Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Groups Urge CFPB to Strengthen Protections Against Discrimination in Comments to CFPB about Equal Credit Opportunity Act

CFA joined 47 consumer, civil rights, community, housing, and other public interest organizations in submitting comments in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB or the Bureau)’s Request for Information (RFI) on the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. The ECOA prohibits creditors from discriminating against an applicant for any part of a credit transaction on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, marital status, age, source of income, public assistance, and religion. The groups urged the CFPB that to play its role effectively, it must exercise its authority in a manner that aligns with Congressional intent to make the financial marketplace fair and free from discrimination. The groups urged that any actions the CFPB considers must be focused on strengthening protections against discrimination and thoroughly examined to avoid creating any paths to evade oversight in the name of regulatory certainty or innovation. Further, the CFPB should vigorously pursue enforcement actions for ECOA violations, as robust oversight is necessary to combat the persistent harms of systemic racism and exclusion in the lending market.