The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has released its fall 2015 Supervisory Highlights Report. The report calls attention to alleged illegal practices in various sectors of the financial services industry, including debt collection, student loan servicing, mortgage origination and servicing, and consumer reporting. According to the report, the CFPB’s supervisory actions resulted in more than $107 million in restitution of to consumers. The report also includes information on supervision program developments, such as the bureau’s new Automobile Finance examination procedures, updated mortgage origination examination procedures, as well as more information on recently released bulletins.
The Bureau noted that many reviews of statistical disparities in underwriting outcomes did not find that the disparities were attributable to race, national origin, or some other prohibited basis characteristic. However, at least one review showed that the lender’s underwriting practices violated the Equal Credit Opportunities Act (ECOA).
The CFPB stated that there are a number of steps that institutions can take to limit the risk of ECOA violations due to disparate outcomes in underwriting, including ensuring that internal monitoring processes review underwriting practices for potential discrimination.
Analysis of the Supervisory Highlights can yield insight into the CFPB’s continuing regulatory and enforcement focuses.