Fair Lending and Underwriting – ON-DEMAND WEBINARS

Date Recorded: October 29, 2021

Presenter: Anetria Cohen, Vice President and Senior Consultant, FORVIS

A two-hour webinar reviewing Fair Lending implications during underwriting, with a focus on recent cases.

Fair lending continues to be an important topic of concern for federal regulators. Of course, financial institutions are prohibited from discriminating against persons on certain bases including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, as well as others. Although this is a relatively straightforward concept, employees may discriminate without intending to do so in a number of ways. Financial institutions are thereby encouraged to be mindful about the potential ways discrimination can occur and train those involved in lending to recognize the red flags.

This webinar will focus on the anti-discrimination requirements under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (as implemented by Regulation B) and the Federal Housing Act, and how the process of discrimination may occur in underwriting. We’ll also discuss violations in a variety of underwriting contexts, which will provide guidance and practical examples for concerns that financial institutions should be on the lookout for. For HMDA reporters, we’ll discuss briefly how certain data points on the HMDA LAR may cause examiners to potentially believe there are discriminatory concerns.

HERE IS WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

• Examples of ways in which institutions discriminate in underwriting
  • Information requested/obtained (e.g., spousal information)
  • How information is evaluated
• Methods of discrimination
• Fair Housing Act prohibited basis
• Equal Credit Opportunity Act/Regulation B prohibited basis
• How discrimination shows itself
  • Approvals/denials; Increased rates or fees
  • Frequency of withdrawn/incomplete files
  • HMDA LAR
• Importance of understanding the risk in providing exceptions or considering
• Compensating factors
• Key points and best practices
• Variety of recent fair lending violations