Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice Withdraw Joint Statement on Fair Lending and Credit Opportunities for Noncitizen Borrowers

Washington, D.C. – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice (together, the “agencies”) announced today that they have withdrawn a joint statement regarding the implications of a creditor’s consideration of an individual’s immigration status under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

On October 12, 2023, the agencies published a joint statement cautioning that creditor policies related to an applicant’s immigration or citizenship status could, in certain circumstances, run afoul of ECOA’s and Regulation B’s prohibition of discrimination on the basis of protected classes, including race and national origin. The agencies withdrew the joint statement to avoid any conflict with the express language of ECOA and its implementing regulation, Regulation B.

“For decades, ECOA regulations have permitted lenders to consider a borrower’s lawful residence status and other information necessary to protect their rights and remedies with respect to repayment,” said Acting Director Russell Vought at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “We are correcting the last administration’s attempt to ignore these well-accepted and common-sense principles of our nation’s fair lending laws.”

“The federal government is committed to avoiding statements that could confuse the law or imply compliance standards for civil rights laws that lack any statutory or regulatory basis,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon at the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This administration is restoring alignment with established federal civil rights law rather than continuing the prior administration’s ideologically-driven departures.”