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The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued a statement announcing that it “has worked with Google to improve Google’s online advertising policies to better align them with requirements of the Fair Housing Act, where applicable.”

Last year, HUD issued a “Charge of Discrimination” against Facebook that charged the company “with engaging in discriminatory housing practices in violation of the [provisions of the Fair Housing Act that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin or disability.]” … 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

A purported class action filed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses Facebook of discriminating against women and individuals over 40 who were denied advertisements and information about certain financial services opportunities, including those for bank accounts, insurance, and investing.

According to the complaint, Facebook encourages financial services advertisers to target specific populations in order to reach the most “relevant” group and the “kinds of people” the businesses consider to be their “best customers.” … Continue Reading

Only a few months have passed since the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a charge of discrimination against Facebook, alleging that the ad-targeting techniques used to determine which users would see advertising related to housing and housing-related service (like mortgage loans) were based on protected characteristics and “close proxies” for those characteristics, violating the Fair Housing Act. … Continue Reading

According to a Wall Street Journal report, Facebook has agreed to remove age, gender, and zip code targeting for housing, employment, and credit-related advertisements as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance, the Communications Workers of America, and other plaintiffs.

While Facebook reportedly did not permit advertisers to target specifically by race, it did allow advertisers to use “ethnic affinity” criteria.  … Continue Reading

The CFPB has announced the settlement of an enforcement action against a California-based mortgage lender for alleged deceptive advertising practices, including the use of advertisements that the CFPB claimed falsely led consumers to believe that the company was affiliated with the U.S. government.  The consent order requires the lender to pay a civil penalty of $250,000.… Continue Reading

We previously reported that the Bureau had sent warning letters to many mortgage originators and brokers chastising them about certain advertising practices.  Yesterday, at the ABA Consumer Financial Services Committee meeting, Chris Peterson (a policy analyst in the Bureau’s enforcement division) mentioned during his presentation that the Bureau has launched investigations of some recipients of these letters.… Continue Reading