fair lending Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Americans for Financial Reform

Letter To Regulators: Civil Rights, Consumer Groups Seek Blankenstein Ouster from CFPB

We, the undersigned organizations, call on you to abandon your proposed reorganization of the
Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, and to remove Mr. Eric Blankenstein from having
any involvement in the Bureau’s oversight and enforcement of antidiscrimination laws. We have
long voiced strong concerns about your plans to relocate the Office of Fair Lending, and our
concerns have grown even stronger in light of the shocking revelations about Mr. Blankenstein’s
writings on issues of race.

News Release: Blankenstein Views Part of Mulvaney Agenda of Enabling Discrimination

Mulvaney chose Blankenstein as the policy associate director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending. Under Mulvaney the CFPB has restructured the main office for fair lending, expressed interest in moving away from a key legal test for fair lending, and curbed enforcement of rules on predatory lenders that often target communities of color.

Joint Statement: Transfer of CFPB Consumer Response Unit Offers No Clear Benefit

Consumer Response has essentially been an independent office housed in the Operations Division. As such, its research on consumer complaint trends has been equally available to all divisions and offices, including, for example, Supervision, Enforcement and Fair Lending; Research, Markets and Regulations; and Consumer Education and Engagement. Is this transfer designed to diminish the Consumer Response unit’s important role in helping all units of the agency collect and understand the ongoing complaints that consumers raise? What benefit does this transfer provide consumers and will this relocation affect the Complaint unit’s budget?

Joint Statement: Changes to CFPB Fair Lending Office Undermine Anti-Discrimination Work

Fair Lending is a fundamentally important part of the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and of a financial system that works for families and communities. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity needs the authority, the resources, and the connections to key levers of change to do its job.