Sonar can build your HMDA Loan Application Register (LAR) directly from your loan data — including the pipe-delimited file you submit to the CFPB. This article covers setting up your filing institution, previewing the register, and downloading the files.
Note: HMDA Reports are enabled per company. If you don't see the HMDA Reports tab and believe you should, contact us at [email protected].
Who can generate HMDA reports
HMDA reports are controlled by the HMDA Report Management permission. By default, Admins and Agents can view and generate reports. Support users can view and download existing reports but cannot generate new ones. Other roles do not see the HMDA Reports tab.
Before you start
Your filing institution's details must be on file — these populate the transmittal sheet (line 1 of your submission file):
Go to Settings → Company and find the Company HMDA Details card, then click Edit.
Fill in:
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) — must be exactly 20 characters
Federal Tax ID
HMDA Supervisory Agency — the federal agency that supervises your institution's HMDA reporting (OCC, FRS, FDIC, NCUA, HUD, or the Bureau)
Quality Control Contact — name, email, phone number, and office address. This contact appears on your LAR transmittal sheet.
If anything is missing when you create a report, Sonar lists exactly which settings still need to be filled in, with a link to Company settings.
Generating the report
Go to Settings → Reports and select the HMDA Reports tab.
Click + New report.
In the Generate HMDA Report dialog, choose:
Filing institution — the branch LEI you're filing under
Year
Scope — Annual, Quarterly, or Monthly
Quarter (quarterly only) — Q1, Q2, or Q3. Q4 isn't a separate filing — that activity is reported in the annual submission.
Month (monthly only) — monthly registers are for internal review, so they produce the preview and Excel workbook but no CFPB submission file.
Click Preview report.
Review the preview — it's a live view of your register:
The summary strip shows your Filing contact, Legal Entity Identifier, Federal Agency, Records in submission, and Records with issue — the number of loans with a required HMDA field left blank.
Use the Filter by dropdown to view the register by action taken (Originated, Denied, Withdrawn, and so on) or select Needs attention to see just the flagged loans. Each option shows its record count.
Click a loan number to jump into that loan. If something looks wrong, correct it in the loan file — values can't be edited in the report — and the preview reflects the change.
When you're satisfied, click Generate report. This saves the register as a point-in-time report.
Downloading your files
Each saved report offers up to three actions:
View | Reopens the saved register in Sonar |
Excel | A review workbook with a Data sheet mirroring the CFPB LAR format and a Loans sheet that includes Sonar loan numbers for reconciliation |
.txt | The pipe-delimited register you file with the CFPB — the transmittal sheet is line 1, followed by one line per loan or application. Not available on monthly (review-only) reports. |
A report shows Generating while it's being built, then Ready when the downloads are available. Each report records who generated it and when.
FAQs
Why don't I see a Q4 option?
HMDA has no Q4 quarterly filing — fourth-quarter activity is included in your annual submission.
Can I edit values in the report?
No. The register reads directly from your loan data. Fix the data on the loan itself, then regenerate — the preview updates in real time, but a saved report is a snapshot.
What does "Records with issue" mean?
It counts loans in the register with a required HMDA field left blank. Select the Needs attention filter to see them, open each loan from its loan number link, and fill in the missing fields before generating.
We operate more than one filing institution (LEI). Do we get one combined report?
No — HMDA is filed per institution. Create a separate report for each filing institution; registers are never merged.