fair lending

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At an industry fair lending conference last week, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”), the CFPB, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) outlined fair lending priorities for their agencies.  These represent the first remarks by these regulators following the DOJ’s announcement of its major new “Combatting Redlining Initiative…

In this podcast, we discuss: the compliance challenges that could give rise to enforcement actions against PPP lenders and current and potential future investigatory activity; fair lending guidance for PPP lenders, key fair lending risks, and steps to mitigate fair lending risk; the status of examinations and reviews related to PPP loans; sources of compliance…

We look at the practices found to be unlawful by CFPB examiners in these markets, discuss what the findings signal for future scrutiny of these markets by the “new CFPB”, and share practical takeaways for companies operating in these markets.  Issues highlighted in our conversation include the CFPB’s findings regarding “unreliable furnishers,” furnisher handling of…

After announcing several years ago that it intended to pick up with fair lending enforcement in the indirect auto finance market where the CFPB left off, the New York Department of Financial Services has announced two consent orders with smaller, New York-chartered banks based on the allegation that allowing auto dealers to negotiate the retail…

During May 2021, the federal Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a report (GAO-21-393) containing findings from its review of issues related to the CFPB’s oversight and enforcement of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (“HMDA”).  Specifically, the report examines how the CFPB has (i) managed the reorganization of its…

The CFPB recently issued its annual fair lending report.  The report describes the CFPB’s fair lending activities in supervision and enforcement; guidance and rulemaking; interagency coordination; and outreach and education for 2020.

The report states that the Bureau announced two public fair lending enforcement actions in 2020.  One of those actions represented the CFPB’s…

While much attention has been paid to the “new CFPB’s” plans to make fair lending a top priority, the fair lending practices of financial institutions supervised by the federal banking agencies are also likely to face greater scrutiny under the Biden Administration.

In its Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights, the FDIC describes several matters involving…

Under the leadership of Acting CFPB Director Dave Uejio, the Bureau issued an interpretive rule on March 9, 2021 clarifying that the prohibition against sex discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and Regulation B includes sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. This prohibition includes discrimination based on actual or perceived non-conformity with traditional…

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.”  DFS also…