The CFPB will focus its fair lending resources on small business lending, mortgage and student loan servicing and redlining, the agency has announced in its annual Fair Lending Report.
“Going forward, we will continue to identify areas of new and emerging fair lending risks, and we’ll work to monitor institutions for compliance,” the agency said, in announcing the priorities.
The CFPB said, that in establishing the CFPB, Congress expressed concern that women-owned and minority-owned businesses might experience discrimination when owners apply for credit and directed the agency to monitor those activities.
“Because small businesses are the backbone of our economy, we are focusing on how to make sure small business owners, including women-owned and minority-owned businesses, can better access lending,” the agency said, in announcing its priorities.
The CFPB also announced that it will attempt to determine whether some student loan and mortgage borrowers have more difficulty in working out new solutions with servicers because of their race, ethnicity, age or gender.
Finally, the agency will focus efforts on investigating whether lenders have intentionally discouraged prospective applicants in minority neighborhoods.
In the report, CFPB officials said that they have several fair lending investigations pending.
