Civil Rights › Consumer Protection › Residential Real Estate

Housing Counselor Survey Alleges Banks Fail To Comply With National Mortgage Settlement.

On April 3, a California borrower advocacy organization published the results of its survey of housing counselors, which the organization claims reveals that problems persist with the implementation of the national servicing...more

New Study Claims Mortgage Lenders Discriminate Against Women

On March 12, the Chicago-based Woodstock Institute released research claiming that mortgage lenders discriminate against female applicants. The research is presented in a “fact sheet” and previews a longer report the group...more

HUD Final Rule on Disparate Impact under the Fair Housing Act

On February 8, 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD” or the “Department”) finalized its controversial discriminatory effects rule (the “final rule” or “discriminatory effects rule”), thus formalizing...more

CFPB’s ECOA disparate impact test finds support in HUD’s FHA “Discriminatory Effects” final rule

In April 2102, the CFPB issued a bulletin to confirm that it plans to apply a disparate impact test in exercising its supervisory and enforcement authority under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. The...more

Settlement of Michigan Lending Discrimination Lawsuit Underscores Regulatory Focus on Equal Access to Credit

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reached a settlement with Community Bank of St. Charles, Michigan, in a federal lending discrimination lawsuit filed by DOJ against the bank....more

Fair Housing Group Accuses Insurance Company Of Redlining

On December 21, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) announced that it filed with HUD a housing discrimination complaint against a major insurance company regarding the offering of hazard insurance in a certain...more

Can ‘Disparate Impact’ Become the Basis for a Fair-Lending Claim?

As part of its aggressive program to protect consumers in financial matters, the Consumer Protection Financial Bureau (CFPB) has announced that it is prepared to adopt a controversial “disparate impact” theory of liability...more

CFPB: Mortgage Originator Violations

Yesterday, I outlined for you the features of the CFPB's requisites of a Compliance Management System (CMS). My observations were based on the CFPB's newsletter, entitled Supervisory Highlights: Fall 2012, an issuance to the...more

Supreme Court to Decide Fair Housing Act “Disparate Impact” Case with Broader Fair Lending Implications

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether “disparate impact” discrimination claims are cognizable under the federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and, if so, how such claims should be analyzed. The Court’s decision,...more

Kubicki v Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems et al.

County Sheriff May Appoint Special Deputies by Written Agreement to Execute Foreclosures

In this case, the Michigan Court of Appeals found nothing improper in a signed agreement by a county sheriff and a process serving company wherein the president of the process serving company was appointed a special deputy...more

Will Everyone Know That I Filed For Bankruptcy?

A big concern for many people is if their bankruptcy filing will be made public. In this article I discuss who will learn of your bankruptcy filing and who has access to the information....more

New Rights for Tenants Living in Foreclosed Properties

The Massachusetts Legislature has passed a new law providing significant protections for tenants facing eviction by banks which have foreclosed on a property where the tenants are living....more

Fighting Foreclosures and Evictions

A booklet developed for the Street Law Project of the National Lawyers Guild. How tenants and former homeowners can fight back against evictions and foreclosures....more