The past week has seen the announcement of two proposals to weaken mechanisms for identifying and combatting discriminatory lending practices.
Last week, the CFPB issued a proposal to amend Regulation B under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which would eliminate disparate impact claims, significantly narrow the prohibition on statements that would discourage applicants or potential applicants on a protected basis, and limit the operation of “special purpose credit programs” that were designed to “meet special social needs.” The stated rationale includes arguments about the statutory text, the First Amendment rights of lenders, and anti-affirmative action caselaw.
Today, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency proposed a rule that would eliminate the Fair Housing Home Loan Data System, which requires reporting by national banks and allows monitoring of their compliance with the Fair Housing Act and Equal Opportunity Act. The agency claims that the data collected is largely duplicative, and that requiring the data to be submitted is unfair to national banks.
