The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a proposed consent order with BancorpSouth Bank to settle charges that the bank’s mortgage lending practices violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. In addition to allegations of redlining and discrimination resulting from discretionary underwriting and pricing, the agencies’ joint complaint filed in federal court in Mississippi includes allegations of overt discrimination that are based in part on what the CFPB has called its first use of testers or "mystery shoppers" posing as consumers to support discrimination charges. While focused on mortgage lending, the settlement has significant fair lending implications for many types of non-mortgage credit.

For details about the allegations made in the complaint and the remedies imposed by the consent order, see our legal alert.