Search Results: Fair Lending / Fair Servicing

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…

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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”)…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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)…

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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,…

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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…

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CFPB Issues Special Mortgage Servicing Report, States Intention to Use Fair Lending Laws to Target Discriminatory Loan Modification Practices

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…

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Treasury Department Weighs in on Online Marketplace Lending

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…

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Mortgage Lender Settles with DOJ for Allegedly False FHA Loans

​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…

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CFPB Summarizes Supervisory Trends for May through August, 2015

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…

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Massachusetts AG Settles with Installment Loan Lenders

​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…

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CFPB & DOJ Reach $27M Settlement with Regional Bank over Redlining Allegations

​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…

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CFPB Asks DOJ to Investigate Automotive Lending Company for ECOA Violations

​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…

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American Bankers Association Asks Financial Regulators to Adopt Supreme Court's Disparate Impact Framework

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….

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