what is one function of the home mortgage disclosure act (hmda)
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act HMDA grew out of public concern over credit shortages in certain urban neighborhoods. Congress believed that some financial institutions had contributed to the decline of some geographic areas by their failure to provide adequate home financing to qualified applicants on reasonable terms and conditions. Thus, one purpose of HMDA and Regulation C is to provide the public with information that will help show whether financial institutions are serving the housing credit needs of the neighborhoods and communities in which they are located. A second purpose is to aid public officials in targeting public investments from the private sector to areas where they are needed. Finally, the FIRREA amendments of 1989 require the collection and disclosure of data about applicant and borrower characteristics to assist in identifying possible discriminatory lending patterns and enforcing antidiscrimination statutes.[2]
Welfare Reform Act 2012 Among the provisions of the Act are changes to housing benefit which came into force on 1 April 2013. These changes include an "under-occupancy penalty" which reduces the amount of benefit paid to claimants if they are deemed to have too much living space in the property they are renting.[3][4] Although the Act does not introduce any new direct taxes, this penalty has been characterised by the Labour Party and some in the media as the "Bedroom Tax", attempting to link it with the public debate about the "Poll Tax" in the 1990s.[5] Advocating the Act, the Chancellor of the Exchequer (George Osborne) stated that the changes would reduce welfare dependency and support working families.[6]