Photo of Lori Sommerfield

Lori Sommerfield

Subscribe to Lori Sommerfield's Posts

With over two decades of consumer financial services experience in federal government, in-house, and private practice settings, and a specialty in fair lending regulatory compliance, Lori counsels clients in supervisory issues, examinations, investigations, and enforcement actions.

Follow:Read more about Lori SommerfieldLori's Linkedin Profile

In this special crossover episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast and Regulatory Oversight, Chris Willis is joined by colleagues Lori Sommerfield and Matthew Berns to discuss New Jersey’s sweeping new disparate impact regulations under the Law Against Discrimination. They break down one of the most comprehensive state-level disparate impact rules in the U.S., the contrasts with traditional federal standards, and implications for enforcement in financial services. The discussion dives into credit scores, underwriting models, AI and automated decision-making tools, and the difference between New Jersey’s approach and the Trump administration’s effort to scale back disparate impact at the federal level, offering practical takeaways for lenders and other covered entities navigating this shifting landscape.

On January 14, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a proposed rule that would repeal its Fair Housing Act (FHA or Act) “discriminatory effects” (disparate impact) regulations and leave the development and application of disparate impact standards entirely to the courts. Comments are due February 13, 2026.

On January 12, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and U.S. Department of Justice formally withdrew their October 2023 joint statement on creditors’ consideration of immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). As we previewed in our December 23, 2025 blog post (available here), the agencies state that the CFPB’s prior statement may have created the misimpression that ECOA or Regulation B impose additional limits on the consideration of immigration or citizenship status beyond the existing regulatory text. The agencies also state that additional guidance on this topic goes beyond Regulation B, so it is unnecessary and appropriate for rescission.

New York has adopted new regulations, 3 NYCRR Part 120, that will extend New York’s Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) obligations to certain nonbank mortgage lenders operating in the state. Effective July 7, 2026, the rule will require New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS)‑licensed non‑depository mortgage bankers that have originated 200 or more New York State mortgage loans in the prior calendar year to demonstrate that they are providing fair and equitable access to home loans, especially for low‑ and moderate‑income New Yorkers.

On January 9, the defendants in National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) v. Vought filed a notice and exhibit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia confirming that the Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) has now requested funding from the Federal Reserve Board (Federal Reserve), as required by Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s December 30, 2025 order.

In this episode of The Consumer Finance Podcast, host Chris Willis is joined by Troutman Pepper Locke Partner Lori Sommerfield and Relman Colfax Co-Managing Partner Stephen Hayes for a candid discussion about how redlining has traditionally been defined, how redlining was defined and applied during the Biden administration, and how it may return under a future administration or in cases brought by state regulators or private litigants. This episode further explores the tension between the standards set forth in enforcement actions and those applied in supervisory examinations, and the role of statistical analysis and HMDA data in redlining cases. The podcast also tackles issues like digitally targeted advertising and what shifting regulatory priorities under the current administration may mean for future redlining enforcement risk, offering a balanced look at where redlining law has been — and where it may be headed next.

On December 22, the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) updated its Artificial Intelligence (AI) resource page to consolidate key technical and policy references for federally insured credit unions. The page sits within NCUA’s broader cybersecurity and financial technology resources and is explicitly framed as support for evaluating and performing due diligence on third‑party AI vendors. It links AI oversight back to existing NCUA guidance on third‑party relationships, including 07‑CU‑13 (Evaluating Third Party Relationships) and 01‑CU‑20 (Due Diligence Over Third Party Service Providers).

On December 19, 2025, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Fostering Affordability and Integrity through Reasonable (FAIR) Business Practices Act. The FAIR Act, which was proposed by Attorney General (AG) Tish James, represents the first major update to the state’s primary consumer protection law in 45 years and significantly broadens the statute’s reach.

Today, another significant decision was issued in the ongoing battle over the fate of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau). In National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) v. Vought, the D.C. federal district court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to clarify the existing preliminary injunction and squarely rejected the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) interpretation of the CFPB’s funding statute. In so holding, the ruling makes clear that the CFPB cannot justify noncompliance with the court’s existing preliminary injunction by declining to request funds from the Federal Reserve.

As reported by Bloomberg here, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is moving to withdraw a 2023 Biden-era joint statement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that warned lenders against overbroad use of immigration status in credit decisions. The notice, submitted to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), ties together two hallmark priorities of the current Trump administration: a harder line on immigration and a continued effort to scale back fair lending enforcement. While the underlying Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) remains unchanged, the move signals a sharp shift in how the CFPB and DOJ are likely to interpret and enforce its protections for noncitizen borrowers.