Both the CFPB and the JusticernDepartment have authority to protect against discriminatory lending under the ECOArnwhich makes it illegal for creditors to discriminate against applicants inrncredit transactions because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex,rnmarital status, age, income coming from a public assistance program, or anrnapplicant’s exercise of certain consumer protection rights. The MOU, releasedrnby DOJ details the way the two agencies will manage their respective responsibilitiesrnin three areas, sharing information and preserving its confidentiality;rncollaboration in investigations and coordination of joint investigations; andrnreferrals and notifications between the agencies.  In the latter area, CFPB agrees to referrnmatters of apparent lending discrimination to DOJ while retaining its ownrnauthority to pursue supervisory or enforcement actions.</p

“The Department of Justice welcomesrnthe new tools and resources the CFPB can bring to the fight against lendingrndiscrimination,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the CivilrnRights Division. “Cooperation between our two agencies promotes strong andrneffective civil rights enforcement, and today’s agreement will further ourrnongoing collaborative efforts.”</p

“Discrimination undermines equalrnaccess to credit,” said Richard Cordray, Director of the CFPB. “Today’srnagreement is a critical step to better protecting consumers from illegal andrndiscriminatory lending practices. We look forward to continuing our partnershiprnwith the Justice Department under this new framework.”</p

Inrnits initial report to Congress on the subject CFPB provides an overview of itsrnfair lending program and details work in that area from July 21, 2011 throughrnJuly 20, 2012, its first year of operation. rnAmong the accomplishments the agency notes are:</p<ul class="unIndentedList"<liEstablishing and staffing its Office of FairrnLending and Equal Opportunity;</li<liInitiation of the agencies fair lendingrnsupervision program and completion of initial reviews at dozens of banks andrnnon-banks offering a variety of lending products;</li<liCommencement of the fair lending enforcementrnprogram and fair lending investigations;</li<liOngoing work on amendments to the regulationsrnthat implement HMDA and planning for amendments to regulations that implementrnECOA and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA); </li<liCompletion of an empirical study and report tornCongress on the use of cohort default rates in private education lending;</li<liOngoing collaboration and coordination withrnfederal and state partners and outreach to private industry, fair lending,rncivil rights, and consumer and community advocates.</li</ul

CFPB said that moving forward it will continue to supervise lenders tornensure fair lending compliance and, in line with its commitment torntransparency, will share its expectations about fair lending with thoserninstitutions and work with them to ensure that exams are carried outrnefficiently and effectively.  The agencyrnsaid it will also continue to talk to consumers because when they are informedrnthey become the first line of defense against discriminatory practices. 

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