Programs

National Mortgage Database Program

Introduction

The National Mortgage Database (NMDB®) [1] program is jointly funded and managed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). This program is designed to provide a rich source of information about the U.S. mortgage market. It has three primary components: 

1. the National Mortgage Database (NMDB),
2. the quarterly National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO),[2]
3. the annual American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB).[3]

Purpose

The NMDB program enables FHFA to meet the statutory requirements of section 1324(c) of the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act of 1992, as amended by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, to conduct a monthly mortgage market survey. Specifically, FHFA must, through a survey of the mortgage market, collect data on the characteristics of individual mortgages, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and those that are not, and including subprime and nontraditional mortgages. In addition, FHFA must collect information on the creditworthiness of borrowers, including a determination of whether subprime and nontraditional borrowers would have qualified for prime lending. [4]

For CFPB, the NMDB program supports policymaking and research efforts and helps identify and understand emerging mortgage and housing market trends. CFPB uses the NMDB, among other purposes, in support of the market monitoring called for by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, including understanding how mortgage debt affects consumers and for retrospective rule review required by the statute.
 

Safeguards

No information on borrower names, addresses, Social Security numbers, or dates of birth is ever used or stored by FHFA or CFPB as part of the NMDB program.  Furthermore, safeguards are in place to ensure that information in the database is not used to identify individual borrowers or lenders and is handled in full accordance with federal privacy laws and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

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National Mortgage Database

Introduction

The National Mortgage Database (NMDB) is the first component of the National Mortgage Database program. NMDB is updated quarterly for a nationally representative five percent sample of closed-end first-lien residential mortgages in the United States.
 

Purpose

The purpose of NMDB is to inform and educate FHFA, CFPB and other federal agencies about lending products and mortgage market health. The database is comprehensive, and there are many possibilities for how it may be used. Some examples include:

• Studying the subprime mortgage crisis: Because the data goes back to 1998, the database can be used to assess possible causes of the recent subprime crisis.
• Monitoring new and emerging products in the mortgage market: The database allows agencies to monitor volume and performance of products in the mortgage market and help regulators identify potential problems or new risks.
• Monitoring the relative health of mortgage markets and consumers: The database provides detailed mortgage loan performance information including whether payments are made on-time, as well as information regarding loan modifications, foreclosures, and bankruptcies. This can help policy makers better understand how various products are being used and how they are performing.
• Evaluating loss mitigation, borrower counseling, and loan modification programs: The database can be used to evaluate the efficacy and potential impact of counseling programs.
• Monitoring affordable lending: Since the database is updated quarterly, it provides information on mortgage access and mortgage terms for low-income borrowers and communities faster than data required by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, or HMDA. Currently, HMDA data does not become available until the year following origination.
• Performing stress tests and prepayment/default modeling: The database can be used by policy makers, researchers, and regulators to improve prepayment and default modeling and to implement stress-test scenarios for the entire national mortgage market.

Description

The NMDB assembles credit, administrative, servicing, and property data for a nationally representative five percent sample of closed-end first-lien residential mortgages in the United States. The database includes the following information:

• mortgage performance from origination to termination;
• mortgage terms;
• property value and characteristics;
• type and purpose of the mortgage product;
• sale in the secondary mortgage market; and
• credit-related information on all mortgage cosigners, including second liens, other past and present mortgages, and credit scores from one year before origination to one year after termination.

Related Docum​ents

Notice of Revision to an Existing System of Records: National Mortgage Database Project (12/28/2016)

Revised System of Records-National Mortgage Database Project (8/28/2015)

FHFA Update About the National Mortgage Database (8/1/2014)

System of Records: National Mortgage Database Project (4/16/2014)

Privacy Impact Assessment (11/6/2013)

Notice of Proposed Establishment of New System of Records (12/10/2012)

Privacy Impact Assessment (9/17/2012)

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National Survey of Mortgage Originations

Introduction

The National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) is the second component of the National Mortgage Database program. The NSMO is conducted quarterly and is jointly sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
 

Purpose

The purpose of the NSMO is to collect voluntary feedback directly from mortgage borrowers about their experience obtaining a mortgage. The information will provide researchers, policy makers, and others with data that they can analyze to inform housing and mortgage-related public policy and to understand consumers’ experiences taking out a mortgage. The data will help shape policies in the future to better protect consumers.

For Survey Respondents

If you are here, you probably received our letter asking for your help with an important national survey of mortgage borrowers.

If you obtained a mortgage to purchase or refinance either a personal home or a home for someone else (such as a rental property), we would like to know more about your experience in obtaining that mortgage. Hearing directly from borrowers provides valuable information about the functioning of the mortgage market that will help us improve lending practices and the mortgage process for future borrowers.

This survey is jointly sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), two Federal agencies that are working together to improve the safety and transparency of the lending process for all consumers.

