Lenders › Bell Bank
Bell Bank
HMDA reporter, headquartered in Fargo, North Dakota. 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.
Bell Bank's 2024 HMDA filing covers 13,459 applications and 10,872 originated loans totalling $3.3bn, in 13 states.
Its denial rate, the share of decided applications the lender denied, was 6.7%, below the national rate of 24.3% and below the Minnesota rate of 16.9%. 1,720 applications were withdrawn by the applicant and 3 files were closed for incompleteness; those are not counted in the denial rate.
The median rate spread on its originated loans, the difference between the loan's APR and the average prime offer rate, was 0.3 percentage points (national median 0.3); 7.0% of its originations had a spread of 1.5 points or more.
By loan purpose the originations were mostly home purchase (77%) and home improvement (8%); by loan type, conventional (90%) and FHA (6%).
The largest volumes were in Minnesota (6,342 originations), Arizona (1,193 originations) and Wisconsin (921 originations).
Applications were up 11% on 2023.
VA lender statistics list 41 VA-guaranteed loans for the lender in August 2026.
Compared with Minnesota and the nation
| Measure | This lender | Minnesota, all lenders | United States |
|---|---|---|---|
| Denial rate (denied ÷ decided applications) | 6.7% | 16.9% | 24.3% |
| Median rate spread, percentage points | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Originations with spread of 1.5 pp or more | 7.0% | 13.2% | 15.6% |
| Average originated loan | $300k | $269k | $329k |
| Home purchase share of originations | 77.4% | 60.9% | 57.0% |
| FHA-insured share of originations | 5.9% | 7.9% | 13.4% |
| VA-guaranteed share of originations | 3.6% | 4.6% | 7.9% |
| Applications withdrawn by applicant | 12.8% | 12.3% | 14.3% |
Minnesota 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 lenderMinnesotaUnited States
| Year | Applications | Originations | Amount | Denial rate | Median spread | LAR records |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | 11,193 |
| 2019 | — | — | — | — | — | 14,815 |
| 2020 | — | — | — | — | — | 26,810 |
| 2021 | — | — | — | — | — | 26,248 |
| 2022 | 16,176 | 13,267 | $4.5bn | 5.5% | 0.3 | 16,221 |
| 2023 | 12,179 | 9,877 | $3.1bn | 6.5% | 0.4 | 12,202 |
| 2024 | 13,459 | 10,872 | $3.3bn | 6.7% | 0.3 | 13,496 |
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 77% (8,411)Home improvement 8% (859)Refinancing 6% (659)Cash-out refinancing 2% (211)Other purpose 7% (732)
By type
Conventional 90% (9,809)FHA 6% (638)VA 4% (391)USDA 0% (34)
| Loan type | Applications | Originations | Denied | Denial rate (of applications) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | 12,078 | 9,809 | 682 | 5.6% |
| FHA-insured | 847 | 638 | 79 | 9.3% |
| VA-guaranteed | 495 | 391 | 19 | 3.8% |
| USDA Rural Housing Service or Farm Service Agency guaranteed | 39 | 34 | 1 | 2.6% |
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 | 10,872 | 80.6% |
| 2 Application approved but not accepted | 83 | 0.6% |
| 3 Application denied | 781 | 5.8% |
| 4 Application withdrawn by applicant | 1,720 | 12.7% |
| 5 File closed for incompleteness | 3 | 0.0% |
| 6 Purchased loan | 26 | 0.2% |
| 7 Preapproval request denied | 2 | 0.0% |
| 8 Preapproval request approved but not accepted | 9 | 0.1% |
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
Share of the lender's 781 denials by the first denial reason it coded (outlined bar: all lenders nationally). Lenders may record up to four reasons; only the first is counted here.
