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Union Calendar No. 263 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 166 

[Report No. 117–349] 

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 and to provide for criminal penalties for violating such Act, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2021 

Mr. GREEN of Texas introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Financial Services 

JUNE 7, 2022 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House 

on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 4, 2021] 


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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 and to 

provide for criminal penalties for violating such Act, and 

for other purposes. 


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1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fair Lending for All 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FAIR LENDING TESTING. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within the 

8 Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an Office of Fair 

9 Lending Testing (hereinafter referred to as the ‘‘Office’’). 

10 (b) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office shall be a Di11 rector, who shall— 

12 (1) be appointed to a 5-year term by, and report 

13 to, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial 

14 Protection; 

15 (2) appoint and fix the compensation of such 

16 employees as are necessary to carry out the duties of 

17 the Office under this section; and 

18 (3) provide an estimated annual budget to the 

19 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protec20 tion. 

21 (c) CIVIL SERVICE POSITION.—The position of the Di22 rector shall be a career position within the civil service. 

23 (d) TESTING.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Office, in consultation 

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1 ing and Urban Development, shall conduct testing of 

2 compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act 

3 by creditors, through the use of individuals who, with4 out any bona fide intent to receive a loan, pose as 

5 prospective borrowers for the purpose of gathering in6 formation. 

7 (2) REFERRAL OF VIOLATIONS.—If, in carrying 

8 out the testing described under paragraph (1), the Of9 fice believes a person has violated the Equal Credit 

10 Opportunity Act, the Office shall refer such violation 

11 in writing to the Attorney General for appropriate 

12 action. 

13 (e) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Section 707 of the Equal 

14 Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691f) is amended by 

15 adding at the end the following: ‘‘In addition, each report 

16 of the Bureau shall include an analysis of the testing car17 ried out pursuant to section 2 of the Fair Lending for All 

18 Act, and each report of the Bureau and the Attorney Gen19 eral shall include a summary of criminal enforcement ac20 tions taken under section 706A.’’. 

21 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CREDIT DISCRIMINATION. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 701 of the 

23 Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is amended 

24 to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(a) It shall be unlawful to discriminate against any 

2 person, with respect to any aspect of a credit transaction— 

3 ‘‘(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, national 

4 origin, sex (including sexual orientation and gender 

5 identity), marital status, or age (provided the appli6 cant has the capacity to contract); 

7 ‘‘(2) on the basis of the person’s zip code, or cen8 sus tract; 

9 ‘‘(3) because all or part of the person’s income 

10 derives from any public assistance program; or 

11 ‘‘(4) because the person has in good faith exer12 cised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection 

13 Act.’’. 

14 (b) REMOVAL OF CERTAIN REFERENCES TO CREDI15 TORS AND APPLICANTS AND DEFINITION ADDED.—The 

16 Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is 

17 amended— 

18 (1) in section 701(b)— 

19 (A) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ each place such 

20 term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; and 

21 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘appli22 cant’s’’ each place such term appears and insert23 ing ‘‘person’s’’; 

24 (2) in section 702— 


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1 (A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub2 section (h); and 

3 (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the fol4 lowing: 

5 ‘‘(g) The term ‘aggrieved person’ includes any person 

6 who— 

7 ‘‘(1) claims to have been injured by a discrimi8 natory credit practice; or 

9 ‘‘(2) believes that such person will be injured by 

10 a discriminatory credit practice.’’; 

11 (3) in section 704A— 

12 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘appli13 cant’’ each place such term appears and insert14 ing ‘‘aggrieved person’’; and 

15 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘appli16 cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’; 

17 (4) in section 705— 

18 (A) by striking ‘‘the applicant’’ each place 

19 such term appears and inserting ‘‘persons’’; and 

20 (B) in subsection (a)— 

21 (i) by striking ‘‘a creditor to take’’ and 

22 inserting ‘‘taking’’; and 

23 (ii) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ and in24 serting ‘‘person’’; and 

25 (5) in section 706— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘creditor’’ each place such 

2 term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; 

3 (B) by striking ‘‘creditor’s’’ each place such 

4 term appears and inserting ‘‘person’s’’; 

5 (C) by striking ‘‘creditors’’ each place such 

6 term appears and inserting ‘‘persons’’; and 

7 (D) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘appli8 cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’. 

