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
As discussed here, on June 21, 2022, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit and on June 27, 2022, obtained a settlement agreement with Meta Platforms Inc. (Meta previously known as Facebook) to resolve allegations that Meta’s housing advertising system discriminated against Facebook users in violation of the Fair Housing Act
On December 23, New York Governor Hochul signed into law Assembly Bill A6328A amending New York Executive Law § 292, known as the New York State Human Rights Law, to add citizenship and immigration status to the list of covered protected characteristics. Among other things, the new law expressly prohibits discrimination against any applicants for
On January 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued its 2022 Fall Rulemaking Agenda containing pre-rule, proposed rule, and final rules under consideration. The CFPB releases regulatory agendas twice a year in voluntary conjunction with a broader initiative led by the Office of Budget and Management to publish a Unified Agenda of Regulatory and Deregulatory actions across the federal government. In the preamble to the Federal Register notice, the CFPB states that the information is current as of September 30, 2022 and identifies regulatory matters the CFPB “reasonably anticipates” having under consideration during the period from December 1, 2022, to November 30, 2023. The CFPB has not yet posted a blog or issued a press release about the agenda.