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Housing and Mortgages

Selected Electronic Records

Introduction

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Panama Canal Company

Masonry Family Cottage

This reference report concerns electronic records focused on housing and mortgage-related data files in the custody of the Electronic Records Division of the National Archives and Records Administration. 

Full descriptions of the series and data files listed in this report are in National Archives Catalog. Users can search the Catalog by title, National Archives Identifier, type of archival material, or keyword.

Some of the series and files listed in this report are accessible online:

  • Download - This is a link for downloading the files and documentation from the Catalog. For more details on downloading files, please review the frequently asked questions (FAQs).

All of the files are also available for a cost-recovery fee. For more information see: Ordering Information for Electronic Records.


Record Group 29: Records of the Bureau of the Census

  • American Housing Survey (AHS), 1973-2005
    National Archives Identifier: 566502
    Data files: Varies per survey year
    Technical Documentation: 5000+ pages, plus electronic documentation files

    This series contains data on the nation's housing, including apartments, single-family homes, mobile homes, vacant housing units, household characteristics, income, housing and neighborhood quality, housing costs, equipment and fuels, size of housing unit, and recent movers. The national sample covers an average 55,000 housing units. Each metropolitan area sample covers 4,800 or more housing units.

    Related Links:

  • Decennial Census of Population and Housing

    These series contain statistics on housing, such as rent, plumbing facilities, kitchen facilities, number of rooms, and age of structure, as collected from the Decennial Censuses. For more complete information, please see the descriptions and reference reports listed above.

  • New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, 1991-2011
    National Archives Identifier: 566457
    Data files: 29 data files, 249 data tables, and 35 electronic documentation files

    Technical Documentation: approximately 900 pages

    This series contains data on the characteristics of housing units and their occupants for a sample of approximately 18,000 housing units representing the five boroughs of New York City.
     

  • Annual Survey of Construction Summary Files, 1990-1994
    National Archives Identifier: 625412
    Online access: Download

    This series contains data on the characteristics of housing construction such as number of floors in structure, numbers of bedrooms and bathrooms, type of housing unit, start and completion date, heating and air conditioning type and fuel use, and sales price.
     

  • Residential Finance Survey (RFS) Public Use Microdata Sample Files, 1991-2001
    National Archives Identifier: 606798
    Data files: 4 data files, 3 electronic documentation files
    Technical Documentation: approximately 250 pages

    This series contains housing census data on the characteristics of the financing of homeowner and rental properties, including characteristics of the mortgages, properties, and property owners.


Record Group 82: Records of the Federal Reserve System

Home Mortgage and Disclosure Act (HMDA) and Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)

The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) was enacted by Congress in 1975 and implemented by the Federal Reserve Board's Regulation C. On July 21, 2011, the rule-writing authority of Regulation C was transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Regulation C requires lending institutions to provide data on home purchase loans, home improvement loans, and home loan refinancing. 

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) was enacted by Congress in 1975 and is implemented by the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation regulations.  The CRA requires lending institutions to report data on business, farm, and community development loans. 

For additional information on the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and/or the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), please see the webpages of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and Consumerer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):

  • Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data Files, 1981-2014
    National Archives Identifier: 2456161
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains records on home purchase and home improvement loans and refinancings, and contains information about loan originations, loan purchases, and denied, incomplete or withdrawn applications.

    For the years 1981-1989, the available files are "Non-restricted Loan Application Register (LAR)" data files.  Beginning in 1990, there are three sets of files, Loan Application Register (LAR) files, Transmittal Sheets (TS), and Panel data files.  These files are further divided into Final and Ultimate data files.  Final data files contain information entered at the closing of the filing period and Ultimate files are released between six and eighteen months following the filing deadline.  In some cases, there is additional or revised data in the Ultimate files.
     

  • Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Aggregate Reports, 1990-2016
    National Archives Identifier: 2462357
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains reports generated from the series "Home Mortgage Disclosure Data Files" (National Archives Identifier 2456161). The reports, which are sorted by metropolitan statistical area/metropolitan division (MSA/MD), aggregates the mortgage and home improvement lending information within an MSA/MD, regardless of whether the institution has a home or branch office in that MSA/MD.  The reports may include multiple tables per MSA/MD or at the national level.  The reports up through 2003 are formatted as EBCDIC Print Files (which can be output in ASCII) and there is one file per year.  After 2003, the reports are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and there is one National Aggregate report per year, but about 400 Aggregate Reports per MSA/MD per year. 
     
