Despite facing challenges both from Congress and in court, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB’s) “Small Business Lending Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B)” (Small Business Rule) is likely...more
On February 12, the FTC provided the CFPB with an annual summary of its 2023 enforcement, research and policy development, and educational-related initiatives on ECOA, as Dodd-Frank allows the Commission to enforce ECOA and...more
A group of eleven Republican Senators who are members of the Senate Banking Committee have sent a letter to CFPB Director Rohit Chopra and Attorney General Merrick Garland to urge the CFPB and DOJ to retract the joint...more
Recently the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville,...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued a new joint statement focused on anti-discrimination in lending practices as they relate to noncitizens. This guidance not only...more
On September 19, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a Consumer Protection Circular, “Adverse Action Notification Requirements and the Proper Use of the CFPB’s Sample Forms Provided in Regulation B”...more
The CFPB has issued a Circular addressing adverse action notification requirements and the proper use of the CFPB's sample forms provided in Regulation B when using artificial intelligence (AI) and complex credit models, and...more
On September 20th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) published guidance – Consumer Financial Protection Circular, 2023-03 – regarding the list of reasons that must be provided when an applicant is denied...more
The Mortgage Bankers Association and Housing Policy Council (the “Associations”) recently filed an Amici Curiae brief supporting the position of Townstone Financial regarding the scope of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act...more
The CFPB has released the Summer 2023 edition of Supervisory Highlights. The report discusses the Bureau’s examinations in the areas of auto origination and servicing, consumer reporting, debt collection, deposits, mortgage...more
On June 14, 2020, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed its opening brief in its appeal of a U.S. district court’s decision in the CFPB’s enforcement action against Townstone Mortgage (Townstone). The CFPB’s...more
The CFPB has published a document on its website that “communicates the extent to which the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and its implementing Regulation B apply with respect to franchises seeking credit to finance...more
On February 9, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) submitted its annual letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) summarizing its activities enforcing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and its...more
On February 9, the FTC provided the CFPB and the Federal Reserve Board with its annual letter that summarizes its activities enforcing the ECOA and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, in the prior year. The FTC is in...more
On February 3, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an opinion and order dismissing with prejudice the CFPB’s complaint for violations of the ECOA against a mortgage lender and its owner...more
The FTC recently sent its annual letter to the CFPB reporting on the FTC’s activities related to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. The new letter reports on the FTC’s activities in 2022. The Bureau...more
On February 9, the FTC announced it recently provided the CFPB with its annual summary of activities related to ECOA enforcement, focusing specifically on the Commission’s activities with respect to Regulation B. ...more
According to a Chicago federal district court, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act’s loan discrimination provisions to not extend to alleged discrimination against prospective applicants. Relying on the express language of the...more
On February 3, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois dismissed with prejudice claims that a Chicago-based nonbank mortgage company and its owner violated ECOA by engaging in discriminatory marketing...more
On May 9, the CFPB released an advisory opinion affirming that ECOA and its implementing rule, Regulation B, protect not only those persons actively seeking credit, but also those who have sought and received credit. The...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an advisory opinion on May 9, confirming that for purposes of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, the intended...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) issued an Advisory Opinion on Monday affirming that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and Regulation B protect not only credit “applicants,” but also those who...more
The CFPB’s Fair Lending Director, together with senior officials from other federal agencies, have sent a letter to The Appraisal Foundation (TAF) commenting on proposed changes to the Uniform Standards of Professional...more
On February 23, eight federal agencies including the CFPB, FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve Board, NCUA, HUD, DOJ, and FHFA issued an interagency statement to remind creditors of the ability under the ECOA and Regulation B to...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) reached a settlement with Trustmark National Bank (“Trustmark”) to resolve allegations that it discriminated against Black and Hispanic...more