Diversity and equality

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's overhaul of its Qualified Mortgage standard is alarming free-market advocates who say it will precipitate a return to easy credit and higher defaults and could disproportionately harm minorities.

The company says it plans to originate 40,000 mortgages for Black and Hispanic households and finance 100,000 affordable rental units over five years.

Diversity initiatives for home appraisers would cut down the racism and bias within the valuation process.

The Bond Buyer's Rising Stars Week continues as three members of the newly minted class -- Moody's Investors Service senior analyst Adebola Kushimo, Stifel director Roberto Ruiz, and Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates senior vice president Rachel Chang-Kwei -- join moderator Andrew Belinfanti-Knight, a managing director at UBS and a member of the inaugural Rising Stars class of 2016, for a discussion on diversity and inclusion in municipal finance.

The bar to prove discriminatory patterns is so high that plaintiffs would have slim odds of winning lawsuits against housing providers.

The class-action lawsuit claims the company used deceptive contracts, locking low-income Black homebuyers into disadvantageous long-term mortgages without proper lending disclosures.

The donation will go through the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts in an effort to expand and diversify opportunities in the industry.

The agency’s report on mortgage data submitted by lenders identified persistent disparities between white borrowers and minorities in denial rates and pricing. Some observers say the bureau should have been more explicit as the nation wrestles with systemic racism.

Under fire for saying that the potential pool of talent is "limited," CEO Charlie Scharf issued a memo to employees Wednesday acknowledging that his words reflected his own "unconscious bias" and vowing to improve diversity in the bank's leadership.

Wells Fargo's top executive created a firestorm on social media over comments that the bank has had trouble meeting its diversity goals because there isn't enough minority talent.

The future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Fed’s supervisory regime for the biggest financial institutions, reform of the Community Reinvestment Act and a host of other industry-related issues are on the ballot this November.

Although it moved from the glitz of Las Vegas to a fully virtual event, the 2020 Digital Mortgage Conference delivered insights and acumen from the industry.

A deep understanding of the history of racial discrimination in both lending and technology is a prerequisite to the development of new technologies, panelists said.

After being approved, retroactively denied and having a second application rejected, the firm is appealing the decision with federal regulators.

The final version of the amended rule, like the original proposal, makes fair lending claims tougher to prove; but it does soften language that otherwise might have allowed mortgage companies to use algorithms to prove nondiscrimination.

Party polarization and racial equity issues make it tougher for trade groups to manage internal divisions while ensuring the field supports those who get their hands on the levers of power.

The California Assembly is considering a bill that would require local governments to permit duplexes on parcels now largely restricted to one house, in effect eliminating single-family zoning that dominates in most suburban residential neighborhoods.

The Federal Reserve could ease capital rules, foster the creation of special-purpose banks and take other steps to strengthen minority communities and businesses without legislation being sought in Congress — if it has the will to do so, experts say.

The CFPB is giving stakeholders until Dec. 1 to file comments on a potential overhaul to its rules related to the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination in credit and lending decisions.