In conjunction with efforts to forgive federal student debt for certain borrowers, President Biden’s Justice Department recently announced new guidance for its attorneys to use when deciding whether to recommend that a bankruptcy judge discharge an individual’s federal student loans.
The guidance seeks to streamline the process of discharging federal student debt which, unlike other
On September 29, 2022, the Justice Department announced a proposed consent order with Evolve Bank and Trust to resolve allegations of lending discrimination on the basis of race, sex, and national origin in the pricing of its residential mortgage loans from at least 2014 through 2019.
Headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee, Evolve Bank maintains mortgage lending
On September 28, 2022, the Department of Justice (”DOJ”) announced a settlement with Westlake Financial Services (“Westlake”), a Los Angeles-based indirect auto finance company specializing in subprime and near-subprime loans, resolving allegations that Westlake failed to fully provide interest rate benefits to eligible servicemembers as required under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”). Under the
The Justice Department announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lakeland Bank to settle the DOJ’s claims that Lakeland engaged in unlawful redlining in the Newark, New Jersey metropolitan area. The DOJ’s lawsuit against Lakeland, filed in a New Jersey federal district court, is part of the DOJ’s nationwide “Combating Redlining Initiative
On Friday, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced two developments: First, the release of a 66-page report, The Role of Law Enforcement in Detecting, Investigating, and Prosecuting Criminal Activity Related to Digital Assets (the “Report”), issued under President Biden’s March 9, 2022 Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets. Second, the establishment
On July 29, 2022, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a notification letter (the “joint letter”) to “remind” auto lenders and leasing companies of the protections provided to servicemembers and their dependents under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The joint letter provides a very basic overview and
After reviewing the developments leading up to the settlement, we examine the aspects of Facebook’s advertising delivery system that were alleged to be discriminatory. We then discuss the terms of the settlement, including the variance reduction system that Facebook must develop to address disparities for race, ethnicity and sex between advertisers’ targeted audiences and the
The Department of Justice announced that it has entered into a settlement with Meta Platforms Inc., formerly known as Facebook Inc., to resolve allegations that Meta engaged in discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The proposed agreement was filed in a New York federal district court simultaneously with a complaint alleging
On April 15, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Steve’s Towing, Inc., located in Virginia Beach, Virginia, pursuant to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), 50 U.S.C. §§ 3901-4043, for alleged violations of the SCRA’s prohibition against enforcing a storage lien on a servicemember’s vehicle during, or within ninety days after,
As we approach the two-year anniversary of the passage of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), the scope and costs of fraud in connection with its relief programs continues to mount. To date, the Department of Justice has brought criminal charges against over 1,000 defendants with alleged losses exceeding $1.1 billion;