The Justice Department has announced a settlement with Houston-based Cadence Bank to resolve allegations that the bank engaged in lending discrimination by ‘redlining’ predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in the Houston area. The Department alleged that the bank engaged in redlining between 2013 and 2017 by avoiding providing loans and other home mortgage services in majority-Black [...]
On February 4th, State financial regulators cited Buffalo-based Hunt Mortgage Corp. (Hunt) for weakness in lending to minorities and minority neighborhoods, as they released a report finding an overall lack of lending by nonbank mortgage companies in Buffalo, despite laws banning the practice of redlining. Hunt is a subsidiary of Hunt Real Estate Corp., the [...]
Download This Article With the transition between presidential administrations, new regulations, and the ongoing effects from the pandemic and corresponding economic crisis, lenders are facing a dynamic environment in 2021 with respect to managing compliance risk under Fair Lending laws and the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). There is another factor, however, receiving less attention but [...]
The Federal Reserve Board (FRB) released a draft advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on September 21, 2020 related to its effort to modernize its approach to supervising institutions under the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This effort seeks to make changes by “strengthening, clarifying, and tailoring” the FRB’s CRA framework. The FRB has several objectives [...]
On July 15th, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed suit against Townstone Financial, Inc. for violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), Regulation B, and the Consumer Financial Protection Act (CFPA). This case is interesting for several reasons, not the least of which are that – The CFPB suggests that the violations noted [...]
On June 23rd, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interpretive rule to provide guidance to creditors and other persons involved in the mortgage origination process about the way in which the Bureau determines which counties qualify as “underserved” for a given calendar year. issued Tuesday. The guidance is necessary, the CFPB said, because [...]
Lending institutions play a unique and vital role in helping consumers and businesses recover from heavy economic hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses are affected by the pandemic in differing ways: for some it means a slight reprieve in activity and possible opportunity to implement system improvements. For lenders, however, it often necessitates rapidly processing [...]
The current crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed American society. The tragic loss of life and unparalleled social and economic disruption make it difficult to imagine any community and industry that will not face long-term effects. More than a decade removed from the housing crisis and the resulting Great Recession, banks once [...]
Banking regulators are temporarily reducing their examination schedules. At first glance, this reduction may seem to indicate that it is appropriate to ditch your compliance hat until the current quarantine period is behind us. Hold on to that hat though – while the examination schedule is delayed, regulatory requirements continue, and this new environment [...]
On March 29, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released the Modified Loan Application Registers (LARs) reflecting 2018 mortgage lending activity reported under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). These reports represent the first release of HMDA data under the new rule implemented in 2015. Starting in 2018, under the 2015 HMDA Rule, financial [...]
