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Question:

Since the CFPB emphasized its commitment to ensuring fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit, has it issued any specific guidance on the types of issues it is concerned with as it relates to fair lending?

Answer:

Yes, in addition to the more common pricing considerations, the CFPB recently published its latest Supervisory Highlights, Summer 2021 edition, which included a Fair Lending section that stressed the following additional key concerns raised by examiners in a recent supervisory review of a mortgage lender:

• Conducting marketing campaigns that featured models, all of whom appeared to be non-Hispanic white;
• Including mortgage professionals’ headshots in marketing materials that all or mostly appeared to be non-Hispanic white;
• Maintaining office locations that were nearly all concentrated in majority non-Hispanic white areas;  
• Focusing marketing campaigns and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) advertising on majority-white areas in an MSA;
• Employing mostly non-Hispanic white mortgage loan officers;
• Permitting communications directed at prospective applicants that would discourage reasonable persons on a prohibited basis from applying to the lender for a mortgage loan: and
• Permitting racist and/or derogatory email communications among mortgage loan officers.

This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of fair lending concerns for lenders, but rather should be considered when evaluating fair lending risk.