CFPB to Consider Future Rule on Disparate Impact

According to the CFPB's Fall 2018 rulemaking agenda, the Bureau is considering future rulemaking regarding its disparate impact doctrine.

Ballard Spahr Partner Christopher Willis said, "The CFPB thinking about a rulemaking shows the bureau is serious about potentially addressing disparate impact in a much more formal way than the bureau previously hinted at." When it comes to auto finance, Mr. Willis added that the industry has "felt the sting" of the fair lending crackdown over the past few years. He said, "[a] rulemaking once in place will be a binding interpretation of the statute until the rulemaking is altered or undone, which would take a year or more to do. There is no way to know how it'll go. It'll be interesting to see how it progresses."