Finance & Banking, Civil Rights, Consumer Protection

CFPB Issues Subpoenas to Motor Vehicle Lenders: Discretion = Discrimination?

by David Dresher, Elena Lovoy | Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on 5/10/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP) has taken another step in its attempts to ensure “fair” pricing in indirect motor vehicle financing transactions. This latest development highlights the CFPB’s focus on the...more

New Risks for Indirect Lenders

by Michael Lueder | Foley & Lardner LLP on 4/23/2013

Last month the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that it will start holding banks accountable for the discriminatory actions of indirect auto lenders. The issue arises when a consumer goes to purchase a car and...more

CFPB seeking information on strategies to build financial capabilities for veterans and other special groups

by Barbara S. Mishkin | Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/10/2013

The CFPB is looking for responses by April 12 to two Requests for Information it has filed seeking information on how to build financial capabilities for people with disabilities, veterans in transition, and people who are...more

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

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/8/2013

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

CFPB Office of Women and Minority Inclusion to propose diversity standards for regulated entities

by Barbara S. Mishkin | Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/3/2013

The CFPB’s Office of Women and Minority Inclusion (OMWI) has issued its first annual report to Congress covering the OMWI’s activities in 2012. The Dodd-Frank Act required the CFPB and various other federal agencies including...more

Auto finance: can we really call disparate impact “discrimination”?

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/1/2013

I want to thank Jeff Sovern over at the Public Citizen Consumer Law & Policy Blog for having an interesting back-and-forth with me over the last week about the application of the disparate impact theory of liability to dealer...more

Insights Into The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Priorities For 2013

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/1/2013

On March 20, 2013, Michael Bresnick, Executive Director of DOJ’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force gave a speech at the Exchequer Club of Washington, DC highlighting recent accomplishments of the Task Force and outlining...more

New Study Claims Mortgage Lenders Discriminate Against Women

by BuckleySandler LLP on 3/22/2013

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

by Melanie Brody, Andrew C. Glass, Paul Hancock, Tori K. Shinohara | K&L Gates LLP on 3/13/2013

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

The CFPB Stretches ECOA Past the Breaking Point with Auto Finance

by Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 2/22/2013

In a story released last night, Carter Dougherty at Bloomberg reports that the CFPB has warned “at least four banks” that it may take enforcement action against them under ECOA, alleging that a “policy” of “allowing” dealers...more

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

by Barbara S. Mishkin | Ballard Spahr LLP on 2/14/2013

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

by Richard J. Andreano, Jr., John L. Culhane, Jr., Stefanie Jackman, Alan S. Kaplinsky, Christopher J. Willis | Ballard Spahr LLP on 1/28/2013

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

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

by Jeff Ifrah on 1/2/2013

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 Ombudsman's Office Publishes First Annual Report

by JD Supra Law News on 11/15/2012

Full text copy of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Ombudsman's Office first annual report. From the report: "The CFPB Ombudsman advocates for a fair process as between consumers, the providers of consumer financial...more

CFPB: Mortgage Originator Violations

by Jonathan Foxx on 11/7/2012

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

Diversity standards highlighted in Director Cordray’s remarks to Congressional Black Caucus Foundation

by Ballard Spahr LLP on 9/25/2012

In his remarks last week to the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, CFPB Director Richard Cordray spoke about the role of the Office of Minority and Women Inclusion (OMWI) that various federal agencies are required to...more

DOJ Fair Lending Focus Continues in Settlement of Case Challenging Lender's Minimum Loan Amount Policy

by Ballard Spahr LLP on 9/20/2012

The Department of Justice's recent announcement that it had settled its case against Luther Burbank Savings challenging Luther's minimum loan amount policy demonstrates the DOJ's continued focus on fair lending. The...more

DOJ Settles 'Pattern or Practice' Fair Lending Case

by Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/30/2012

The Department of Justice's "pattern or practice" fair lending lawsuit against GFI Mortgage Bankers, Inc., has resulted in a settlement that requires GFI to pay a total of $3.555 million, consisting of $3.5 million in...more

Why Fair and Responsible Banking Risk Assessments Are Important For Non-Mortgage Business Lines

by Benjamin Saul on 8/1/2012

Fair and responsible banking risk assessments – by which financial institutions identify, measure, control, and monitor their lending and, more recently, servicing activities to prevent discriminatory, unfair, deceptive,...more

Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Pricing Discrimination Suit Against Auto Dealers

by BuckleySandler LLP on 7/25/2012

On July 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a Department of Justice suit alleging that two automobile dealers violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by charging...more

Fair Lending 2012—Significant Risk Management Agenda Items

by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP on 5/30/2012

In the first few months of 2012, lenders were cautiously optimistic that a recent Supreme Court case and a case pending before the Supreme Court would result in a victory for the financial services industry by severely...more

CFPB Puts Consumer Lenders on Notice Regarding Discriminatory Practices

by BuckleySandler LLP on 4/19/2012

he CFPB today put consumer lenders on notice that it “will use all available legal avenues, including disparate impact, to pursue lenders whose practices discriminate against consumers.” The CFPB intends to employ disparate...more

Fair Lending Class Actions Following Wal-Mart v. Dukes

by Benjamin Saul on 11/30/2011

This article examines the Dukes decision itself, discusses how several lower courts have recently applied the Dukes decision in fair lending class actions, and explores the degree to which Dukes has undercut the viability...more

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

by Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 11/11/2011

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

First Do No Harm: An Analysis of the Broad Powers of the CFPB

by Benjamin Saul on 10/20/2011

In his remarks at the signing ceremony for the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, President Obama promised that the arsenal of consumer protections included in the new law would be "enforced by a new...more

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Finance & Banking › Civil Rights › Consumer Protection