  • Disclosure Statement Reports Files, 1990-2014
    National Archives Identifier: 4699299
    Data Files: approximately 799,298 electronic report files, 6 electronic documentation files
    Technical Documentation: approximately 20 pages

    This series consists of statements prepared by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System for mortgage lending institutions, using data found in the loan/application register.  Between the years 1990 and 2003, the Reports are formatted as EBCDIC print files.  From 2004 forward, the agency transferred the reports as individual PDF files, with a PDF per institution, per agency, per Metropolitan Statistical Area/Metropolitan Division (MSA/MD).  There are thousands of PDF reports per year.
     

  • Mortgage Lending Assessment Data Files, 1990-2018
    National Archives Identifier: 4700101w
    Online Access: Download

    This series consists of general demographic and housing data created under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).  These files are also known as HMDA/CRA Combined Census Data Files.  These files assist the Federal Reserve Board and other insistitutions in determing whether financial institutions are meeting the credit needs of the communities in which they operate.
     

  • Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Data Files, 2004 - 2009
    National Archives Identifier: 26329712
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains records on small business and small farm lending and community development loans.
     

  • Community Reinvestment Reports, 2004 - 2009
    National Archives Identifier: 26334935
    Online Access: Download Aggregate Reports     Download National Aggregate Reports

    This series contains reports generated from the series "Community Reinvestment Data Files" (National Archives Identifier 26329712).
     

  • Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Disclosure Statements Report Files, 2004 - 2009
    National Archives Identifier: 26334930
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains statements prepared by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System on lending information relating to a specific reporting institution.                               


Record Group 195: Records of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board

  • Monthly Mortgage Lending Reports of Savings and Loan Institutions, 1969-1971
    National Archives Identifier: 1923606
    Online Access: Download

    This series consists of records that provide a detailed listing of the gross flow of mortgage loans by type (Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Administration (VA), or conventional) and a listing of mortgage loan commitments using the same categories.
     

  • Monthly Financial Reports of Savings and Loan Institutions, 1966-1986
    National Archives Identifier: 1922642
    Online Access: Download

    This series consists of aggregate lending data concerning financing and purchasing of single- or multi-family dwellings.
     

  • Semiannual Financial Reports of Savings and Loan Institutions, 1965-1983
    National Archives Identifier: 631209
    Online Access: Download

    This series consists of data from semiannual reports from member institutions of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) system.


Record Group 207: General Records of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

  • Mortgage Lending Surveys, 1988-1995
    National Archives Identifier: 624419
    Online Access: Download

    The series contains annual, quarterly and monthly financial reports showing the dollar volume of mortgage credit issued by major lender groups in different areas of the mortgage market.
     

  • Single Family Housing Mortgage Data Files, 1987-2003
    National Archives Identifier: 785593
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains records of each loan insured by the Federal Housing Administration, along with the characteristics of the loan, each record contains information on the mortgagor and the property being mortgaged.
     
  • Subsidized Tenant Household Data Files, 1974-1982
    National Archives Identifier: 616478
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains records of tenant households living in both public and private housing.
     

  • Title VIII Automated Office Tracking System (TEAPOTS) Files, 1989-2002
    National Archives Identifier: 7774035
    Data Files: 65 data files (partly restricted) and 2 electronic documentation files
    Technical Documentation: 235 pages

    This series consists of a housing discrimination investigation database with fields such as: address, case information identifiers, demographic information, and information regarding the disposition of the individual cases.
     

  • Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS) Files, 1994-2019
    National Archives Identifier: 4723848
    Online Access: Download available public use files 

    This series contains records of the Tenant Rental Assistance Certification System (TRACS), which collected certified tenant data for processing from owners and management agents of multifamily housing projects, and from local housing authorities and state housing agencies acting as subsidy contract administrators for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
     

  • Housing Evaluation Form Survey of the Administrative Agency Experiment, 1973-1976
    National Archives Identifier: 643989
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains data from a study of changes in the physical quality of housing experienced by participants in the Experimental Housing Allowance Program at eight sites: Bismarck, North Dakota; Durham, North Carolina; Jacksonville, Florida; Peoria, Illinois; Salem, Oregon; San Bernardino, California; Springfield, Massachusetts; and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
     

  • Rehabilitation Loans and Grants Master File, 1968-1979
    National Archives Identifier: 643992
    Online Access: Download

    This series contains information on loans and grants made to owners and tenants in urban rehabilitation projects such as Community Development Block Grants, Urban Homesteading, Urban Renewal Projects, Code Enforcement, Neighborhood Development, and Certified Areas.


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Electronic Records
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e-mail: cer@nara.

August 2021

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