Search Results: Fair Lending / Fair Servicing

DOJ and OCC Obtain $5.5 Million Settlement, Resolving Allegations of Lending Discrimination

On August 30, 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that, together with Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), it reached a settlement with a bank, resolving allegations that the bank engaged in lender discrimination in the Houston, Texas area. In 2017, the OCC initiated a fair lending examination…

Read More

OCC Proposes Rescinding 2020 Amendments to CRA Regulation; Coordinated Agency Regulations Coming

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released an interagency statement on July 20, 2021 that all three agencies will act together to revise their regulations implementing the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA).  The OCC also…

Read More

California's Mini-CFPB Enters into Memorandums of Understanding with Earned Wage Access Fintech Companies

In January 2021, the new California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) entered into memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with five earned wage access fintech companies so that these companies can continue to operate in California while providing consumers with protection against abusive practices.  The DFPI, often referred to as…

Read More

Fair Lending Considerations in a COVID-19 World: Fair Servicing and Consumer Relief in the U.S.

The sudden financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers has led to calls for loan servicers and other interested parties to provide temporary or permanent relief for borrowers who are unable to continue making loan payments.  The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), guidance in the…

Read More

Fair Lending Considerations in a COVID-19 World: U.S. Paycheck Protection Program Issues

The first wave of class actions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic is here, including a number of cases concerning so-called “gating” eligibility rules that are legitimately applied by many lenders to manage the flow of applications for the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We expect these…

Read More

Massachusetts AG Settles with Online Company for $1.25 Million for Allegedly Charging Illegal Interest Rates

On January 21, 2020, the Massachusetts attorney general’s office (Massachusetts AG) announced that it has secured $1.25 million from one of the country’s largest online lending companies to resolve allegations that the company charged excessive interest rates to Massachusetts borrowers in violation of M.G.L. ch. 93A and Massachusetts’ Small Loan Statute, M.G.L. c. 140 s. 96, which prohibits any personal…

Read More

FTC Settles with Several Individual and Corporate Defendants Involved in Credit Repair Scheme

FTC

On January 17, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled with several operators of a credit repair scheme for alleged violations of sections 13(b) and 19 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 53(b) and 57b, Section 410(b) of the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA), 15 U.S.C. § 1679h(b), Section 6(b) of the…

Read More

California DBO Settles with Point-of-Sale Lender Making Illegal Loans

​On January 16, 2020, the California Department of Business Oversight (DBO) announced it had reached a settlement with a point-of-sale lender​ to stop making illegal loans and refund $282,000 in fees it collected from almost 17,000 California consumers. In September 2019, the lender applied to the California DBO for a lender’s license.  Upon review of the lender’s product and information, the California…

Read More

Finance Company to Pay $440,000, Banned from Selling Student Loan Services in Massachusetts

On August 7, 2019, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (“Massachusetts AG”) announced that it filed a complaint and consent judgment in Suffolk County Superior Court.  The consent judgment bans a purportedly unlicensed finance company from collecting on any active student loan debt relief accounts in Massachusetts, and requires the company to pay $340,000 to repair the…

Read More

DOJ Settles with Indiana Bank for Alleged Lending Discrimination

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…

Read More

DOJ Settles With Minnesota Bank Over Redlining Allegations

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…

Read More

HUD Reaches $1 Million Settlement with Illinois Bank Over Redlining Allegations

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”)…

Read More

Mortgage Servicer Enters in to $225 Million Consent Order with California DBO

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…

Read More

HUD Announces Settlements with Insurance Companies Over Alleged Discriminatory Practices

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…

Read More

Senate Democrats Press Treasury Secretary Nominee Mnunchin for Views on Bank Regulation and Fair Lending Laws

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…

Read More

DOJ Files Suit Against California Lenders Alleging Discriminatory Loan Modification Scheme

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)…

Read More

Minnesota AG Settles Suit Against California Online Lender Relating to Alleged "Rent-a-Tribe" Scheme

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,…

Read More

CFPB and DOJ Propose $10.6 Million Settlement in Discriminatory Lending Action

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…

Read More