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The Biden Administration’s prioritization of fair lending as a law enforcement focus took center stage last week with the announcement that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched a new initiative targeting redlining and that the DOJ and CFPB, in cooperation with the OCC, had settled the first lawsuit filed under the Initiative.… Continue Reading

The New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently announced that it has entered into an agreement with Hunt Mortgage, a licensed mortgage banker, to address the DFS’s findings that there was a “demonstrable lack of lending to minorities and in majority-minority neighborhoods in Western and Central New York by Hunt Mortgage.”  … Continue Reading

On July 15, 2020, the CPFB filed a complaint in federal court against Townstone Financial, Inc. (Townstone) representing the first ever redlining complaint against a non-bank mortgage lender. The complaint is brought under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA), but not the Fair Housing Act (FHA).… Continue Reading

One of the most important areas of consumer financial regulation today is the use of internet- or social media-based platforms to target advertising for consumer financial products.  Its importance stems from the fact that financial services companies can obtain significant benefits from directing advertising to those consumers most likely to be interested in a product, and to be able to qualify for it. … Continue Reading

In this podcast, after reviewing what redlining is, we look at which regulators have made it a focus, factors they consider when looking for redlining, whether those factors apply to nonbanks and how nonbanks can assess and reduce risk.  We also discuss emerging theories of digital redlining.

Click here to listen to the podcast.… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last Thursday that it had reached an agreement with First Merchants Bank, an Indiana state-chartered bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank on June 13, 2019 simultaneously with a settlement agreement and agreed order.

The agreement represents the second fair lending settlement entered into by the Republican-led DOJ under the Trump administration.  … Continue Reading

As part of an investigation launched earlier this year into allegations of redlining in the Philadelphia area, the Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro recently called on mortgage borrowers and home loan applicants in the Philadelphia area to file complaints with his office “if they believe they may have been victims of redlining or experienced irregularities when looking for a mortgage or home loan.”… Continue Reading

The U.S. Department of Justice announced earlier this week that it has reached an agreement with KleinBank, a state-chartered Minnesota bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank in January 2017, only a week before President Trump’s inauguration.  The agreement represents the first fair lending settlement entered into by the DOJ under the Trump administration.… Continue Reading

On Monday, we blogged about the highlights of the panel I moderated, “The CFPB Speaks,” that was part of the Practicing Law Institute’s 22nd annual Consumer Financial Services Institute in Manhattan. The next panel,  “Federal Regulators Speak: Priorities & Coordination,” focused on priorities and developments at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the OCC, and the FTC.… Continue Reading

The CFPB and DOJ recently announced a proposed consent order with BancorpSouth Bank to settle charges that the bank’s mortgage lending practices violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.  In addition to allegations of redlining and discrimination resulting from discretionary underwriting and pricing, the agencies’ joint complaint filed in federal court in Mississippi includes allegations of overt discrimination that are based in part on what the CFPB has called its first use of testers or “mystery shoppers” posing as consumers to support discrimination charges. … Continue Reading