We recently blogged about remarks made by Patrice Ficklin, Director of the CFPB’s Office of Fair Lending, at the American Bar Association’s Consumer Financial Services Institute.  In her remarks, she stated that the CFPB is focusing on LGBT consumers and the challenges they face.  She suggested that the ECOA’s prohibition against discrimination on the basis of “sex” includes discrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.

Since Ms. Ficklin made those remarks, it has come to our attention that the CFPB has been asking entities it supervises about how they incorporate sexual orientation and gender identity into their policies, procedures, and fair lending analyses.  We have been heavily involved in counseling clients concerning these issues.  (Last month, we conducted a webinar: “Implications for CFPB-Regulated Banks and Non-Banks of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Opinion in Obergefell v. Hodges.”)