discrimination

Subscribe to discrimination

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

The 10-3 en banc decision in Zarda v. Altitude Express issued earlier this week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is likely to be relied on by regulators and private plaintiffs alleging violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act based on sexual orientation discrimination.  In Zarda, the Second Circuit held that the prohibition on employment discrimination on the basis of sex in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act includes discrimination based on sexual orientation. … Continue Reading

The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has announced a settlement in its lawsuit against Travelers Indemnity Company in which it alleged that Travelers engaged in discriminatory conduct in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

In its lawsuit, which was filed in federal district court in Washington, D.C., NFHA alleged that Travelers had a policy of refusing to provide habitational insurance policies to landlords that rent to tenants who use Housing Choice Vouchers, also known as Section 8 vouchers. … Continue Reading