The responses to this survey will remain anonymous. The questionnaire does not ask you for any identifying information, so please do not identify yourself in any way on the envelope or the returned questionnaire. The code numbers on the survey are there to aid in the scanning process and to keep track of returned surveys.

We greatly appreciate your effort to answer the questions and return the questionnaire. We thank you for your help with this important national survey.

For those who have been selected to be a part of the survey, it can be completed online. Go to www.NSMOsurvey.com and enter your personal PIN number that was included in the letter mailed to you.

If you have any questions about this survey, please feel free to call us at 1-​855-531-0724. We look forward to hearing from you.

Current Survey Cover Letter and Questionnaire

Related Documents

30-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (N​SMO) Information Collection (4/14/2023)

60-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Information Collection (12/6/2022)

30-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Information Collection (4/3/2020)

60-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Information Collection (12/10/2019)

30-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Information Collection (9/13/2016)

60-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Mortgage Originations (NSMO) Information Collection (12/28/2016)

Proposed Collection; Comment Request: National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (30-Day Notice) (7/1/2013)

Proposed Collection; Comment Request: National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (60-Day Notice) (4/25/2013)

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American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers

Introduction

The American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB) is the third component of the National Mortgage Database program. The ASMB is conducted annually and is jointly sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
 

Purpose

The purpose of the ASMB is to collect voluntary feedback directly from mortgage borrowers about their experience with their mortgage and property. ASMB respondents are representative of the overall population of borrowers with a mortgage loan, including those who recently took out a loan and those who have had their loan for multiple years. The feedback collected by the ASMB includes information about a range of topics related to maintaining a mortgage and property, such as borrowers’ experiences with managing their mortgage, responding to financial stressors, insuring against risks, seeking assistance from federally-sponsored programs and other sources, and terminating a mortgage loan. The information will provide researchers, policy makers, and others with data that they can analyze to inform housing and mortgage-related public policy and to understand consumers' experiences maintaining a mortgage. The data will help shape policies in the future to better protect consumers.

For Survey Respondents

If you are here, you probably received our letter asking for your help with an important national survey of mortgage borrowers.

If you have or recently had a mortgage on a personal home or a home for someone else (such as a rental property), we would like to know more about your experiences with your mortgage and with property ownership. Hearing directly from borrowers provides valuable information about the functioning of the mortgage market that will help us improve lending practices and the mortgage process for future borrowers.

This survey is jointly sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), two Federal agencies that are working together to improve the safety and transparency of the lending process for all consumers.

The responses to this survey will remain anonymous. The questionnaire does not ask you for any identifying information, so please do not identify yourself in any way on the envelope or the returned questionnaire. The code numbers on the survey are there to aid in the scanning process and to keep track of returned surveys.

We greatly appreciate your effort to answer the questions and return the questionnaire. We thank you for your help with this important national survey.

For those who have been selected to be a part of the survey, it can be completed online. Go to www.ASMBsurvey.com and enter your personal PIN number that was included in the letter mailed to you.

If you have any questions about this survey, please feel free to call us at 855-339-7877. We look forward to hearing from you.

Current Survey Cover Letter and Questionnaire

Related Documents

30-Day Notice of Submission of Information Collection American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB) for OMB Approval​ (5/19/2022)

60-Day Notice of Submission of Information Collection American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers for Approval from OMB​ (12/18/2021)

30-Day Notice of Submission of American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB) Emergency Information Collection - Correction (8/7/2020)

30-Day Notice of Submission of American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB) Emergency Information Collection (7/31/2020)

30-Day Notice of Submission of American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers (ASMB) Information Collection (3/24/2016)

60-Day Notice of Submission of National Survey of Existing Mortgage Borrowers (NSEMB) Information Collection (11/10/2015)

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[1] NMDB® and FHFA® are federally registered trademarks of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA Marks) and are subject to all applicable laws governing the use of trademarks. FHFA Marks may be used for educational, informational, non-promotional and non-commercial purposes. FHFA requires all third parties referring to FHFA Marks to do so in a manner that does not imply a relationship with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Material in which FHFA Marks appear must acknowledge that the trademarks are federally registered trademarks of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

[2] The National Survey of Mortgage Originations was originally called the National Survey of Mortgage Borrowers. The name of the survey was changed to avoid confusion with the American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers, effective May 9, 2016.

[3] The American Survey of Mortgage Borrowers was originally called the National Survey of Existing Mortgage Borrowers. The name of the survey was changed to avoid confusion with the National Survey of Mortgage Originations, effective March 24, 2016.

[4] FHFA interprets the NMDB program as a whole, including the NSMO, as the “survey” required by the Safety and Soundness Act. The statutory requirement is for a monthly survey. Core inputs to the NMDB, such as a regular refresh of credit-bureau data, occur monthly, though the NSMO is conducted quarterly.​​​​​​

 

Pag​e last updated: September 27, 2024