• Please verify you are on the latest version of Compliance RELIEF. The version number is displayed in the header at the top of the program and can be verified on your Download Center to ensure that it is the latest release.

• If you are a new filer and/or your institution did not file HMDA using the CFPB Platform last year, you must allow up to 2 business days for your LEI to be applied to your account. Please be aware of this in planning for the March 1 deadline.

• Verify that your Regulatory Agency is correct. Many people mistakenly choose Agency Code 9 (CFPB). In most cases this is not correct. The Agency Code of 9 should only be selected if you are actually affiliated with a CFPB regulated entity. See: Institutions subject to CFPB supervisory authority. If your Agency Code is incorrect, you can change it on the Submit screen and click “Update”. If you don’t have the authority to change it, your System Administrator will have to change it for you under Setup & Security => Licensing. If you are a new user who is filing for the first time this year (particularly non-depositories), you should not report 9 (for CFPB) for Agency Code unless again, you are a true CFPB regulated entity. Non-depositories that are not affiliated with any depository institutions should always report Agency Code 7 (HUD).

• The CFPB states that all accounts created during the last filing period and the last beta testing period have been maintained for the current filing period. Ensure that you try logging in with correct credentials before contacting QuestSoft for registration help. To create a new account or a test account for QuestSoft to use in your name, click here.

• Even though the beta period is closed and the beta site is no longer available, the HMDA Platform can still be used for testing purposes – financial institutions can upload data and review edits as many times as they need to before the filing period deadline. Data that is uploaded but not electronically signed and submitted is not maintained in the Platform.

• If you are receiving formatting errors stating that a field is “not numeric” or “not a non-empty string,” this most likely means that you have left a field blank that cannot be left blank. We are commonly seeing this error with some of the demographic fields (race/ethnicity based on visual observation or surname particularly).

• We also encourage users to check their formatting using the File Format Verification Tool prior to uploading to the HMDA Platform. Working out any formatting issues ahead of time will make the submission process much easier and reduce the chance of upload errors. For your convenience, you can upload your hmda.txt file directly to the Platform by using the “CFPB File Format Verification Tool”, under “Troubleshooting Options” on the “Submit” screen in HMDA RELIEF.

• If users are trying to upload a file and it appears that the new file is not overwriting their last upload, they should clear their browser’s cache and try the upload again. This may not work in Internet Explorer. We recommend using Chrome or Firefox.

• The file validation process moves from 1) Uploading to 2) Checking formatting to 3) Validating edits. Once the first upload step is completed, users can close their browser & come back later to view the results of the validation. Do not close the browser while the file is still uploading.

• Each institution absolutely needs an LEI before they can use the HMDA Platform. The LEI needs to be obtained by a licensed LEI provider, and it is NOT the same as their 2017 & prior Respondent ID. More information can be found on our Submission Central website. Please be careful to distinguish between zeroes “0” and the letter “O” capital “I” and small “l” which look very much the same. It is best to tab into the LEI field and copy and paste the LEI.

• For institutions that merged in the prior year, but have chosen to report HMDA separately, you may get an “NO LEI” message on the CFPB Platform. If this happens, please submit the appropriate form and add notes to the bottom of the form that specifically describes the situation, i.e. merged institution A + B, submitting separately. Otherwise the CFPB may only acknowledge the surviving entity.

If you still have questions, please write us back and include a copy of your HMDA.txt file by using the “Troubleshooting” option on the Submit screen as shown below. Thank you.