States
| State | Applications | Originations | Amount | Denial rate | Median spread |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 7,482 | 6,342 | $1.8bn | 5.2% | 0.4 |
| Arizona | 1,600 | 1,193 | $439m | 10.1% | 0.4 |
| Wisconsin | 1,171 | 921 | $289m | 8.3% | 0.3 |
| North Dakota | 698 | 569 | $111m | 8.7% | 0.2 |
| Florida | 522 | 385 | $141m | 8.7% | 0.3 |
| Missouri | 480 | 350 | $100m | 6.6% | 0.4 |
| New Mexico | 471 | 382 | $87m | 4.5% | 0.2 |
| Kansas | 399 | 298 | $93m | 4.8% | 0.2 |
| Tennessee | 236 | 140 | $51m | 20.8% | 0.5 |
| Colorado | 78 | 54 | $29m | 8.3% | 0.2 |
| Illinois | 59 | 46 | $15m | 2.1% | 0.5 |
| Texas | 35 | 25 | $12m | 3.7% | 0.0 |
| California | 32 | 19 | $11m | — | — |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hennepin County | MN | 2,065 | 1,732 | $560m | 4.8% |
| Maricopa County | AZ | 1,366 | 1,013 | $376m | 10.2% |
| Ramsey County | MN | 812 | 691 | $176m | 4.7% |
| Dakota County | MN | 696 | 585 | $169m | 5.5% |
| Anoka County | MN | 598 | 515 | $136m | 4.4% |
| Cass County | ND | 595 | 490 | $98m | 8.5% |
| Washington County | MN | 559 | 469 | $148m | 5.0% |
| Dane County | WI | 310 | 246 | $97m | 5.0% |
| Clay County | MN | 253 | 213 | $30m | 8.8% |
| Scott County | MN | 228 | 204 | $66m | 3.7% |
| Curry County | NM | 205 | 178 | $24m | 4.3% |
| Wright County | MN | 198 | 173 | $54m | 3.9% |
| Olmsted County | MN | 180 | 164 | $39m | 1.8% |
| St. Louis County | MN | 198 | 159 | $39m | 7.0% |
| Carver County | MN | 177 | 159 | $63m | 3.6% |
| Otter Tail County | MN | 182 | 150 | $27m | 8.9% |
| Johnson County | KS | 202 | 149 | $57m | 3.8% |
| Douglas County | MN | 138 | 119 | $23m | 4.7% |
| Becker County | MN | 136 | 107 | $20m | 14.2% |
| Pinal County | AZ | 134 | 104 | $32m | 11.9% |
| St. Croix County | WI | 127 | 104 | $37m | 7.0% |
| Chisago County | MN | 114 | 94 | $27m | 9.6% |
| Sherburne County | MN | 106 | 91 | $27m | 4.1% |
| Jackson County | MO | 112 | 83 | $21m | 4.6% |
| Bernalillo County | NM | 104 | 83 | $27m | 2.4% |
| Waukesha County | WI | 92 | 72 | $24m | 5.2% |
| Goodhue County | MN | 81 | 71 | $16m | 4.1% |
| Boone County | MO | 101 | 68 | $21m | 11.4% |
| Isanti County | MN | 72 | 61 | $15m | 4.7% |
| Milwaukee County | WI | 72 | 57 | $14m | 12.3% |
Up to 30 counties with at least 50 applications, by originations.
VA-guaranteed loans by month
All VA loansPurchase
| Month | All | Purchase | Cash-out | IRRRL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2026 | 41 | 36 | 4 | 1 |
| Jul 2026 | 59 | 57 | 1 | 1 |
| Jun 2026 | 45 | 42 | 2 | 1 |
| May 2026 | 33 | 31 | 1 | 1 |
| Apr 2026 | 46 | 24 | 8 | 14 |
| Mar 2026 | 50 | 36 | 3 | 11 |
| Feb 2026 | 29 | 19 | 3 | 7 |
| Jan 2026 | 55 | 43 | 6 | 6 |
| Dec 2025 | 53 | 42 | 3 | 8 |
| Nov 2025 | 35 | 27 | 4 | 4 |
| Oct 2025 | 44 | 31 | 3 | 10 |
| Sep 2025 | 43 | 36 | 5 | 2 |
Fiscal-year totals (VA): FY2018 96,279,625 · FY2019 117,191,053 · FY2020 206,407,076 · FY2021 316,726,192 · FY2022 167,994,846 · FY2023 121,575,707 · FY2024 112,207,124 · FY2025 183,317,374. Matched to the VA lender name "BELL BANK"; VA counts loans by guarantee date, HMDA by application year, so the two series differ.
Questions and answers
How many mortgages did Bell Bank originate in 2024?
10,872 loans totalling $3.3bn, from 13,459 applications reported under HMDA. It also purchased 26 loans from other institutions, which are counted separately.
What is Bell Bank's denial rate and how does it compare?
6.7% of decided applications were denied in 2024, against 24.3% nationally and 16.9% in Minnesota. 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 Bell Bank lend in most?
By originations: Hennepin County, MN (1,732), Maricopa County, AZ (1,013), Ramsey County, MN (691), Dakota County, MN (585) and Anoka County, MN (515).
What loan types does Bell Bank make?
Conventional 9,809, FHA 638, VA 391 and USDA 34 originations in 2024; by purpose, home purchase 8,411, home improvement 859, refinancing 659, cash-out refinancing 211 and other purpose 732.
What reasons did Bell Bank report for denials?
The first denial reason recorded most often was debt-to-income ratio (311), collateral (182) and credit history (169), as coded by the lender in its HMDA filing.
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 and VA loan volume from the Department of Veterans Affairs lender statistics. 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; VA lender statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs. 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.