recommended.” Lenders are listed strictly by objective metrics such as originated loan count or market share.
  • We do not provide financial or credit advice: We do not evaluate individual creditworthiness, recommend loan products, or advise applicants where to apply.
  • We do not determine the causes of disparities: Public HMDA data provides aggregate counts of application outcomes, but redacts borrower credit scores and other proprietary underwriting variables. OpenFileData reports aggregate disparities factually without making causal claims regarding individual motives, legal discrimination, or underwriting standards.
  • OpenFileData does not sell mortgage leads, lender placements, paid rankings, or individualized mortgage recommendations: Content, rankings, and data presentations are derived strictly from public records and are never influenced by commercial relationships with lenders.

Contact & Corrections

OpenFileData is committed to complete factual accuracy and mathematical reproducibility. If you believe any calculation, citation, or documentation on this site contains an error, please contact us so we can investigate and correct it.

  • Contact Information: Inquiries regarding OpenFileData methodologies, public records processing, or technical data questions may be directed to: contact@openfiledata.com.
  • Corrections Policy: Confirmed calculation or data errors will be corrected transparently with an explanatory note documenting the revision.

Methodology & Disclosures

Credit Decision Denominator Rule: Approval and denial rates are calculated strictly among actionable applications reaching a formal credit underwriting decision (Actions 1, 2, and 3: loan originated, approved but not accepted, denied). Applications withdrawn by borrower (Action 4) and closed for incompleteness (Action 5) are tracked in the broader Consumer Mortgage Universe for market completeness but excluded from credit decision rates as no underwriting decision occurred.

Official Data Source & Freeze Date: Official Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) records published by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Primary analysis uses the 2025 Snapshot National Loan-Level Dataset (frozen June 2, 2026); historical baseline uses the 2024 One-Year National Loan-Level Dataset (frozen June 2, 2026).

Public Interest Commitment: OpenFileData does not sell mortgage leads, lender placements, paid rankings, or individualized mortgage recommendations.

For complete technical formulas, SQL implementations, and data definitions, read the full Mortgage Lending Methodology Specification.