Washington, D.C. —The Consumer Federation of America released the following statement in response to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new final rule amending the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA).

“For fifty years, courts and regulators have understood that disparate impact applied to tests of credit discrimination," said Adam Rust, Director of Financial Services. "Despite that, the CFPB completed this outlandish rule in just a few short months, ignoring tens of thousands of comments from the public in opposition to its ECOA proposal. Once the new rule takes effect, the CFPB’s blindness to the substantial costs of structural discrimination and redlining will undermine struggling households and communities that need credit. Additionally, the CFPB’s animus will scare off well-intentioned lenders from developing special purpose credit programs to address the needs of individual and small business borrowers. Fortunately, laws are not suggestions. Courts will correct Russell Vought’s radical misreading of Congress’s intent. ”