Enforcement Actions, Financial Services Industry, Disparate Impact

Massachusetts AG reaches settlement with student loan company, Earnest Operations LLC

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/21/2025

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has reached a $2.5 million settlement with Earnest Operations LLC, a Delaware-based student loan company....more

Disparate Impact Executive Order and HUD to Reconsider Disparate Impact Rule

Ballard Spahr LLP on 5/5/2025

President Trump recently signed an Executive Order entitled “Restoring Equality of Opportunity and Meritocracy“ to eliminate the use of disparate impact liability. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...more

DOJ Settles Redlining Claim Against ESSA Bank

Ballard Spahr LLP on 6/16/2023

The Justice Department (DOJ) recently announced a settlement with ESSA Bank & Trust (ESSA), which has agreed to pay over $3 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining in violation of...more

Fannie Mae Agrees to Settle REO Discrimination Case

Bilzin Sumberg on 2/14/2022

Fannie Mae has reached a historic $53 million settlement with the National Fair Housing Alliance (“NFHA”) and local fair housing organizations throughout the U.S. to resolve racial discrimination claims concerning Fannie...more

An Opportune Time For Financial Institutions to Review Their Fair Lending Procedures

Bilzin Sumberg on 10/5/2021

At the beginning of his term, President Biden declared that his administration would make it a policy to eliminate “racial bias and other forms of discrimination in all states of home-buying and renting.”...more

CFPB Files First Ever Redlining Complaint Against a Non-Bank Mortgage Lender

Ballard Spahr LLP on 7/21/2020

On July 15, 2020, the CPFB filed a complaint in federal court against Townestone Financial, Inc. (Townestone) representing the first ever redlining complaint against a non-bank mortgage lender. ...more