On September 21, 2015, the City of Oakland, California filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking punitive damages from Wells Fargo for alleged violations under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The complaint accuses Wells Fargo of discriminatory practices by steering minority borrowers into high-cost mortgages despite being qualified for lower cost options (Reuters, 9/22/2015): Oakland's lawsuit [...]
Today, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a joint action against Hudson City Savings Bank for illegal redlining. The complaint alleges that the Bank “structured its mortgage business to provide unequal access to credit products in majority-Black-and-Hispanic neighborhoods in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.” This settlement, [...]
On September 22, 2015, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) announced the availability of 2014 mortgage lending data submitted in compliance with the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). These data are relied upon by regulators, examiners, academics, industry leaders, and members of the general public to analyze the performance of mortgage lenders with regard to [...]
The Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) requires covered institutions to make loan information available to the public. Regulators, examiners, academics, industry leaders, and members of the general public rely on these data to analyze the performance of mortgage lenders in achieving the goals established under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Fair Housing Act [...]
The US Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), an organization comprised of representatives from state-level banking regulatory bodies, has released the final version of its model regulatory framework for digital currencies. The group recommended that companies involved with third-party exchange or transmission of digital currencies, as well as “services that facilitate the third-party exchange, storage [...]
The American Banker reported on September 4 that Justice Department and HUD officials signaled again that more redlining and steering cases are under investigation. "Based on what is on my docket right now, stayed tuned," said Steven Rosenbaum, chief of housing and civil enforcement at DOJ's civil rights division, during a HUD-sponsored Fair Housing conference. [...]
A leading provider of breastfeeding support products sells its products at major retailers. The company faces competition in most product lines, and relies heavily on health professionals who work directly with breastfeeding mothers to recommend their products. Person to Person Quality conducted a series of studies of these health professionals to determine the types and [...]
Person to Person Quality℠ was asked to evaluate the Customer Experience with the toll-free reservations line of a well-known rental car company. Our research uncovered communication problems our shoppers were having with the reservation agents at the call center, which was located offshore, and how they were impacting the customer experience. "Call Program Pinpoints Cause [...]
Our Person to Person Quality℠ client was a well-known membership organization that partnered with a national fitness center chain to offer discounted fitness memberships to its members. Our client wanted to know whether employees at the fitness centers were effectively describing the discount program and its benefits to our client’s members when they telephoned or [...]
In this contribution to ADI Adviser, ADI Senior Economist Paul J. Strasberg discusses the need for a dynamic analysis plan in modeling underwriting processes. Paul demonstrates how the dynamic approach is "better aligned with the process used by lenders, results in lower and well-identified high risk cases, and should be well received by regulatory authorities." In addition, [...]
