I 

116TH 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 and to provide for criminal penalties for violating such Act, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2019 

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 and to 

provide for criminal penalties for violating such Act, and 

for other purposes. 

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’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
2 

•HR 166 IH

1 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FAIR LENDING TESTING. 

2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

3 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an Office 

4 of Fair Lending Testing (hereinafter referred to as the 

5 ‘‘Office’’). 

6 (b) DIRECTOR.—The head of the Office shall be a 

7 Director, who shall— 

8 (1) be appointed to a 5-year term by, and re9 port to, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi10 nancial Protection; 

11 (2) appoint and fix the compensation of such 

12 employees as are necessary to carry out the duties 

13 of the Office under this section; and 

14 (3) provide an estimated annual budget to the 

15 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro16 tection. 

17 (c) CIVIL SERVICE POSITION.—The position of the 

18 Director shall be a career position within the civil service. 

19 (d) TESTING.— 

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

21 with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 

22 Housing and Urban Development, shall conduct 

23 testing of compliance with the Equal Credit Oppor24 tunity Act by creditors, through the use of individ25 uals who, without any bona fide intent to receive a 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
3 

•HR 166 IH

1 loan, pose as prospective borrowers for the purpose 

2 of gathering information. 

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

4 out the testing described under paragraph (1), the 

5 Office believes a person has violated the Equal Cred6 it Opportunity Act, the Office shall refer such viola7 tion in writing to the Attorney General for appro8 priate action. 

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

10 Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691f) is 

11 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘In addition, 

12 each report of the Bureau shall include an analysis of the 

13 testing carried out pursuant to section 2 of the Fair Lend14 ing for All Act, and each report of the Bureau and the 

15 Attorney General shall include a summary of criminal en16 forcement actions taken under section 706A.’’. 

17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CREDIT DISCRIMINATION. 

18 Subsection (a) of 701 of the Equal Credit Oppor19 tunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is amended to read as follows: 

20 ‘‘(a) It shall be unlawful for any creditor to discrimi21 nate against any applicant, with respect to any aspect of 

22 a credit transaction— 

23 ‘‘(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, na24 tional origin, sex (including sexual orientation and 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
4 

•HR 166 IH

1 gender identity), marital status, or age (provided the 

2 applicant has the capacity to contract); 

3 ‘‘(2) on the basis of the applicant’s zip code, or 

4 census tract; 

5 ‘‘(3) because all or part of the applicant’s in6 come derives from any public assistance program; or 

7 ‘‘(4) because the applicant has in good faith ex8 ercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protec9 tion Act.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 

11 EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Equal Credit Opportunity 

13 Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 

14 section 706 the following: 

15 ‘‘§ 706A. Criminal penalties 

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

17 knowingly and willfully violates this title shall be fined not 

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

19 or both. 

20 ‘‘(b) PATTERN OR PRACTICE.— 

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

22 a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully vio23 lating this title shall be fined not more than 

24 $100,000 for each violation of this title, or impris25 oned not more than twenty years, or both. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
5 

•HR 166 IH

1 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL LIABILITY OF EXECUTIVE OFFI2 CERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD.—Any execu3 tive officer or director of the board of an entity who 

4 knowingly and willfully causes the entity to engage 

5 in a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully 

6 violating this title (or who directs another agent, 

7 senior officer, or director of the entity to commit 

8 such a violation or engage in such acts that result 

9 in the director or officer being personally unjustly 

10 enriched) shall be— 

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

12 percent of the compensation (including stock 

13 options awarded as compensation) received by 

14 such 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 

23 for the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691 

24 et seq.) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

25 to section 706 the following: 

‘‘706A. Criminal penalties.’’. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
6 

•HR 166 IH

1 SEC. 5. REVIEW OF LOAN APPLICATIONS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Consumer Fi3 nancial Protection Act of 2010 (12 U.S.C. 5531 et seq.) 

4 is 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 appli14 cation 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 

18 such application or process; and 

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

20 with respect to the covered person as the Bureau de21 termines appropriate.’’. 

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

23 in section 1 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

24 Consumer Protection Act is amended by inserting after 

25 the item relating to section 1037 the following: 

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


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
7 

•HR 166 IH

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)) 

4 is 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, 

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

8 sexual orientation, and age’’. 

9 (b) PROTECTION OF PRIVACY INTERESTS.—Section 

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

11 1975 (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 de20 scribed in paragraph (1)(E), and in a man21 ner consistent with that purpose; and’’. 

Æ 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS