On November 13, the CFPB issued a proposed rule to amend Regulation B’s 2023 small business lending rule implementing section 1071 of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The proposal would revise the scope of covered transactions, redefine which institutions are subject to reporting, modify several data fields, and adjust compliance timelines.
Continue Reading CFPB Proposes Revisions to Regulation B’s Small Business Lending Rule Under Section 1071
On October 2, The CFPB finalized a rule extending the compliance deadlines for its 2023 Small Business Lending Data Collection Rule under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B. The final rule confirms the Bureau’s June 2025 interim rule delaying implementation by approximately one year to align compliance timelines across institutions affected by federal court stays and ongoing litigation over the rule’s validity.
Continue Reading CFPB Extends Compliance Deadlines for Section 1071 Small Business Lending Rule
On July 23, a coalition of consumer advocacy organizations filed a lawsuit against the CFPB and Acting Director Russel Vought in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging the agency unlawfully delayed implementation of its small-business lending data collection rule. The complaint asserts violations of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Administrative Procedure Act in connection with the Bureau’s recent policy changes surrounding its Section 1071 rule.
Continue Reading Consumer Groups Sue CFPB Over Delay in Section 1071
On April 3, the CFPB informed a Florida federal district court that it plans to initiate new rulemaking to revise its small business lending data collection rule under Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Bureau agreed to stay the rule’s compliance deadlines in response to ongoing litigation brought by a trade group representing providers of sales-based financing.
Continue Reading CFPB Seeks to Reopen Small Business Lending Rule Under Section 1071
This week, the CFPB filed an emergency notice in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, indicating that it no longer opposes a pause in compliance with its Section 1071 small business data-collection rule (previously discussed here, here, and here). This marks a significant departure from its previous stance as it navigates ongoing legal challenges from lenders.
Continue Reading CFPB Signals Shift in Position on Section 1071
On June 25, the CFPB released a formal action to extend the compliance deadlines for its Section 1071 small business lending rule (previously discussed here, here, and here). Once issued, the rule was challenged in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and stayed pending the Supreme Court’s decision in CFPB v. CFSA. After the Bureau prevailed at the Supreme Court, the federal court ordered the Bureau to extend the compliance deadline to compensate for the stay.
Continue Reading CFPB Extends Compliance Deadline for Section 1071 Rule
In the latest development to challenges to the CFPB’s 1071 rulemaking, plaintiff trade associations, including the American Bankers Association and the Texas Bankers Association, have filed a motion for summary judgment requesting the court bar enforcement of the Bureau’s Small Business Lending Rule.
Continue Reading Trade Groups Continue Fight Against CFPB’s 1071 Small Business Rulemaking
On September 1, the CFPB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to implement Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to require financial institutions to collect and report data regarding credit applications made by women-owned, minority-owned, and small businesses (we previously discussed the proposed rule in an earlier Consumer Finance & FinTech Blog post here). The proposed rulemaking is an expansive 918 pages and the CFPB provides both a summary and table of contents to assist industry participants in their review and comments.
On April 30, the CFPB announced it will deprioritize enforcement and supervision of its small business lending data collection rule for institutions not covered by the stay issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The rule, finalized in May 2023 under Regulation B, implements Section 1071 of the Dodd-Frank Act and requires lenders to collect and report demographic and loan application data from small business credit applicants.
Continue Reading CFPB Halts Enforcement of Small Business Lending Rule for Institutions Outside Fifth Circuit
On February 19, a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida issued a report and recommendation rejecting a trade group’s challenge to the CFPB’s small business lending data rule. The ruling found that merchant cash advances lawfully fall within the scope of the rule. The trade group’s lawsuit sought to exclude merchant cash advances from the rule, arguing, among other things, that such transactions do not constitute “credit” under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (the “ECOA”) and that the rule was arbitrary and capricious, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Continue Reading CFPB Small Business Lending Data Rule Survives Challenge in Federal Court