discrimination

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A federal district court in the Northern District of California has dismissed a lawsuit brought against Facebook alleging that Facebook allowed housing advertisers to target users based on protected characteristics under the Fair Housing Act, finding that the plaintiffs failed to allege any injury that would create Article III standing.

This decision is very similar to, and indeed cites, a decision from the District of Maryland that we blogged about last month, which dismissed a similar lawsuit brought against several housing providers.… Continue Reading

A Maryland federal district court has dismissed a putative class action lawsuit filed against nine companies that manage apartment buildings in the Washington, D.C. area by a 55-year old prospective tenant who alleged the defendants engaged in unlawful “‘digital housing discrimination’” by routinely and intentionally excluding older people from receiving Facebook advertisements for their apartment complexes in the D.C.… Continue Reading

An article recently published by the Student Borrower Protection Center titled “Discrimination is ‘Unfair’,” argues that the CFPB, FTC, state attorneys general and regulators, and in some cases private individuals, should consider challenging discrimination as an “unfair” practice covered by federal and state laws prohibiting unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices.  … 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

The CFPB has extended by 60 days the comment period for its Request for Information (RFI) on how best to create a regulatory environment that expands access to credit and ensures that all consumers and communities are protected from discrimination in all aspects of a credit transaction.  Originally set to expire on October 2, the comment period will now close on December 1, 2020.… Continue Reading

In a new blog post, the CFPB highlights fair lending protections available to small businesses that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly minority and women-owned businesses.

While the blog post emphasizes the CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program, it is intended to address all credit programs available to small businesses. … Continue Reading

The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Financial Services has scheduled a hearing in Houston, Texas for tomorrow entitled “Examining Discrimination and Other Barriers to Consumer Credit, Homeownership, and Financial Inclusion in Texas.” The memo from the Committee’s Majority Staff to Committee Members states that the hearing “will examine access to affordable housing, credit, and banking services in low and moderate-income (“LMI”) neighborhoods.”… 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

Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Doug Jones have sent a letter to the CFPB, Federal Reserve, OCC, and FDIC expressing concern that fintech and traditional lenders using algorithms in their underwriting processes may be engaging in unlawful discrimination.  (Such algorithms are often referred to as “artificial intelligence.”)

In their letter, the Senators reference research results showing that “the algorithms used by FinTech lenders are as discriminatory as loan officers.” … Continue Reading

The CFPB and its Acting Director are facing a proposed class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against minority and female workers based on allegations of lesser pay and fewer promotions than their white male counterparts. The case is captioned at, Jones et al v. Mulvaney, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, No.… Continue Reading