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Better Banks
HMDA reporter, headquartered in Bartonville, Illinois. Record for calendar year 2024.
HMDA data alone cannot be used to determine whether a lender is complying with fair lending laws. The data do not include some legitimate credit risk considerations for loan approval and loan pricing decisions. Figures are from the 2024 public HMDA loan/application register; cells under 25 applications are withheld.
Better Banks's 2024 HMDA filing covers 175 applications and 153 originated loans totalling $23m, in Illinois.
Its denial rate, the share of decided applications the lender denied, was 4.1%, below the national rate of 24.3% and below the Illinois rate of 23.3%. 6 applications were withdrawn by the applicant and 0 files were closed for incompleteness; those are not counted in the denial rate.
By loan purpose the originations were mostly home purchase (57%) and cash-out refinancing (20%); by loan type, conventional (100%).
The largest volumes were in Illinois (149 originations).
Applications were about level with 2023.
Compared with Illinois and the nation
| Measure | This lender | Illinois, all lenders | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denial rate (denied ÷ decided applications) | 4.1% | 23.3% | 24.3% |
| Median rate spread, percentage points | — | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Originations with spread of 1.5 pp or more | — | 15.4% | 15.6% |
| Average originated loan | $153k | $273k | $329k |
| Home purchase share of originations | 56.9% | 61.1% | 57.0% |
| FHA-insured share of originations | 0.0% | 10.7% | 13.4% |
| VA-guaranteed share of originations | 0.0% | 4.9% | 7.9% |
| Applications withdrawn by applicant | 3.4% | 14.9% | 14.3% |
Illinois is the lender's largest state by applications. State and national columns cover every HMDA reporter. Rate spread is reported on originated loans only.
Trend by year
ApplicationsOriginations
This lenderIllinoisUnited States
| Year | Applications | Originations | Amount | Denial rate | Median spread | LAR records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | 166 |
| 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | 220 |
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | 504 |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | 371 |
| 2022 | 177 | 161 | $24m | 4.6% | — | 177 |
| 2023 | 173 | 147 | $22m | 4.7% | — | 173 |
| 2024 | 175 | 153 | $23m | 4.1% | — | 175 |
Applications, originations and rates are computed from the public LAR for 2022, 2023, 2024; LAR record counts come from each year's transmittal sheet.
Loan purpose and loan type
By purpose
Home purchase 57% (87)Home improvement 7% (10)Refinancing 5% (7)Cash-out refinancing 20% (31)Other purpose 12% (18)
By type
Conventional 100% (153)
| Loan type | Applications | Originations | Denied | Denial rate (of applications) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | 175 | 153 | 7 | 4.0% |
| FHA-insured | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| VA-guaranteed | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| USDA Rural Housing Service or Farm Service Agency guaranteed | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
Shares are of originated loans. The per-type denial rate here divides denials by all applications of that type, because decided counts are not kept per type.
Action taken
| HMDA action taken | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Loan originated | 153 | 87.4% |
| 2 Application approved but not accepted | 9 | 5.1% |
| 3 Application denied | 7 | 4.0% |
| 4 Application withdrawn by applicant | 6 | 3.4% |
| 5 File closed for incompleteness | 0 | 0.0% |
| 6 Purchased loan | 0 | 0.0% |
| 7 Preapproval request denied | 0 | 0.0% |
| 8 Preapproval request approved but not accepted | 0 | 0.0% |
Codes and labels are the HMDA action-taken codes. Applications are codes 1–5; the denial rate divides code 3 by codes 1–3.
Denial reasons as coded
Denial reason breakdown withheld: fewer than 25 denials.
States
| State | Applications | Originations | Amount | Denial rate | Median spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 170 | 149 | $21m | 4.2% | — |
States with at least 25 applications. States with 100 or more link to the lender's page for that state.
Counties
| County | State | Applications | Originations | Amount | Denial rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peoria County | IL | 90 | 76 | $9.7m | 4.7% |
Up to 30 counties with at least 50 applications, by originations.
Questions and answers
How many mortgages did Better Banks originate in 2024?
153 loans totalling $23m, from 175 applications reported under HMDA. It also purchased 0 loans from other institutions, which are counted separately.
What is Better Banks's denial rate and how does it compare?
4.1% of decided applications were denied in 2024, against 24.3% nationally and 23.3% in Illinois. HMDA data alone cannot be used to determine whether a lender is complying with fair lending laws; the data do not include some legitimate credit risk considerations.
Which counties does Better Banks lend in most?
By originations: Peoria County, IL (76).
What loan types does Better Banks make?
Conventional 153, FHA 0, VA 0 and USDA 0 originations in 2024; by purpose, home purchase 87, home improvement 10, refinancing 7, cash-out refinancing 31 and other purpose 18.
What reasons did Better Banks report for denials?
Not enough denials to report a breakdown.
Where does this data come from?
From the 2024 public HMDA loan/application register published by the FFIEC and CFPB, with the lender's name from its HMDA transmittal sheet. Cells under 25 applications are withheld.
Provenance
Source: Home Mortgage Disclosure Act public loan/application register for 2024 (trend years 2022, 2023, 2024) and transmittal sheets 2018–2024, published by the FFIEC and CFPB at ffiec.cfpb.gov, public domain. Lender identity is the LEI and name on its transmittal sheet. This site was built 30 Sep 2026. Errors in processing are corrected at the next build; see corrections. Data through 1 Aug 2026.