Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB166 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	I
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION H. R. 166
5	5	To establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to test for compliance with
6	6	the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to strengthen the Equal Credit Oppor-
7	7	tunity Act, to ensure that persons injured by discriminatory practices,
8	8	including organizations that have diverted resources to address discrimi-
9	9	nation and whose mission has been frustrated by illegal acts, can seek
10	10	relief under such Act and to provide for criminal penalties for violating
11	11	such Act, and for other purposes.
12	12	IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
13	13	JANUARY3, 2025
14	14	Mr. G
15	15	REENof Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
16	16	Committee on Financial Services
17	17	A BILL
18	18	To establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to test for
19	19	compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to
20	20	strengthen the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to ensure
21	21	that persons injured by discriminatory practices, includ-
22	22	ing organizations that have diverted resources to address
23	23	discrimination and whose mission has been frustrated
24	24	by illegal acts, can seek relief under such Act and to
25	25	provide for criminal penalties for violating such Act, and
26	26	for other purposes.
27	27	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
28	28	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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31	31	•HR 166 IH
32	32	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
33	33	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Lending for All 2
34	34	Act’’. 3
35	35	SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FAIR LENDING TESTING. 4
36	36	(a) E
37	37	STABLISHMENT.—There is established within 5
38	38	the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an Office 6
39	39	of Fair Lending Testing (hereinafter referred to as the 7
40	40	‘‘Office’’). 8
41	41	(b) D
42	42	IRECTOR.—The head of the Office shall be a 9
43	43	Director, who shall— 10
44	44	(1) be appointed to a 5-year term by, and re-11
45	45	port to, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi-12
46	46	nancial Protection; 13
47	47	(2) appoint and fix the compensation of such 14
48	48	employees as are necessary to carry out the duties 15
49	49	of the Office under this section; and 16
50	50	(3) provide an estimated annual budget to the 17
51	51	Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro-18
52	52	tection. 19
53	53	(c) C
54	54	IVILSERVICEPOSITION.—The position of the 20
55	55	Director shall be a career position within the civil service. 21
56	56	(d) T
57	57	ESTING.— 22
58	58	(1) I
59	59	N GENERAL.—The Office, in consultation 23
60	60	with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 24
61	61	Housing and Urban Development, shall conduct 25
62	62	testing of compliance with the Equal Credit Oppor-26
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65	65	•HR 166 IH
66	66	tunity Act by creditors, through the use of individ-1
67	67	uals who, without any bona fide intent to receive a 2
68	68	loan, pose as prospective borrowers for the purpose 3
69	69	of gathering information. 4
70	70	(2) R
71	71	EFERRAL OF VIOLATIONS .—If, in carrying 5
72	72	out the testing described under paragraph (1), the 6
73	73	Office believes a person has violated the Equal Cred-7
74	74	it Opportunity Act, the Office shall refer such viola-8
75	75	tion in writing to the Attorney General for appro-9
76	76	priate action. 10
77	77	(e) R
78	78	EPORT TOCONGRESS.—Section 707 of the 11
79	79	Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691f) is 12
80	80	amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In addition, 13
81	81	each report of the Bureau shall include an analysis of the 14
82	82	testing carried out pursuant to section 2 of the Fair Lend-15
83	83	ing for All Act, and each report of the Bureau and the 16
84	84	Attorney General shall include a summary of criminal en-17
85	85	forcement actions taken under section 706A.’’. 18
86	86	SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CREDIT DISCRIMINATION. 19
87	87	(a) I
88	88	NGENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 701 of 20
89	89	the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is 21
90	90	amended to read as follows: 22
91	91	‘‘(a) It shall be unlawful to discriminate against any 23
92	92	person, with respect to any aspect of a credit trans-24
93	93	action— 25
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96	96	•HR 166 IH
97	97	‘‘(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, na-1
98	98	tional origin, sex (including sexual orientation and 2
99	99	gender identity), marital status, or age (provided the 3
100	100	applicant has the capacity to contract); 4
101	101	‘‘(2) on the basis of the person’s ZIP Code, or 5
102	102	census tract; 6
103	103	‘‘(3) because all or part of the person’s income 7
104	104	derives from any public assistance program; or 8
105	105	‘‘(4) because the person has in good faith exer-9
106	106	cised any right under the Consumer Credit Protec-10
107	107	tion Act.’’. 11
108	108	(b) R
109	109	EMOVAL OFCERTAINREFERENCES TOCREDI-12
110	110	TORS ANDAPPLICANTS ANDDEFINITIONADDED.—The 13
111	111	Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) 14
112	112	is amended— 15
113	113	(1) in section 701(b)— 16
114	114	(A) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ each place 17
115	115	such term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; and 18
116	116	(B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘appli-19
117	117	cant’s’’ each place such term appears and in-20
118	118	serting ‘‘person’s’’; 21
119	119	(2) in section 702— 22
120	120	(A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub-23
121	121	section (h); and 24
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124	124	•HR 166 IH
125	125	(B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 1
126	126	following: 2
127	127	‘‘(g) The term ‘aggrieved person’ includes any person 3
128	128	who— 4
129	129	‘‘(1) claims to have been injured by a discrimi-5
130	130	natory credit practice; or 6
131	131	‘‘(2) believes that such person will be injured by 7
132	132	a discriminatory credit practice.’’; 8
133	133	(3) in section 704A— 9
134	134	(A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘ap-10
135	135	plicant’’ each place such term appears and in-11
136	136	serting ‘‘aggrieved person’’; and 12
