The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently issued a press release announcing a 2023 update to its Equity Action Plan. The Equity Action Plan is part of HUD’s efforts to implement President Biden’s Executive Order on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government.”… Continue Reading

The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) recently issued a statement of principles related to valuation discrimination and bias for member entities to consider in their consumer compliance and safety and soundness examinations. The member entities of the FFIEC are the Comptroller of the Currency, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Federal Reserve Board, National Credit Union Administration and the FFIEC State Liaison Committee.… Continue Reading

Several national and Texas banking and business trade groups have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas challenging the final regulations (Final Rules) implementing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) that were jointly adopted in October 2023 by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Federal Reserve Board (Agencies). … Continue Reading

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Patriot Bank (Patriot or Bank) has agreed to pay $1.9 million to resolve allegations that the Bank engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Memphis, Tennessee from 2015 to at least 2020, in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).… Continue Reading

On January 24, 2024, a week after issuing its proposed rulemaking for overdraft services, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued its proposed rulemaking on non-sufficient funds (NSF) fees.

NSF Fee Proposal

Banks typically charge NSF fees when an item is submitted for payment against a consumer’s account and returned unpaid due to insufficient funds.… Continue Reading

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published another FHFA Insights blog post addressing the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers that is a companion to an FHFA Insights blog post that we reported on previously. In the recent blog post, the FHFA presents the question “Is the racial disparity in underappraisal, or some portion of it, due to racial disparities in the practice of time adjustment?”… Continue Reading

As previously reported, in late December 2023 President Biden vetoed legislation adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate under the Congressional Review Act to override the CFPB’s final Section 1071 small business lending rule (1071 Rule). The vote in the House was 221-202 and the vote in the Senate was 53-44.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently issued a rule to adjust maximum penalty amounts under various statutes that it administers. Included among the adjustments are the amounts for the three tiers of civil money penalties that the CFPB may impose for violations of consumer financial protection laws under the Dodd-Frank Act. Specifically, the Dodd-Frank Act initially provided for the following tiers of civil money penalties:

  • For any violation of a law, rule, or final order or condition imposed in writing by the CFPB, a civil money penalty of up to $5,000 for each day during which such violation or failure to pay continues.
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The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) recently published a FHFA Insights blog post that cites the underutilization of appraisal time adjustments by appraisers.

The FHFA states that “[i]n principle, appraisers can consider price changes that have occurred since the time the [comparable properties used in the appraisal] sold and make adjustments known as market conditions adjustments or time adjustments.… Continue Reading

The CFPB recently announced that the platform for the submission of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data collected in 2023 is now available for the submission of the data. The platform may be accessed here. HMDA data for 2023 must be submitted on or before March 1, 2024.

A beta testing version of the platform also is available and may be accessed here.… Continue Reading