Mortgages, ECOA, Fair Lending

CFPB seeks approval of Townstone Financial order

Ballard Spahr LLP on 11/7/2024

Following lengthy litigation, the CFPB is attempting to close the books on its case against Townstone Financial alleging discriminatory lending practices and redlining African American neighborhoods in Chicago....more

DOJ Reaches Historic Multi-Million Dollar Redlining Settlement With Citadel Federal Credit Union

Troutman Pepper on 10/14/2024

On October 10, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a landmark redlining settlement with Citadel Federal Credit Union (Citadel), marking the first such agreement with a credit union in the DOJ’s history. This...more

Citadel FCU is first credit union to settle DOJ redlining complaint

Ballard Spahr LLP on 10/14/2024

The Justice Department announced that Citadel Federal Credit Union has agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining majority-Black and Hispanic...more

CFPB Bites of the Month - July 2024 - The CFPB Shines Like the 4th of July

Hudson Cook, LLP on 7/30/2024

In this month's article, we share some of our top "bites" for the prior and current month covered during the July 2024 webinar....more

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial, Inc.

McGuireWoods LLP on 7/23/2024

On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. Townstone Financial, Inc. that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) protects prospective applicants and...more

DOJ Redlining Consent Order With Ameris Bank

Ballard Spahr LLP on 10/30/2023

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

Trade Associations File Amici Brief Supporting Townstone Financial’s Position on ECOA Scope

Ballard Spahr LLP on 8/25/2023

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

CFPB Summer 2023 Supervisory Highlights looks at auto origination and servicing, consumer reporting, debt collection, deposits,...

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/31/2023

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

CFPB’s 2022 Fair Lending Report Focuses on Bias in Mortgage Lending, Redlining, Home Appraisals, Small Business Lending, and Shows...

Troutman Pepper on 7/10/2023

As shown by a new report, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) is focusing its fair lending work on mortgage origination and pricing, small business lending, redlining, and the use of artificial...more

CFPB issues 2022 Annual Fair Lending Report

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/6/2023

The CFPB recently issued its annual fair lending report covering its fair lending activity in 2022....more

District Court Dismisses CFPB Redlining Action Against Nonbank, Limits ECOA’s Reach

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 2/20/2023

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

District Court dismisses CFPB redlining action against nonbank lender

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 2/3/2023

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

DOJ announces settlement of redlining lawsuit

Ballard Spahr LLP on 10/4/2022

The Justice Department announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lakeland Bank to settle the DOJ’s claims that Lakeland engaged in unlawful redlining in the Newark, New Jersey metropolitan area. The DOJ’s lawsuit...more

CFPB issues annual fair lending report (UPDATED)

Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/17/2022

The CFPB recently issued its annual fair lending report covering its fair lending activity in 2021. ...more

Fair Lending Developments: Disparate Impact Lives On

Hudson Cook, LLP on 4/28/2021

[co-author: John Ropiequet] The fair lending cases filed by Miami against four major mortgage lenders, reported in several previous Annual Surveys, came to a sudden, anticlimactic end when the city voluntarily dismissed...more

CFPB Bites of the Month - March Top 10

Hudson Cook, LLP on 4/2/2021

Each month, we host a 30-minute webinar outlining the month's key announcements and takeaways from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for financial services providers to consider. In this month's article, we...more

Financial Services Report - Spring 2021

Morrison & Foerster LLP on 3/2/2021

Can you say 0 to 60? Not cars, but pretty much everything to do with financial services. A new year, a new administration, and new challenges for providers. Prior CFPB Director Kraninger is long gone. Acting Director Uejio...more

New CFPB Factsheets Addressing ECOA Valuations Rule Are Likely to Create Confusion Regarding Coverage

Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/11/2020

The CFPB recently issued two factsheets regarding the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B provisions that require creditors to provide the applicant with a copy of any written appraisal or other valuation...more

GAO Asked to Study Alternative Data Credit Decisions

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 2/27/2020

In a new letter last month, a group of Democratic lawmakers asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to take a closer look at the use of alternative data for credit decisions, particularly in the context of mortgage...more

CFPB 2019 fair lending report highlights alternative scoring models

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/8/2019

The CFPB’s annual fair lending report covering its 2018 activities was published in today’s Federal Register. While most of the report recycles information about which we have previously blogged, it does contain the...more

DOJ settles redlining lawsuit against First Merchants Bank

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/19/2019

The U.S. Department of Justice announced last Thursday that it had reached an agreement with First Merchants Bank, an Indiana state-chartered bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank on June...more

DOJ settles redlining lawsuit against KleinBank

Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/10/2018

The U.S. Department of Justice announced earlier this week that it has reached an agreement with KleinBank, a state-chartered Minnesota bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank in January...more

CFPB identifies 2017 priorities in annual fair lending report

Ballard Spahr LLP on 4/20/2017

In its new annual report covering its fair lending activities during 2016, the CFPB identifies the following three areas on which it “will increase our focus” in 2017...more

CFPB Issues its Annual Fair Lending Report and Sets its 2017 Agenda

Smith Debnam Narron Drake Saintsing & Myers,... on 4/18/2017

The CFPB has issued its 2016 Fair Lending Report which provides a summary of the Bureau’s efforts in fair lending for 2016. The Report also includes an indication of the Bureau’s fair lending priorities for 2017. Here are...more

Orrick's Financial Industry Week In Review

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP on 4/7/2017

Financial Industry Developments - CFPB Proposes to Provide Flexibility in Collecting Information - On March 24, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") released a proposal to amend Equal Credit...more

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