InfoBytes Blog
CFPB, DOJ take action against mortgage lender
On July 27, the CFPB and the DOJ jointly filed a lawsuit against a Delaware-based mortgage lender for engaging in unlawful discrimination. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, alleges that the defendant violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and its implementing Regulation B and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA) by, among other things, engaging in unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin against applicants and prospective applicants, including by redlining majority-minority neighborhoods, and by engaging in acts and practices directed at prospective applicants that would discourage prospective applicants from applying for credit. The DOJ also alleged a violation of the Fair Housing Act, including the “making unavailable or denial of dwellings to persons because of race, color, and national origin,” among other things.
The proposed consent order, if entered by the court, would be Bureau’s first nonbank mortgage redlining resolution. It would require the defendant, among other things, to: (i) deposit $18.4 million into a loan subsidy program; (ii) pay a $4 million penalty to the Bureau; and (iii) pay $2 million to fund advertising to generate applications in redlined areas. The proposed order also notes the defendant neither admits nor denies the allegations in the complaint. According to a statement released by CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, the Bureau “will continue to seek new remedies to ensure all lenders meet and fulfill their responsibilities and obligations and the CFPB continues to be on the lookout for emerging digital redlining to ensure that discrimination cannot be disguised by an algorithm.”