CFPB and DOJ withdraw 2023 fair-lending guidance on immigration status
The agencies said the withdrawal was meant to align with the text of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B and reduce confusion for lenders.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Department of Justice said Jan. 12, 2026, that they withdrew a 2023 joint statement on how a creditor’s consideration of a borrower’s immigration or citizenship status relates to fair-lending law.
The agencies said the move affects a statement first issued Oct. 12, 2023, that warned lender policies tied to immigration or citizenship status could, in some cases, violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B. The withdrawal removes that warning from the agencies’ public guidance.
According to the CFPB’s newsroom statement, the 2023 document said creditor policies related to an applicant’s immigration or citizenship status could, in some circumstances, run afoul of ECOA and Regulation B’s limits on discrimination based on protected classes, including race and national origin. The agencies said they withdrew the statement “to avoid conflict” with the express language of those rules.
The CFPB page said the agencies believe ECOA and Regulation B allow creditors to consider pertinent creditworthiness information and information needed to protect creditor rights and remedies, including a borrower’s immigration or citizenship status. It also said the withdrawal was meant to avoid confusion about when lenders may legitimately consider immigration status, address possible misimpressions about liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and reduce compliance burdens.
Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said ECOA regulations have long permitted lenders to consider a borrower’s lawful residence status and other information needed to protect repayment rights and remedies, according to the CFPB statement. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said the federal government is committed to avoiding statements that could confuse the law or imply civil-rights compliance standards without a statutory or regulatory basis, and said the action restores alignment with established federal civil rights law.
The CFPB described itself on the page as a federal consumer-financial-law agency. The statement did not announce any enforcement action, deadline or new rulemaking tied to the withdrawal.
What happens next is unclear from the announcement. The CFPB and DOJ have said only that they have withdrawn the earlier joint statement, leaving the underlying fair-lending statutes and regulations in place.
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Editorial note: This article was prepared with AI assistance and requires editorial review before publication.
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