Fair lending and fair banking isn’t anyone’s job, it’s everyone’s job and many bankers, including lenders and compliance officers, have taken it for granted. We must be proactive and transparent so there is no sign of impropriety or that these matters are viewed as trivial matters. You must stay ahead of the power curve. 

Fair lending/banking hasn’t made it to everyone’s front burner – yet. If your bank has audited itself and is very comfortable that its lending pattern is indicative of your market, there are no complaints, disparate treatment is nonexistent and your lending data speaks for itself in loans made and denied, then you’re mostly there. You don’t have the same data resources for deposit but there are some proxies you can use and you certainly can dig deep into comments and complaints. Then, you just need to convince your examiners.

But here are snippets from the red lining enforcement action in late 2021 when a $5 million penalty was assessed plus a $3.85 million lending pledge due to redlining and disparate treatment:

                    CFPB Director Rohit Chopra said, “The federal government will be working to rid the market of racist business practices, including those by discriminatory algorithms.”

                   Acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu. “Today’s announcement is important because it signifies the unified and unmitigated focus that each of our agencies has placed on the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Our collective efforts are critical to addressing the discriminatory lending practices that create and reinforce racial inequity in the financial system.”

                Attorney General Garland said, “Lending discrimination runs counter to fundamental promises of our economic system. When people are denied credit simply because of their race or national origin, their ability to share in our nation’s prosperity is all but eliminated.”

There was also a recent enforcement case with penalty costs exceeding $22 million that included redlining, where the lender was marketing, how it was marketing, where its offices were located and the images it was using it the ads it published. It is imperative that your bank be prepared for a rigorous fair lending exam and be mindful of the exact same things on the operations side of the bank. You must understand your data better than your examiners. 

What about appraisals? The headlines have intensified about disparity in appraisals and your responsibility as a user of them. Do you understand where the complaints are coming from? We’ll explain this. 

Fair lending/banking issues are beginning to grow and are hitting the mainstream press. There has been the $5 million CMP for redlining, HMDA LAR data problems, podcasts leading to charges of redlining and banking policies resulting in redlining and reverse redlining of minority neighborhoods. There are many touchpoints between compliance and fair lending/banking, and it’s more than consumer protections which are extremely important to the current administration. The good thing is, you can handle fair banking if you’re handling fair lending.

We’ll talk about all these issues and more in this fast paced fair treatment update. I hope you’ll be able to join me. 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

Compliance, Audit, lenders, and anyone working on gathering and inputting HMDA data and the banks CRA program as it is impacted directly by fair lending successes and failures.