WASHINGTON — The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced recently that it is requiring large national banks that service mortgages to provide comprehensive mortgage data on a monthly basis. The data will be used to build upon the efforts of the HOPE NOW alliance, a cooperative effort between investors, lenders and counselors that is intended to help distressed homeowners.

In a letter to nine large national banks including Citigroup and Bank of America Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan said the OCC is requiring the data "in order to assure that we have a detailed picture of the activities of national bank servicers and the performance of loans serviced by them." He added that he was pleased by the banks' cooperation.

The data is expected to give the OCC and other regulators a more complete view of the market, which will aid in the agency's supervisory work as well as help in preventing unnecessary foreclosures. Metrics developed from the data on subprime lending will be available to state agencies through the HOPE NOW alliance, and should provide a robust and comprehensive overview of subprime mortgage lending.