CFPB Hit With Suit Over Rule Defanging Fair Lending Enforcement

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was sued by consumer groups that say the agency’s rule watering down a key fair lending enforcement tool is an unjustified “drastic turn” that risks harming minority borrowers.

The Trump administration’s rule barring the CFPB from using disparate impact to charge lenders with unintentional discrimination under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act goes against the law’s intent and decades of interpretation, the National Fair Housing Alliance, Rise Economy, and two other plaintiffs said in a complaint filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

“The Final Rule does not reflect reasoned decision-making ...