NMLS Mortgage Call Report (company-level, restricted access)

Restricted regulatory data: not exercised here

The company-level Mortgage Call Report is restricted. It is collected through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) by state regulators and the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS). Aggregate statistics are published, but the company-level records used in research carry no provenance badge: there is no open access path we can run here. They are obtained under restricted regulatory terms (a research agreement with the regulator/CSBS). The page documents what the collection is and the gotchas; treat it as unverified. This is the honest grade under the institute’s Verified discipline.

The Mortgage Call Report (MCR) is the standardized report that state-licensed mortgage companies (most importantly nonbank lenders) file through the NMLS. It contains residential mortgage loan-origination activity (application, closing, and pipeline volumes by loan type and state) and a financial-condition component (income, expenses, assets, and liabilities of the licensed company). It is a leading source for studying nonbank mortgage lenders, which are largely outside the bank Call Report system. A paper we distill uses it: Bhutta, Fuster & Hizmo use company-level MCR data (2015:Q1 to 2019:Q4, 162 unique lenders) for nonbank lender income, expenses, and profitability, merged with Optimal Blue to study how rate premiums translate into lender margins and how competition moderates borrower overpayment.

• Cost: aggregate statistics are published free; the company-level data is obtained under a restricted regulatory arrangement.
• Collector: state regulators via the NMLS, administered by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).
• Coverage: state-licensed mortgage companies (nonbanks and some others); origination and financial-condition components, quarterly. Depository institutions report mortgage data elsewhere, so the MCR is mainly a nonbank view.

Access (restricted)

• Aggregates are public; company-level data is not. The NMLS publishes aggregate Mortgage Call Report statistics; the company-level records are not openly downloadable.
• Company-level data is obtained under a regulatory arrangement. Research use of the company-level MCR is granted under restricted terms by the relevant regulator or CSBS; it is not a commercial product and not an open download.
• The reporting form and instructions are public, so the field definitions can be read even though the company-level data cannot be pulled openly.

Gotchas (the ones that bite pipelines)

These are the failure modes to expect; they are documented, not verified here.

• It is a licensee view, not all mortgage lending. Depository institutions report mortgage activity through other channels; the MCR is mainly state- licensed nonbanks. Do not read it as the whole mortgage market.
• Two components with different bases. The residential-activity component (loan volumes) and the financial-condition component (company financials) are reported on different bases; do not mix a flow line with a balance-sheet line without checking definitions.
• State-by-state reporting and licensing. A company licensed in many states reports activity by state; aggregation and de-duplication across state lines is required to get a clean company total. Watch for double counting.
• Company identity and entity changes. Licensed entities merge, rebrand, and surrender licenses; the company identifier is not stable across reorganizations. Track entity changes when building a panel.
• Self-reported financials. The financial-condition data is self-reported by licensees and is not audited to bank-Call-Report standards; treat profitability measures with appropriate caution.
• Restricted use. Company-level results are governed by the regulatory agreement; plan for the disclosure and use restrictions of that arrangement.

Citation

Cite the collection and administrator, e.g.: NMLS Mortgage Call Report (company-level), Conference of State Bank Supervisors / state regulators; obtained under restricted research arrangement, YYYY-MM-DD. For the public series, cite the NMLS aggregate Mortgage Call Report statistics. State the component (activity or financial condition), the sample window, and the lender universe.