137	137	(B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘appli-13
138	138	cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’; 14
139	139	(4) in section 705— 15
140	140	(A) by striking ‘‘the applicant’’ each place 16
141	141	such term appears and inserting ‘‘persons’’; and 17
142	142	(B) in subsection (a)— 18
143	143	(i) by striking ‘‘a creditor to take’’ 19
144	144	and inserting ‘‘taking’’; and 20
145	145	(ii) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ and insert-21
146	146	ing ‘‘person’’; and 22
147	147	(5) in section 706— 23
148	148	(A) by striking ‘‘creditor’’ each place such 24
149	149	term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; 25
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152	152	•HR 166 IH
153	153	(B) by striking ‘‘creditor’s’’ each place 1
154	154	such term appears and inserting ‘‘person’s’’; 2
155	155	(C) by striking ‘‘creditors’’ each place such 3
156	156	term appears and inserting ‘‘persons’’; and 4
157	157	(D) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘appli-5
158	158	cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’. 6
159	159	SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 7
160	160	EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT. 8
161	161	(a) I
162	162	NGENERAL.—The Equal Credit Opportunity 9
163	163	Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 10
164	164	section 706 the following: 11
165	165	‘‘§ 706A. Criminal penalties 12
166	166	‘‘(a) I
167	167	NDIVIDUALVIOLATIONS.—Any person who 13
168	168	knowingly and willfully violates this title shall be fined not 14
169	169	more than $50,000, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, 15
170	170	or both. 16
171	171	‘‘(b) P
172	172	ATTERN ORPRACTICE.— 17
173	173	‘‘(1) I
174	174	N GENERAL.—Any person who engages in 18
175	175	a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully vio-19
176	176	lating this title shall be fined not more than 20
177	177	$100,000 for each violation of this title, or impris-21
178	178	oned not more than twenty years, or both. 22
179	179	‘‘(2) P
180	180	ERSONAL LIABILITY OF EXECUTIVE OFFI -23
181	181	CERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD .—Any execu-24
182	182	tive officer or director of the board of an entity who 25
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185	185	•HR 166 IH
186	186	knowingly and willfully causes the entity to engage 1
187	187	in a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully 2
188	188	violating this title (or who directs another agent, 3
189	189	senior officer, or director of the entity to commit 4
190	190	such a violation or engage in such acts that result 5
191	191	in the director or officer being personally unjustly 6
192	192	enriched) shall be— 7
193	193	‘‘(A) fined in an amount not to exceed 100 8
194	194	percent of the compensation (including stock 9
195	195	options awarded as compensation) received by 10
196	196	such officer or director from the entity— 11
197	197	‘‘(i) during the time period in which 12
198	198	the violations occurred; or 13
199	199	‘‘(ii) in the one to three year time pe-14
200	200	riod preceding the date on which the viola-15
201	201	tions were discovered; and 16
202	202	‘‘(B) imprisoned for not more than 5 17
203	203	years.’’. 18
204	204	(b) C
205	205	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 19
206	206	for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 20
207	207	et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 21
208	208	to section 706 the following: 22
209	209	‘‘706A. Criminal penalties.’’.
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212	212	•HR 166 IH
213	213	SEC. 5. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS. 1
214	214	(a) I
215	215	NGENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Consumer Fi-2
216	216	nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531 et seq.) 3
217	217	is amended by adding at the end the following: 4
218	218	‘‘SEC. 1038. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS. 5
219	219	‘‘(a) I
220	220	NGENERAL.—The Bureau shall carry out re-6
221	221	views of loan applications and the process of taking loan 7
222	222	applications being used by covered persons to ensure such 8
223	223	applications and processes do not violate the Equal Credit 9
224	224	Opportunity Act or any other Federal consumer financial 10
225	225	law. 11
226	226	‘‘(b) P
227	227	ROHIBITION ANDENFORCEMENT.—If the Bu-12
228	228	reau determines under subsection (a) that any loan appli-13
229	229	cation or process of taking a loan application violates the 14
230	230	Equal Credit Opportunity Act or any other Federal con-15
231	231	sumer financial law, the Bureau shall— 16
232	232	‘‘(1) prohibit the covered person from using 17
233	233	such application or process; and 18
234	234	‘‘(2) take such enforcement or other actions 19
235	235	with respect to the covered person as the Bureau de-20
236	236	termines appropriate.’’. 21
237	237	(b) C
238	238	LERICALAMENDMENT.—The table of contents 22
239	239	in section 1 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 23
240	240	Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after 24
241	241	the item relating to section 1037 the following: 25
242	242	‘‘Sec. 1038. Review of loan applications.’’.
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245	245	•HR 166 IH
246	246	SEC. 6. MORTGAGE DATA COLLECTION. 1
247	247	(a) I
248	248	NGENERAL.—Section 304(b)(4) of the Home 2
249	249	Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803(b)(4)) 3
250	250	is amended by striking ‘‘census tract, income level, racial 4
251	251	characteristics, age, and gender’’ and inserting ‘‘the appli-5
252	252	cant or borrower’s ZIP Code, census tract, income level, 6
253	253	race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 7
254	254	sexual orientation, gender identity, and age’’. 8
255	255	(b) P
256	256	ROTECTION OFPRIVACYINTERESTS.—Section 9
257	257	304(h)(3)(A) of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 10
258	258	1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803(h)(3)(A)) is amended— 11
259	259	(1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 12
260	260	(2) by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); 13
261	261	and 14
262	262	(3) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 15
263	263	‘‘(ii) ZIP Code, census tract, and any 16
264	264	other category of data described in sub-17
265	265	section (b)(4), as the Bureau determines to 18
266	266	be necessary to satisfy the purpose de-19
267	267	scribed in paragraph (1)(E), and in a man-20
268	268	ner consistent with that purpose; and’’. 21
269	269	Æ
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