{
 "passport_version": "1.0",
 "issuer": "FinanceRateCalc",
 "issued_at": "2026-09-06",
 "passport_id": "national-vs-local-fha-2025",
 "canonical_url": "https://financeratecalc.com/national-vs-local.html",
 "claim": {
  "metric": "national_vs_local_lender_denial_gap",
  "value": 10.2,
  "unit": "percentage_points",
  "subject": "US metros, 2025 FHA forward loans",
  "period": "2025",
  "definition": "Within each metro with both types present, mean observed denial rate of lenders operating in 40+ metros minus mean of lenders operating in fewer than 40 metros; lenders with >=100 decisioned applications in the metro",
  "national_mean_pct": 23.6,
  "local_mean_pct": 16.7,
  "metros_compared": 151,
  "metros_where_national_stricter": 112
 },
 "provenance": {
  "source": "CFPB HMDA 2025 public loan/application record",
  "computed_by": "FinanceRateCalc",
  "result_sha256": "7543e12d3eea46bdf2cf3a5ffcb8d7b2570dae3bbfadbd7148587590999dd08d"
 },
 "use_boundary": [
  "Observed, unadjusted rates.",
  "Footprint is a proxy for scale, not a legal or corporate classification.",
  "Differences are consistent with applicant mix, channel (wholesale/correspondent vs retail) and product composition, not only lender standards.",
  "Local lenders show the widest dispersion: the softest and the strictest doors in the record are both narrow-footprint lenders."
 ],
 "does_not_establish": [
  "That local lenders treat identical applicants more favorably",
  "Any individual applicant's probability",
  "Misconduct by any institution"
 ],
 "related_research": [
  "https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7309319",
  "https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.7341481"
 ],
 "reproduce": {
  "how_to_reproduce": "Recipes for the headline figures, with expected results and the usual pitfalls, are published at https://financeratecalc.com/verify.html and machine-readably at https://financeratecalc.com/data/verify.json.",
  "universe": "loan_type=2 (FHA forward), action_taken in (1,2,3), reverse mortgages (HECM) excluded",
  "if_you_get_a_different_number": "Tell us: ziyetis@gmail.com. A figure we cannot reproduce goes in the public corrections log, dated, with credit to whoever found it."
 },
 "independent_reproduction_status": "not yet independently reproduced — this section exists so that can change"
}