Fair Housing Act

The agency has a proposed repeal in place, getting ready to be made public on July 28, which would rescind another Biden-era fair housing policy.

Provident Financial in Iselin initially anticipated completing its deal for Oak Ridge-based Lakeland Bancorp in the second quarter. Now as it waits for regulatory approval, Provident says the process will stretch into spring 2024.

The lawsuit accuses Navy Federal of violating the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act after a CNN report that the lender approved a lower percentage of Black and Latino mortgage applicants.

The Department of Justice said City National avoided offering home loans in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Los Angeles County from 2017 to 2020.

The agency released two reports Tuesday outlining shortcomings of the background check industry and pledged to root out false information and faulty practices in the space.

The same day Provident Financial Services announced it had agreed to buy Lakeland for $1.3 billion, the seller disclosed an ongoing fair-lending investigation by the Justice Department. Provident said it has "not heard anything" that would give it pause.

The Justice Department, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and three state attorneys general alleged that Trident Mortgage, a lender owned by Berkshire Hathaway, engaged in redlining and discrimination in the Philadelphia area.

In late July, the Justice Department notified the Houston bank of a potential lawsuit alleging violations between 2013 and 2017, according to a securities filing. Cadence said that its prospective merger partner, BancorpSouth, supports the settlement discussions.

The 2013 rule, which was weakened under the Trump administration, established a comparatively low bar for plaintiffs alleging discrimination.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development reinstituted the “affirmatively furthering fair housing" measure, which the Trump administration had argued was overly prescriptive, and promised a later rulemaking to bolster the policy.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will revive a 2013 rule that makes lenders liable for practices that were unintentionally discriminatory as well as 2015 guidelines for how local jurisdictions comply with the Fair Housing Act.

After the agency pulled back on fair-lending enforcement in the Trump administration, interim Director Dave Uejio has made clear his intent to use the “disparate impact” standard to launch more anti-discrimination probes.

More than 50 years since the passage of fair-lending laws, homeownership remains out of reach for many people of color.

The president’s executive action looks to assess the impact of the previous administration's alterations to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and Disparate Impact rules, while reinforcing Biden’s vow to eliminate discriminatory lending practices.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

The bar to prove discriminatory patterns is so high that plaintiffs would have slim odds of winning lawsuits against housing providers.

Senate Democrats asked a watchdog to examine whether the bank regulator failed to investigate claims of discrimination against at least six banks.

Citing possible exploitation, Bank of America instituted a policy that put limits on loans to persons in guardianship. It later ended the policy.

The Trump administration's executive order to terminate and replace federal enforcement of anti-discrimination policies at the local level, citing the burden it put on municipalities, enraged advocates of equitable housing practices.

The White House's efforts to loosen equality requirements in lending run counter to the widespread demand for racial justice. Congress must act.