On September 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development issued guidance on how the nondiscrimination provisions in the Fair Housing Act apply to persons who consider an individual’s “Limited English Proficiency,” or limited ability to speak, read, write, or understand English, in housing transactions. The “Office of General Counsel Guidance on Fair Housing… Read More
Tag Archives: Fair Housing Act (FHA)
CFPB Brings Long-Anticipated First Redlining Enforcement Action – New Approach to Redlining Analysis Is Put into Action
Posted in CFPB, Enforcement Actions, Fair Lending, MortgageOn September 24, 2015, the CFPB and DOJ announced a joint action against Hudson City Savings Bank for allegedly discriminatory redlining practices from 2009 through 2013 in certain neighborhoods in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act. Over the past few months,… Read More
Disparate Impact Doctrine Survives Supreme Court Review
Posted in Disparate ImpactAfter years of debate and false starts, the Supreme Court has held that the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) permits disparate impact claims. In Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., No. 13-1371, 576 U.S. __ (2015), a divided Court held that specific language in the statute permits plaintiffs to challenge… Read More
Breaking News: Supreme Court Upholds Inclusive Communities Disparate Impact Decision
Posted in Disparate ImpactThe Supreme Court of the United States released the following opinion this morning: Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., No. 13-1371 The Court affirmed the judgment of the Fifth Circuit and held that disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act. The opinion is available here. Stay… Read More
CFPB Enforcement Actions Take on LO Comp and Fair Lending
Posted in CFPB, Fair Lending, MortgageOver the past couple of weeks, the CFPB has kept itself busy in the mortgage origination enforcement arena. In one complaint, the CFPB ordered a residential mortgage lender and its CEO to each pay a $1 million civil penalty for compensating loan originators in a way that allegedly steered borrowers into mortgage loans with higher… Read More
D.C. Court Strikes Down HUD Disparate Impact Rule
Posted in Disparate Impact, Fair LendingThe District Court of the District of Columbia has issued a decisive order vacating HUD’s 2013 Fair Housing Act disparate impact rule. The rule, as we’ve discussed, has always been based on a shaky legal foundation, but is one on which HUD and the DOJ have relied on in increasingly aggressive fair lending enforcement. Plaintiffs… Read More
This Time’s the Charm? Supreme Court Takes Up Third Disparate Impact Case
Posted in Disparate Impact, Fair LendingOn October 2, 2014, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. v. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, No. 13-1371, to decide whether disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Of interest, the Court declined to grant cert. on the question of the appropriate standard for evaluating… Read More