CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
On October 17, the Bureau released its Fall 2018 Rulemaking Agenda, but it included a surprise for those interested in fair lending. Under the section of the associated blog post entitled “Future Planning” appears the following statement:
“The Bureau is considering future [rulemaking] activity with regard to specific areas of consumer financial law of significant public interest. … Continue Reading
During Richard Cordray’s tenure as CFPB director, it began to look like we were heading toward an era of much more aggressive application of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to small business lending. The biggest potential development was the anticipated small-business lending data collection rule, which would have imposed HMDA-like reporting requirements for small business lending, which in turn would have generated the statistical information that could have been used in fair lending examinations and enforcement with respect to small business lending.… Continue Reading
On September 5, 2018 a group of 14 state Attorneys General and the AG for the District of Columbia sent a comment letter to CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, urging him to refrain from “reexamining the requirements” of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”). The AGs seek to preserve the interpretation that the ECOA provides for disparate impact liability.… Continue Reading
The American Bankers Association jointly with state bankers associations, the American Financial Services Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association are urging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to make significant changes to its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule (Rule) in light of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v.… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking comment on whether its 2013 Disparate Impact Rule (Rule) should be revised in light of the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc.… Continue Reading
According to a Politico report, CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney, speaking at a Washington, D.C. event, commented on changes to the Bureau’s approach to bringing enforcement actions and the Bureau’s plans to review the use of the disparate impact theory of ECOA liability.
With regard to enforcement actions, Mr. Mulvaney is reported to have indicated that the Bureau plans to consider the scale and frequency of violations when deciding whether to bring an enforcement action against a company. … Continue Reading
We previously reported on the Executive Order 13772 titled “Core Principles for Regulating the United States Financial System,” which is a high-level policy statement consisting of a series of Core Principles that are designed to inform the manner in which the Administration regulates the financial system. The Executive Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury to identify, in a report to the President, any laws, regulations, guidance and other Government policies “that inhibit Federal regulation of the United States financial system in a manner consistent with the Core Principles.”… Continue Reading
The D.C. district court recently granted two industry trade associations whose members sell homeowners insurance leave to file an amended complaint in their lawsuit challenging the Fair Housing Act (FHA) disparate impact rule (Rule) adopted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In their amended complaint, the trade associations allege that the Rule is inconsistent with the U.S.… Continue Reading
I am proud to report that Ballard attorneys Peter N. Cubita and Christopher J. Willis have been selected to receive a 2016 Distinguished Legal Writing Award from The Burton Awards, which recognize outstanding legal writing. They are being honored for their article entitled “Auto Finance and Disparate Impact: Substantive Lessons Learned from Class Certification Decisions,” which was published in the May 1, 2015, edition of the Consumer Financial Services Law Report. … Continue Reading
Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee recently released a report, prepared by the Republican Staff of the Committee, which chronicles in detail the controversial automotive ECOA enforcement initiative of the CFPB with respect to what it characterizes as “dealer markup.” The highly critical nature of the report is encapsulated by its title, which is “Unsafe at Any Bureaucracy: CFPB Junk Science and Indirect Auto Lending.” … Continue Reading