9 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 

10 EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Equal Credit Opportunity Act 

12 (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after sec13 tion 706 the following: 

14 ‘‘§ 706A. Criminal penalties 

15 ‘‘(a) INDIVIDUAL VIOLATIONS.—Any person who 

16 knowingly and willfully violates this title shall be fined not 

17 more than $50,000, or imprisoned not more than 1 year, 

18 or both. 

19 ‘‘(b) PATTERN OR PRACTICE.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any person who engages in 

21 a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully vio22 lating this title shall be fined not more than $100,000 

23 for each violation of this title, or imprisoned not more 

24 than twenty years, or both. 


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1 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL LIABILITY OF EXECUTIVE OFFI2 CERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD.—Any executive 

3 officer or director of the board of an entity who know4 ingly and willfully causes the entity to engage in a 

5 pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully vio6 lating this title (or who directs another agent, senior 

7 officer, or director of the entity to commit such a vio8 lation or engage in such acts that result in the direc9 tor or officer being personally unjustly enriched) shall 

10 be— 

11 ‘‘(A) fined in an amount not to exceed 100 

12 percent of the compensation (including stock op13 tions awarded as compensation) received by such 

14 officer or director from the entity— 

15 ‘‘(i) during the time period in which 

16 the violations occurred; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) in the one to three year time pe18 riod preceding the date on which the viola19 tions were discovered; and 

20 ‘‘(B) imprisoned for not more than 5 

21 years.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents for 

23 the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) 

24 is amended by inserting after the item relating to section 

25 706 the following: 

‘‘706A. Criminal penalties.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Consumer Finan3 cial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531 et seq.) is 

4 amended by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 1038. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS. 

6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Bureau shall carry out re7 views of loan applications and the process of taking loan 

8 applications being used by covered persons to ensure such 

9 applications and processes do not violate the Equal Credit 

10 Opportunity Act or any other Federal consumer financial 

11 law. 

12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION AND ENFORCEMENT.—If the Bu13 reau determines under subsection (a) that any loan applica14 tion or process of taking a loan application violates the 

15 Equal Credit Opportunity Act or any other Federal con16 sumer financial law, the Bureau shall— 

17 ‘‘(1) prohibit the covered person from using such 

18 application or process; and 

19 ‘‘(2) take such enforcement or other actions with 

20 respect to the covered person as the Bureau deter21 mines appropriate.’’. 

22 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in 

23 section 1 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Con24 sumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after the item 

25 relating to section 1037 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 1038. Review of loan applications.’’. 


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1 SEC. 6. MORTGAGE DATA COLLECTION. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 304(b)(4) of the Home 

3 Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 (12 U.S.C. 2803(b)(4)) is 

4 amended by striking ‘‘census tract, income level, racial 

5 characteristics, age, and gender’’ and inserting ‘‘the appli6 cant or borrower’s zip code, census tract, income level, race, 

7 color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, sexual 

8 orientation, gender identity, and age’’. 

9 (b) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY INTERESTS.—Section 

10 304(h)(3)(A) of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act of 1975 

11 (12 U.S.C. 2803(h)(3)(A)) is amended— 

12 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

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

14 and 

15 (3) by inserting after clause (i) the following: 

16 ‘‘(ii) zip code, census tract, and any 

17 other category of data described in sub18 section (b)(4), as the Bureau determines to 

19 be necessary to satisfy the purpose described 

20 in paragraph (1)(E), and in a manner con21 sistent with that purpose; and’’. 

Amend the title so as to read: ‘‘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 


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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.’’. 


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Union Calendar No. 263 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 166 

[Report No. 117–349] 

A BILL 

To establish an Office of Fair Lending Testing to 

poses. alties for violating such Act, and for other purportunity Act and to provide for criminal pentunity Act, to strengthen the Equal Credit Optest for compliance with the Equal Credit OpporJUNE 7, 2022 

Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee 

dered to be printed of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and orVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:40 Jun 08, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6651 Sfmt 6651 E:\BILLS\H166.RH H166

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