Encouraging innovation in expanding credit access: 2018 Fair Lending Report to Congress

By Patrice Alexander Ficklin – JUN 28, 2019

Access to credit is a key to economic mobility and prosperity for consumers and small businesses alike. Our annual Fair Lending Report to Congress highlights how in 2018 we continued to focus on promoting fair, equitable, and nondiscriminatory access to credit in mortgage lending, continued fair lending supervision of servicing and small business lending, and embarked on new efforts to encourage innovation in expanding credit access.

As the report explains, in 2018 the Bureau:

Convened a symposium, Building a Bridge to Credit Visibility, bringing together diverse stakeholders to expand access to credit to the millions of consumers who currently lack access
Monitored lenders and servicers for compliance with the anti-discrimination laws under the Bureau’s jurisdiction
Continued to monitor its first “no-action” letter which was issued in 2017 to a company that uses alternative, or non-traditional, data to make credit and pricing decisions to enable people with limited credit history, among others, to obtain credit or obtain credit on better terms
Issued new guidance to facilitate implementation of HMDA
Communicated information on fair lending to the public at large, including industry, consumer and civil rights group, and other stakeholders, through blog posts, Supervisory Highlights reports, and serving as presenters and panelists at a number of events

In 2018, the Bureau continued to advance fair lending work and expand access to consumers through innovation and collaboration. Learn more about how the law protects you against credit discrimination.