Archive

CFPB PUBLISHES NEW REGULATION B APPRAISAL RULES

On January 18, 2013 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau published a124-page final rule to amend Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The final rule revises rules for appraisals and other valuations that was enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Act. The final rule is effective on January 18, 2014. For applications for credit secured by a first lien on a dwelling the new rule: Requires creditors to notify applicants within three business […]

HOW UNEARNED DISCOUNT POINTS MAY RESULT IN FAIR LENDING VIOLATIONS

This is the third part of a five part series that explores issues related to discount points. The previous article explored UDAAP concerns resulting from unearned discount points. This article considers how unearned discount points may result in fair lending violations. Almost any lending practice may result in an disparate impact violation under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), as implemented by Regulation B, and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Charging unearned discount points is […]

PROPOSED REGULATION B APPRAISAL RULE

How refreshing to get a proposal from the CFPB that totals less than 100 pages. On August 15, 2012 the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published a 58-page release that contains proposed rules to implement a Dodd-Frank Act requirement that amends appraisal rules to help inform mortgage applicants on how a creditor determines a property’s value prior to closing on the mortgage.  It will also make it easier for loan applicants to determine if a loan […]

STATUS OF OTHER PENDING RULES

We received a lot of positive feedback about yesterday’s blog entry on the status of changes to Regulation Z. Several of you inquired about the status of other pending rules, particularly those involving Regulations B and C. Well here you go… Regulation B – The Dodd-Frank Act amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to report information concerning credit applications made by women- or minority-owned businesses and small businesses. The amendments […]

DISCRIMINATION AND THE LAZY BANKER SYNDROME

In a recent case the FDIC claimed a bank violated ECOA and Regulation B by engaging in a pattern or practice of denying applications for a credit card based on an initial match of applicant names to the Office of Foreign Asset Control’s list of Specially Designated Nationals (“SDNs”) without further verification that the applicants were in fact SDNs, which resulted in a disparate impact upon Hispanic applicants. The bank agreed to pay a civil […]