119-hr166

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 166 Introduced in House

    (IH) ]

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119th CONGRESS
 1st Session
 H. R. 166

 To establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to test for compliance 
 with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to strengthen the Equal Credit 
 Opportunity Act, to ensure that persons injured by discriminatory 
 practices, including organizations that have diverted resources to 
address discrimination and whose mission has been frustrated by illegal 
 acts, can seek relief under such Act and to provide for criminal 
 penalties for violating such Act, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

 January 3, 2025

Mr. Green of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to 
 the Committee on Financial Services

_______________________________________________________________________

 A BILL

 To establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to test for compliance 
 with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, to strengthen the Equal Credit 
 Opportunity Act, to ensure that persons injured by discriminatory 
 practices, including organizations that have diverted resources to 
address discrimination and whose mission has been frustrated by illegal 
 acts, can seek relief under such Act and to provide for criminal 
 penalties for violating such Act, and for other purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

 This Act may be cited as the ``Fair Lending for All Act''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FAIR LENDING TESTING.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established within the Bureau of 
Consumer Financial Protection an Office of Fair Lending Testing 
(hereinafter referred to as the ``Office'').

    (b) Director.--The head of the Office shall be a Director, who 
shall--

    (1) be appointed to a 5-year term by, and report to, the 
 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection;

    (2) appoint and fix the compensation of such employees as 
 are necessary to carry out the duties of the Office under this 
 section; and

    (3) provide an estimated annual budget to the Director of 
 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection.
            (c) Civil Service Position.--The position of the Director shall be 
a career position within the civil service.
            (d) Testing.--

    (1) In general.--The Office, in consultation with the 
 Attorney General and the Secretary of Housing and Urban 
 Development, shall conduct testing of compliance with the Equal 
 Credit Opportunity Act by creditors, through the use of 
 individuals who, without any bona fide intent to receive a 
 loan, pose as prospective borrowers for the purpose of 
 gathering information.

    (2) Referral of violations.--If, in carrying out the 
 testing described under paragraph

    (1) , the Office believes a 
 person has violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the 
 Office shall refer such violation in writing to the Attorney 
 General for appropriate action.

    (e) Report to Congress.--

Section 707 of the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691f) is amended by adding at the end the 
following: ``In addition, each report of the Bureau shall include an 
analysis of the testing carried out pursuant to 

section 2 of the Fair 
Lending for All Act, and each report of the Bureau and the Attorney 
General shall include a summary of criminal enforcement actions taken 
under 

section 706A.''.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CREDIT DISCRIMINATION.

    (a) In General.--Subsection

    (a) of 

section 701 of the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is amended to read as follows:
 ``

    (a) It shall be unlawful to discriminate against any person, with 
respect to any aspect of a credit transaction--
 ``

    (1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national 
 origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity), 
 marital status, or age (provided the applicant has the capacity 
 to contract);
 ``

    (2) on the basis of the person's ZIP Code, or census 
 tract;
 ``

    (3) because all or part of the person's income derives 
 from any public assistance program; or
 ``

    (4) because the person has in good faith exercised any 
 right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act.''.

    (b) Removal of Certain References to Creditors and Applicants and 
Definition Added.--The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et 
seq.) is amended--

    (1) in 

section 701

    (b) --
        (A) by striking ``applicant'' each place such term 
 appears and inserting ``person''; and
        (B) in paragraph

    (2) , by striking ``applicant's'' 
 each place such term appears and inserting 
 ``person's'';

    (2) in 

section 702--
        (A) by redesignating subsection

    (g) as subsection

    (h) ; and
        (B) by inserting after subsection

    (f) the 
 following:
 ``

    (g) The term `aggrieved person' includes any person who--
 ``

    (1) claims to have been injured by a discriminatory 
 credit practice; or
 ``

    (2) believes that such person will be injured by a 
 discriminatory credit practice.'';

    (3) in 

section 704A--
        (A) in subsection

    (b)

    (1) , by striking ``applicant'' 
 each place such term appears and inserting ``aggrieved 
 person''; and
        (B) in subsection
            (c) , by striking ``applicant'' 
 and inserting ``aggrieved person'';

