Redlining Isn’t What it Used To Be
Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending
A federal judge has rejected the Trump Administration’s request to release from court supervision a bank that had been accused of discriminatory lending....more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a motion with a federal district court to terminate early the September 2022 consent order with Lakeland Bank (Lakeland) that settled allegations of redlining under the Fair...more
As previously reported, in March 2025 the CFPB and Townstone Financial (Townstone) filed a joint motion with a U.S. District Court seeking to reverse the November 2024 consent order between the parties that resolved CFPB...more
On May 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dismissed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB or Bureau) appeal concerning the vacated amendments to its Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts and Practices...more
In a surprising turn of events, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and Townstone Financial, Inc. (Townstone) have jointly moved to vacate the Stipulated Final Judgment and Order previously entered in...more
Saying that the bureau under the Biden Administration abused its power, the CFPB is seeking to reverse its settlement with Townstone Financial....more
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) released its latest Supervisory Highlights report, focusing on the use of advanced technologies in credit scoring models. ...more
The CFPB recently issued a report entitled Matched-Pair Testing in Small Business Lending Markets that summarizes results of small business lending matched pair testing that it conducted in conjunction with the U.S....more
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
In a significant development, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) has finally reached a settlement with Townstone Financial, Inc. (Townstone) in the first redlining case brought against a nonbank...more
On October 15, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they reached a settlement with Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation (Fairway). This settlement...more
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
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
Saying that reverse redlining is a form of discrimination, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas has refused to dismiss a discrimination case alleging that Texas developer Colony Ridge specifically...more
On July 11, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit held in Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection v. Townstone Financial, Inc., that the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) prohibits discriminatory conduct,...more
In a major win for the CFPB, in CFPB v. Townstone Financial, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (7th Circuit) recently held that the Regulation B provision prohibiting discrimination under the Equal...more
As discussed here, on February 3, 2023, an Illinois federal court dismissed a case brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or Bureau) in 2020 against Townstone Financial, Inc., a Chicago mortgage lender, for...more
In this article, we share a timeline of our monthly "bites" for 2023 applicable to mortgage along with some additional related information. ...more
Last month, the Justice Department (DOJ) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a joint statement that reminded financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the...more
The joint statement provides helpful guidance on the civil rights implications of considering an individual’s immigration status under the ECOA. On October 12, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and...more
In September 2023, the CFPB updated its UDAAP Examination Manual to remove the changes it made in March 2022 which provided that unfair acts or practices encompassed discriminatory conduct, even in circumstances to which...more
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
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement agreement with Washington Trust Company, of Westerly (WTC) to resolve claims that WTC redlined majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island....more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice have issued a joint statement regarding “the potential civil rights implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status under the...more
The CFPB has issued a Circular addressing adverse action notification requirements and the proper use of the CFPB's sample forms provided in Regulation B when using artificial intelligence (AI) and complex credit models, and...more