Final answer:
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act is known as Regulation C and requires financial institutions to maintain and publicly disclose data on home financing to monitor and prevent discriminatory lending practices.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) is also known as Regulation C. It was enacted by Congress in 1975 and is implemented by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). The act requires financial institutions to maintain and disclose data about home purchases, refinancing, and home improvement loans in order to present public officials with information that can help determine whether financial institutions are serving the housing needs of 6their communities, to identify discriminatory lending practices, and to guide public sector investment strategies.
The HMDA is part of a series of legislations aimed to ensure fair practices in the housing industry, which include the establishment of the Home Owners' Loan Corporation in 1933 to refinance home mortgages and the later creation of the Federal Housing Authority. The Fair Housing Act of 1968, which is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, was another significant step as it banned discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. These acts and the changes in bank regulations have played important roles in shaping the availability and fairness of housing finance.