Lori J. Sommerfield

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The CFPB has filed its fifth status report with the California federal district court as required by the Stipulated Settlement Agreement (Agreement) in the lawsuit filed against the Bureau in May 2019 alleging wrongful delay in adopting regulations to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Section 1071 amended the ECOA to require financial institutions to collect and report certain data in connection with credit applications made by women- or minority-owned businesses and small businesses. … Continue Reading

On April 7, 2021, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Winn-Dixie Stores’ websites are not “public accommodations” and therefore are not subject to the accessibility requirements of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  The decision reversed a 2017 federal district court opinion – in what may be the only website accessibility case to ever go to trial – that required the grocery store chain to make its website accessible to individuals with visual disabilities. … Continue Reading

In the federal government’s ongoing effort to revive the U.S. economy and help people harmed by the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, an important detail has gone under-noticed:  the most recent set of federal stimulus payments to individuals are subject to garnishment by creditors.  And this fact is creating legal and operational challenges for the banking industry.… Continue Reading

Under the leadership of Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio, the Bureau issued an interpretive rule on March 9, 2021 clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and Regulation B includes sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. This prohibition includes discrimination based on actual or perceived non-conformity with traditional sex- or gender-based stereotypes, and discrimination based on an applicant’s social or other associations.… Continue Reading

The CFPB has filed its fourth status report with the California federal district court as required by the Stipulated Settlement Agreement in the lawsuit filed against the Bureau in May 2019 alleging wrongful delay in adopting regulations to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Section 1071 amended the ECOA to require financial institutions to collect and report certain data in connection with credit applications made by women- or minority-owned businesses and small businesses. … Continue Reading

As we reported, Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio recently shared a blog post in which he directed the Bureau’s Consumer Response Unit to prepare and publish a report highlighting companies with a poor track record of responding to consumer complaints. He stated that “senior leadership of these companies can expect to hear from me.”… Continue Reading

Last week, HUD’s Acting Assistant Director for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued a memorandum directing HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity to take a series of actions “to administer and fully enforce the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The memorandum is intended to implement President Biden’s Executive Order 13988 on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation (Executive Order). … Continue Reading

A class action lawsuit filed in September 2020 against Nike alleging that its policy requiring retail employees to wear Nike-branded, opaque masks discriminated against deaf and hard of hearing consumers under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) deserves attention from retail banks and non-bank financial services companies with brick-and-mortar facilities open to the public. … Continue Reading

The fate of the OCC’s Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) final rule, issued on May 20, 2020, hangs in the balance following the inauguration of President Biden on January 20 and the resignation of former Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks, who was a major proponent of the rule, on January 14.

Although the OCC’s CRA final rule technically became effective on October 1, 2020, it provides transition periods for compliance based on a bank’s asset size, type of charter, and business model.… Continue Reading