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

As promised (and discussed here), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its final rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Final Rule). Section 1071 amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to impose significant data collection requirements on small business creditors. According to the press release announcing the Final Rule’s issuance, “[l]enders will collect and report information about the small business credit applications they receive, including geographic and demographic data, lending decisions, and the price of credit.”

On March 17, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is rescinding its 2020 rule governing Fair Housing Act (FHA) disparate impact claims and restoring its 2013 discriminatory effects rule on the basis that it believes the 2013 rule is more consistent with how the FHA has been applied in…

Please join Troutman Pepper Partner Chris Willis and his colleague Consumer Financial Services Partner Lori Sommerfield as they discuss the implications of the recent Illinois federal court decision, dismissing the CFPB’s first-ever redlining case against Townstone Financial, Inc., which alleged that Townstone engaged in redlining practices by discouraging applications under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) through its marketing approach. The court found that ECOA does not extend to prospective applicants.

On February 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its sixth redlining settlement under its Combatting Redlining Initiative. This most recent case involves an agreement between the DOJ and Ohio-based Park National Bank to resolve allegations that the bank failed to provide mortgage loans by redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Columbus, Ohio…

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 implementing regulation, Regulation B. This letter is included in the CFPB’s annual report to Congress on the ECOA. A copy of the summary was…

On February 14, Patrice Ficklin, the Fair Lending Director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), together with senior officials from the Federal Reserve Board, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, National Credit Union Administration, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and U.S. Department of…

On February 14, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) published a blog discussing improvements made to its services with the goal of providing the same experience to consumers with limited English proficiency (LEP) that its English-speaking consumers receive. These improvements include redesigned website landing pages in seven languages and the ability to accept…

On February 3, an Illinois federal court dismissed a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) against Townstone Financial, Inc., a Chicago mortgage lender, for alleged violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) for purportedly discouraging prospective African American applicants in the Chicago metropolitan area from applying for mortgages. Townstone moved to…

In the largest redlining settlement in the department’s history, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that an agreement has been reached to resolve redlining allegations against a Los Angeles-based bank. Under the terms of the proposed consent order, the bank will pay more than $31 million to resolve the allegations that it engaged…

As forecasted in its 2022 Fall Rulemaking Agenda discussed here, today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a proposed rule with request for public comments that would require certain nonbank covered entities, with limited exceptions, to submit information on terms and conditions in their form contracts that “seek to waive or limit…