On June 13, 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a complaint and settlement agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana resolving allegations against a Midwestern bank based in Indiana. The DOJ alleged that the bank engaged in lending discrimination through “redlining,” or intentionally avoiding providing services in predominantly…
On May 8, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that it had reached a voluntary settlement with a family-owned Minnesota bank, resolving allegations that the bank had violated the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq. (“FHA”) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1691 et seq. (“ECOA”) by…
On May 10, 2017, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began gathering information regarding small business financing needs in an effort to encourage small businesses—especially ones owned by minorities and women. The Bureau began this process by issuing a Request for Information (RFI) seeking information from the public on a variety…
On March 10, 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced that it reached a settlement with an Illinois bank resolving allegations that the bank engaged in illegal “redlining” of minority neighborhoods in the Rockford, Illinois metropolitan area. HUD initiated its investigation after the Hope Fair Housing Alliance (“Hope”)…
On February 17, 2017, the California Department of Business Oversight (California DBO) announced that it had entered in to a $225 million consent order with a national mortgage servicer following an investigation by a third-party auditor into loans serviced by the company in California between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2015. The servicer had agreed to the audit…
On January 26, 2017, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) announced that it reached settlements with two insurance companies, available here and here, resolving allegations that the companies’ practice of refusing to provide home insurance on properties used for subsidized or low income housing had a discriminatory effect on…
On December 16, 2016, the fair lending team at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced the markets that it would closely monitor in 2017. These new monitoring priorities are part of the general priority goals announced by the CFPB in 2016, which included: 1) regulating the use of arbitration clauses; 2) addressing…
On December 21, 2016, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), sent a pointed letter to President-elect Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin. The letter is an attempt to gain an understanding of Mr. Mnuchin’s views on topics over which…
On August 23, 2016, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the filing of a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against several California-based mortgage loan modification service providers. The complaint alleges that defendants violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA)…
On August 19, the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Minnesota (Minnesota AG) announced that it had settled a lawsuit against a California-based online lender relating to an alleged “rent-a-tribe” scheme. The settlement bars the lender from doing business in Minnesota unless and until it complies with the state’s usury, lending,…
On June 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CPPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a joint enforcement action against a regional bank for alleged discriminatory mortgage lending in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA), filed in the District Court for the…
On June 22, 2016, the CFPB issued a Mortgage Servicing Supervisory Highlights Special Edition Report, and concluded that mortgage servicers may be violating the servicing rules that the CFPB enacted in January 2014, as a result of servicers’ continued reliance on ineffective technology. In addition, the press release accompanying the…
On May 10, 2016, the U.S. Treasury Department released a white paper entitled, “Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending.” The white paper is the result of a request for information that elicited more than 100 industry responses, and it reviews the benefits and risks of online marketplace lending before making…
On December 1, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado, working on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), announced a settlement agreement with a residential mortgage lender originating and underwriting loans insured by HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA). The settlement resolves allegations that, between January 2007…
On November 3, 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released its Supervisory Highlights report detailing the Bureau’s supervision efforts for May through August of 2015. The report summarizes the violations of consumer protection laws the Bureau observed during the four-month period and identifies the areas in which the Bureau has…
On October 29, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office announced that it had reached a consent order with installment loan lenders, their affiliated companies, and owners, over allegations that the lenders engaged in unfair or deceptive practices in connection with the making, purchasing, servicing, or collecting of high-interest consumer installment loans. The complaint…
On September 24, 2015, the CFPB and the DOJ announced a settlement with a regional bank over allegeatoins that it engaged in redlining practices in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). According to the complaint, the bank allegedly discriminated against minorities by systematically preventing residents of certain minority neighborhoods from…
On September 10, the New York Office of the Attorney General (NY AG) announced a settlement with a state bank to resolve claims of discriminatory lending in violation of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and state and local law. The NY AG alleged that the bank engaged in unlawful redlining by failing…
On August 10, 2015, the American subsidiary of an automotive lending company disclosed in an SEC filing that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had notified the company on July 31, 2015 that it had asked the DOJ to investigate the company’s potential violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. According to the filing, the CFPB’s referral…
On August 5, 2010, the American Bankers Association (ABA) announced that it had sent a letter to federal regulators and enforcement agencies, requesting that they confirm in their “interagency guidance, updated exam procedures, and where appropriate amended regulations” that the burden-shifting framework used by the Supreme Court in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v….