RATA
CFPB's new rule will shine light on mortgage market practices
Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is updating the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requirements with a new rule that will shine more light on lending practices in America's largest consumer financial market, the mortgage market. HMDA is a statute that provides the public and policymakers with information about the mortgage market and ensures market transparency. HMDA requires many financial institutions to collect, report, and disclose information about their mortgage activity. The original law was enacted by Congress 40 years ago to respond to concerns that some banks may be failing to serve their communities. Everyone in America deserves a fair shot at accessing the American Dream. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act: Helps to show whether lenders are serving the housing…
CFPB Takes Action Against Fifth Third Bank for Auto-Lending Discrimination and Illegal Credit Card Practices
Company to Pay $18 Million to Minority Auto Borrowers, $3 Million to Credit Card Customers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced two separate actions against Fifth Third Bank, for discriminatory auto loan pricing and for illegal credit card practices. The joint CFPB and Department of Justice (DOJ) auto-lending enforcement action requires Fifth Third to change its pricing and compensation system to minimize the risks of discrimination, and to pay $18 million to harmed African-American and Hispanic borrowers. The CFPB's action against Fifth Third's deceptive marketing of credit card add-on products requires the bank to provide an estimated $3 million in relief to eligible harmed consumers and pay a $500,000 penalty.
| Institution | Regulator(s) | Violation | Penalty | Period covered | HMDA/fair-lending data field involved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fifth Third Bank | CFPB, DOJ | Discriminatory auto loan pricing — violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by charging African-American and Hispanic borrowers higher dealer markups than non-Hispanic white borrowers, without regard to creditworthiness | $18 million to harmed African-American and Hispanic borrowers ($12 million into a settlement fund, plus credit of $5–$6 million for remediation already provided, with any additional funds paid in to reach $18 million total); no penalty assessed for this action | January 2010 through September 2015 | Dealer markup on auto loan interest rate (race and national origin) |
| Fifth Third Bank | CFPB | Deceptive marketing and sales of "Debt Protection" credit card add-on product, in violation of the Dodd-Frank Act | $3 million in relief to roughly 24,500 customers, plus a $500,000 penalty to the CFPB civil penalty fund | 2007 through February 2013 (fulfillment kit misrepresentations from December 2011 through September 2012) | — |
Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Reach Settlement with Hudson City Savings Bank to Resolve Allegations of Mortgage Lending
Settlement Provides Over $27 Million to Ensure Equal Lending Services to Predominantly Black and Hispanic Communities
The Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) filed a consent order today to resolve allegations that Hudson City Savings Bank (Hudson City) engaged in a pattern or practice of "redlining" predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in its residential mortgage lending practices. "Redlining" is the discriminatory practice by banks or other financial institutions to deny or avoid providing credit services to a consumer because of the racial demographics of the neighborhood in which the consumer lives. This resolution represents the Justice Department's largest residential mortgage redlining settlement in its history.
| Institution | Regulator(s) | Violation | Penalty | Period covered | HMDA/fair-lending data field involved |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson City Savings Bank | Justice Department; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) | Redlining predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in residential mortgage lending, in violation of the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) | $25 million loan subsidy fund; $2.25 million for advertising, outreach, financial education, and community partnership efforts; two new full-service branches; $5.5 million civil monetary penalty (total over $27 million) | At least 2009 to 2013 | — |
HMDA data shows more people took out a mortgage to purchase a home in 2014 than 2013
Today, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) published the 2014 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) data showing that more people took out a mortgage to purchase a home in 2014 than in 2013 and that fewer people refinanced their mortgages. As part of our work to educate consumers to make informed financial decisions, we at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) – along with the other members of the FFIEC – are committed to making HMDA data clear and available to you. The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act helps protect consumers by providing public data about the mortgage market. Consumers, public officials, community groups, researchers, developers, journalists, and mortgage professionals can use these data to better understand mortgage trends at a…
Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council Announces Availability of 2014 Data on Mortgage Lending
The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today announced the availability of data on mortgage lending transactions at 7,062 U.S. financial institutions covered by the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Covered institutions include banks, savings associations, credit unions, and mortgage companies. The HMDA data made available today cover 2014 lending activity, and include applications, originations, purchases and sales of loans, denials, and other actions related to applications. The data released today also include disclosure statements for each financial institution, aggregate data for each metropolitan statistical area (MSA), nationwide summary statistics on lending patterns, and Loan/Application Registers (LARs) for each financial institution (LARs are modified…
- California's New Fair Lending Exam Law: What State-Chartered Banks, Credit Unions and Mortgage Licensees Should Have Ready
- How to Benchmark Your CRA and HMDA Lending Against Peer Data
- HMDA vs CRA vs Section 1071: What Each Rule Collects and Who Has to File
- Fair Lending Regression Analysis: What It Controls For and How to Explain a Pricing Disparity
- 2026 HMDA Data: Your Filing Checklist for the March 1, 2027 Deadline
- HMDA Plus: What It Actually Changed in the LAR Workflow
- How to Fix the 10 Most Common HMDA Edit Check Errors
- CFPB and DOJ Settle Redlining Claims Against Non-Depository Mortgage Companies Before Change in Administration
- How to Evaluate Fair Lending and CRA Software: What to Test Before You Sign
- What a Fair Lending Exam Actually Asks For
- Fair Servicing: What Examiners Test in Servicing Data, and How to Test It First
- What Actually Counts as a Small Business Loan Under Section 1071
- Section 1071 in 2026: What Lenders Need to Know About Small Business Lending Data