    (4) in 

section 705--
        (A) by striking ``the applicant'' each place such 
 term appears and inserting ``persons''; and
        (B) in subsection

    (a) --
            (i) by striking ``a creditor to take'' and 
 inserting ``taking''; and
            (ii) by striking ``applicant'' and 
 inserting ``person''; and

    (5) in 

section 706--
        (A) by striking ``creditor'' each place such term 
 appears and inserting ``person'';
        (B) by striking ``creditor's'' each place such term 
 appears and inserting ``person's'';
            (C) by striking ``creditors'' each place such term 
 appears and inserting ``persons''; and
            (D) in subsection

    (f) , by striking ``applicant'' 
 and inserting ``aggrieved person''.

SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE EQUAL CREDIT 
 OPPORTUNITY ACT.

    (a) In General.--The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 
et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

section 706 the following:
``

Sec. 706A. Criminal penalties
 ``

    (a) Individual Violations.--Any person who knowingly and 
willfully violates this title shall be fined not more than $50,000, or 
imprisoned not more than 1 year, or both.
 ``

    (b) Pattern or Practice.--
 ``

    (1) In general.--Any person who engages in a pattern or 
 practice of knowingly and willfully violating this title shall 
 be fined not more than $100,000 for each violation of this 
 title, or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both.
 ``

    (2) Personal liability of executive officers and 
 directors of the board.--Any executive officer or director of 
 the board of an entity who knowingly and willfully causes the 
 entity to engage in a pattern or practice of knowingly and 
 willfully violating this title (or who directs another agent, 
 senior officer, or director of the entity to commit such a 
 violation or engage in such acts that result in the director or 
 officer being personally unjustly enriched) shall be--
 ``
        (A) fined in an amount not to exceed 100 percent 
 of the compensation (including stock options awarded as 
 compensation) received by such officer or director from 
 the entity--
 ``
            (i) during the time period in which the 
 violations occurred; or
 ``
            (ii) in the one to three year time period 
 preceding the date on which the violations were 
 discovered; and
 ``
        (B) imprisoned for not more than 5 years.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Equal Credit 
Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
the item relating to 

section 706 the following:

``706A. Criminal penalties.''.

SEC. 5. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of the Consumer Financial Protection 
Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following:

``

SEC. 1038. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS.

 ``

    (a) In General.--The Bureau shall carry out reviews of loan 
applications and the process of taking loan applications being used by 
covered persons to ensure such applications and processes do not 
violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or any other Federal consumer 
financial law.
 ``

    (b) Prohibition and Enforcement.--If the Bureau determines under 
subsection

    (a) that any loan application or process of taking a loan 
application violates the Equal Credit Opportunity Act or any other 
Federal consumer financial law, the Bureau shall--
 ``

    (1) prohibit the covered person from using such 
 application or process; and
 ``

    (2) take such enforcement or other actions with respect 
 to the covered person as the Bureau determines appropriate.''.

    (b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in 

section 1 of the 
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to 

section 1037 the following:

``

Sec. 1038. Review of loan applications.''.

SEC. 6. MORTGAGE DATA COLLECTION.

    (a) In General.--

Section 304

    (b)

    (4) of the Home Mortgage Disclosure 
Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803

    (b)

    (4) ) is amended by striking ``census 
tract, income level, racial characteristics, age, and gender'' and 
inserting ``the applicant or borrower's ZIP Code, census tract, income 
level, race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, 
sexual orientation, gender identity, and age''.

    (b) Protection of Privacy Interests.--

Section 304

    (h)

    (3)
        (A) of the 
Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803

    (h)

    (3)
        (A) ) is 
amended--

    (1) in clause
            (i) , by striking ``and'' at the end;

    (2) by redesignating clause
            (ii) as clause
            (iii) ; and

    (3) by inserting after clause
            (i) the following:
 ``
            (ii) ZIP Code, census tract, and any 
 other category of data described in subsection

    (b)

    (4) , as the Bureau determines to be 
 necessary to satisfy the purpose described in 
 paragraph

    (1)
        (E) , and in a manner consistent 
 with that purpose; and''.
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