House Financial Services Committee Advances Several Bills
Yesterday, the House Financial Service Committee advanced a slate of six bills on a party-line vote to address perceived discrimination in the consumer financial marketplace, expand corporate disclosures, and establish language preferences for mortgage lenders and servicers, among others.
A summary of the bills is below.
H.R. 166 – Fair Lending for All Act: The bill clarifies that sexual orientation, gender identity, and location based on zip code or census tract are protected classes with respect to credit transactions under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Currently, discrimination is prohibited based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age, or if an individual receives public assistance.
Additionally, the bill would establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing within the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), to identify and evaluate discrimination in financial services.
H.R. 1188 – Greater Accountability in Pay Act: Requires public companies to annually disclose information on pay raises made to executives and non-executive employees. The bill would also require companies to compare executive and non-executive compensation during the same period.
H.R. 3009 – Improving Language Access in Mortgage Servicing Act: Under the bill, the CFPB would be required to create a standard language preference form used by creditors and servicers to track language preferences on mortgage loans. Additionally, the bill would also require several federal agencies, including the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), to create a language resources website for mortgage lenders and servicers.
As these bills move through the legislative process, AFSA and its legislative network continue to advocate for consumers’ ability to access credit and ensure fair lending practices to Members of Congress and Congressional staff.
Currently, there are no specific proposals in the Senate Banking Committee mirroring legislation advanced by the House Financial Services Committee.
May 13th, 2021
