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On May 28, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to terminate its redlining consent order against a New Jersey-based bank. The five-year order, entered in September 2022, resolved allegations that the banks violated the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act by engaging in a pattern of unlawful redlining in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods across the Newark metropolitan area.Continue Reading DOJ Moves to End $13 Million Redlining Consent Order

On January 7, 2025, the United States Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced that a non-depository mortgage lender has agreed to pay $1.75 million in connection with allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of lending discrimination by redlining predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.Continue Reading DOJ Announces Third Settlement with a Non-Depository Lender to Resolve Alleged Redlining Claims

On February 22, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland appointed Jonathan Mayer as the Justice Department’s inaugural Chief Science and Technology Advisor and Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. Mayer will sit in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy and lead the Department’s newly established Emerging Technologies Board which coordinates and governs AI and other emerging technologies across the Department. Mayer will also build a team of technical and policy experts in cybersecurity and AI. The Chief AI Officer position is a role required by President Biden’s Executive Order on AI. Mayer is an assistant professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University and served as the technology law and policy advisor to then-Senator Kamala Harris as well as the chief technologist to the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau. Continue Reading Justice Department Hire’s First Chief AI Officer

On October 24, the FTC and the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a $1.1 million settlement with a group of Wisconsin auto dealers for allegedly charging customers illegal junk fees and unlawfully discriminating against American Indian customers. The action was brought under the FTC Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), the Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act, and the Wisconsin Consumer Act.Continue Reading FTC and Wisconsin DOJ Agree to $1.1M Settlement with Auto Dealers over Unlawful Junk Fees and Discrimination Against American Indian Customers

On October 31, a federal jury in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri found the defendants, a trade association, which represents residential and commercial real estate industries, and multiple residential brokerages liable for $1.8 billion in damages for conspiring to artificially inflate commissions on home sales. Continue Reading Federal Jury: Trade Association and Real Estate Brokerages Conspired to Inflate Commissions, $1.8B in Damages to Plaintiffs

On October 12, the CFPB and DOJ issued a joint statement that reminds financial institutions that all credit applicants are protected from discrimination on the basis of their national origin, race, and other characteristics covered by the ECOA, regardless of their immigration status. According to the CFPB and DOJ, the statement was issued because consumers have reported being rejected for credit cards as well as for auto, student, personal, and equipment loans because of their immigration status, even when they have strong credit histories and ties to the US and are otherwise qualified to receive the loans.Continue Reading CFPB, DOJ Joint Statement: Financial Institutions May Not Use Immigration Status to Illegally Discriminate Against Credit Applicants

Retailers continue to be targeted by website accessibility lawsuits. Unfortunately, the legal landscape remains unpredictable and it varies greatly based on what jurisdiction a retailer is sued in. There remains no easy fix to prevent litigation. Plaintiff’s lawyers argue that “inaccessible” websites or mobile apps fail to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act or similar state civil rights laws. However, there are no set of detailed website accessibility standards or regulations and instead, the Department of Justice’s position has been that the Americans with Disabilities Act’s general nondiscrimination and effective communication provisions apply to web accessibility. The Department has directed that businesses look to existing technical standards for website accessibility including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and the Section 508 Standards, which the federal government uses for its own websites. And despite the absence of formal website accessibility standards, the Department has continued to file enforcement actions against businesses who operate websites that it deems inaccessible.Continue Reading Website Accessibility Litigation Continues to be Costly and There is No Easy Fix

On July 27, the CFPB and DOJ proposed a settlement with a nonbank mortgage lender for its discriminatory “redlining” lending practices against minority families living in the greater Philadelphia area. If approved by the court, the mortgage lender would be required to pay more than $22 million in civil penalties, and would be the CFPB’s first nonbank mortgage redlining settlement.
Continue Reading CFPB, DOJ Propose $22 Million Penalty Against Nonbank Mortgage Lender for Illegal Redlining

On June 3, a federal court filing in the Southern District of Florida by an Atlanta-based FinTech company revealed that the small business lender is under DOJ investigation for alleged PPP loan approval practices. According to the FinTech, by August 2020, it processed over $7 billion in PPP loans to at least 300,000 small businesses.
Continue Reading DOJ Investigating FinTech Over PPP Loans