FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 20, 2026
CONTACTS:
Jarice Thompson jarice@ourfinancialsecurity.org
Alyssa Wiltse awiltse@ncrc.org
Maleeka Manurasada Maleeka@healfoodalliance.org
Shawn Phetteplace, shawn@mainstreetalliance.org
Vincenza Previte vincenza.previte@responsiblelending.org
Over 200+ Organizations Urge House Financial Services Committee to Oppose Any Amendment to Delay or Weaken Small Business and Farm Fair Lending Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, 215 civil rights, small business, farm, community, consumer, and other organizations from across the country sent a letter to the House Financial Services Committee urging them to oppose legislation that would weaken or further delay the implementation of the small business and farm loan fair lending data collection for another decade.
Section 1071 of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require the collection of small business data to help lenders, communities, and local governments identify small business and farm credit needs, gaps in access to credit, and patterns of lending discrimination.
“This attack on fair lending law would roll back an important economic and racial justice win for farms and small businesses,” said Patrick Woodall, managing director at Americans for Financial Reform. “Collecting this basic information is critical to enforcing civil rights laws and addressing the longstanding discrimination and inequality in access to credit for women and people of color who own businesses and farms.”
The Small Lenders Exempt from New Data and Excessive Reporting Act would effectively gut 1071 by delaying the implementation until 2031 — a quarter century after Congress first passed the requirement — and exempting lenders that make fewer than 2,500 loans in 2 years or has fewer than $10 billion in assets, and discouraging applicants from disclosing information.
“Only bad actors benefit from continuing to conceal basic data on who is and is not getting loans to start and sustain a business,” said Jesse Van Tol, President and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Weakening Section 1071 or putting it back on the shelf for years more will make it harder for people to give their kids a better life.”
This would derail the fair lending disclosure measure more than fifteen years after the Congress directed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau(CFPB) to implement this critical amendment to ECOA. The small business and farm loan provision was based on the successful Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which began providing public data within about five years of its enactment. The groups urged the Committee to oppose this delay or any legislation to weaken the fair lending law. Small businesses and farms are economic engines that create jobs and build wealth, but historically inequitable access to credit has made it harder for people of color and women to start, sustain, and expand small businesses and farms.
“Every farmer deserves a real chance to make a living and take care of their community, but due to systemic discrimination, Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color have been locked out of fair lending for generations,” said Maleeka Manurasada, Organizing Director at the HEAL Food Alliance. “Rule 1071 of the CFPB helps to fix that by bringing transparency to farm lending, and helps to ensure that all farmers have opportunity and access to credit.”
There is no comprehensive dataset of small business and farm loans, which makes it impossible for entrepreneurs, farmers, community groups, elected officials, and regulators to evaluate the demand for and access to or enforce fair lending laws.
“Publicly accessible data on small business lending can motivate lenders to increase their lending to women-owned and minority-owned small businesses. That is why the Main Street Alliance strongly supports Section 1071, which aims to protect small business owners who have a history of experiencing discrimination in lending,” said Shawn Phetteplace, Main Street Alliance National Campaigns Director. “MSA opposes any effort to weaken or delay Section 1071.”
There have been several bills introduced to weaken 1071, including today’s measure in the House Financial Services Committee, but none have been enacted.
“The proposed revisions to weaken the Small Business Lending rule would narrow the scope and usefulness of the data, not only limiting opportunity for historically marginalized and other underserved entrepreneurs, but effectively gutting hundreds of smaller institutions from reporting. Without a comprehensive dataset, Americans will be left in the dark on the capital experiences of all small business owners—including women, minority, rural, and other owners who need access to the credit market,” said Mike Calhoun, president of the Center for Responsible Lending. “Congress should reject attempts to undermine the rule and ensure it is implemented as intended.”
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