Peer lending data is accumulated each year by most banks and other lenders in the United States. The requirements for compiling and reporting peer lending data are outlined in federal regulations.
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act requires mortgage lenders to report all mortgage applications in a standardize format each year. The CRA requires banks to report originated loans to small businesses, small farms and community development lending each year in a standardize format.
All of the data for the previous calendar year must be compiled accurately each quarter. Annually, the data is reported by the bank to the Federal government and must be filed by March 1st.
After the data is submitted from each reporting institution, it is accumulated and analyzed to determine overall peer lending trends within certain categories and geographies. These geographies can include counties, census tracts and entire metropolitan areas.
During a CRA examination, this data is used as a benchmark to compare a bank’s lending performance to the overall lending activity in the bank’s assessment areas. Performance against peer lending averages and benchmarks is a key component in the overall CRA lending examination rating.