I 

118TH 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 9, 2023 

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. 

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


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. OFFICE OF FAIR LENDING TESTING. 

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established within 

6 the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection an Office 

7 of Fair Lending Testing (hereinafter referred to as the 

8 ‘‘Office’’). 

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

10 Director, who shall— 

11 (1) be appointed to a 5-year term by, and re12 port to, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Fi13 nancial Protection; 

14 (2) appoint and fix the compensation of such 

15 employees as are necessary to carry out the duties 

16 of the Office under this section; and 

17 (3) provide an estimated annual budget to the 

18 Director of the Bureau of Consumer Financial Pro19 tection. 

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

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

22 (d) TESTING.— 

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

24 with the Attorney General and the Secretary of 

25 Housing and Urban Development, shall conduct 

26 testing of compliance with the Equal Credit OpporVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:11 Jan 18, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H166.IH H166

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1 tunity Act by creditors, through the use of individ2 uals who, without any bona fide intent to receive a 

3 loan, pose as prospective borrowers for the purpose 

4 of gathering information. 

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

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

7 Office believes a person has violated the Equal Cred8 it Opportunity Act, the Office shall refer such viola9 tion in writing to the Attorney General for appro10 priate action. 

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

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

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

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

15 testing carried out pursuant to section 2 of the Fair Lend16 ing for All Act, and each report of the Bureau and the 

17 Attorney General shall include a summary of criminal en18 forcement actions taken under section 706A.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON CREDIT DISCRIMINATION. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (a) of section 701 of 

21 the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (15 U.S.C. 1691) is 

22 amended to read as follows: 

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

24 person, with respect to any aspect of a credit trans25 action— 


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1 ‘‘(1) on the basis of race, color, religion, na2 tional origin, sex (including sexual orientation and 

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

4 applicant has the capacity to contract); 

5 ‘‘(2) on the basis of the person’s ZIP Code, or 

6 census tract; 

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

8 derives from any public assistance program; or 

9 ‘‘(4) because the person has in good faith exer10 cised any right under the Consumer Credit Protec11 tion Act.’’. 

12 (b) REMOVAL OF CERTAIN REFERENCES TO CREDI13 TORS AND APPLICANTS AND DEFINITION ADDED.—The 

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

15 is amended— 

16 (1) in section 701(b)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ each place 

18 such term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; and 

19 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘appli20 cant’s’’ each place such term appears and in21 serting ‘‘person’s’’; 

22 (2) in section 702— 

23 (A) by redesignating subsection (g) as sub24 section (h); and 


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1 (B) by inserting after subsection (f) the 

2 following: 

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

4 who— 

5 ‘‘(1) claims to have been injured by a discrimi6 natory credit practice; or 

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

8 a discriminatory credit practice.’’; 

9 (3) in section 704A— 

10 (A) in subsection (b)(1), by striking ‘‘ap11 plicant’’ each place such term appears and in12 serting ‘‘aggrieved person’’; and 

13 (B) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘appli14 cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’; 

15 (4) in section 705— 

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

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

18 (B) in subsection (a)— 

19 (i) by striking ‘‘a creditor to take’’ 

20 and inserting ‘‘taking’’; and 

21 (ii) by striking ‘‘applicant’’ and insert22 ing ‘‘person’’; and 

23 (5) in section 706— 

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

25 term appears and inserting ‘‘person’’; 


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1 (B) by striking ‘‘creditor’s’’ each place 

2 such term appears and inserting ‘‘person’s’’; 

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

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

5 (D) in subsection (f), by striking ‘‘appli6 cant’’ and inserting ‘‘aggrieved person’’. 

7 SEC. 4. CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE 

8 EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT. 

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

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

11 section 706 the following: 

12 ‘‘§ 706A. Criminal penalties 

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

14 knowingly and willfully violates this title shall be fined not 

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

16 or both. 

17 ‘‘(b) PATTERN OR PRACTICE.— 

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

19 a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully vio20 lating this title shall be fined not more than 

21 $100,000 for each violation of this title, or impris22 oned not more than twenty years, or both. 

23 ‘‘(2) PERSONAL LIABILITY OF EXECUTIVE OFFI24 CERS AND DIRECTORS OF THE BOARD.—Any execu25 tive officer or director of the board of an entity who 


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1 knowingly and willfully causes the entity to engage 

2 in a pattern or practice of knowingly and willfully 

3 violating this title (or who directs another agent, 

4 senior officer, or director of the entity to commit 

5 such a violation or engage in such acts that result 

6 in the director or officer being personally unjustly 

7 enriched) shall be— 

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

9 percent of the compensation (including stock 

10 options awarded as compensation) received by 

11 such officer or director from the entity— 

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

13 the violations occurred; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) in the one to three year time pe15 riod preceding the date on which the viola16 tions were discovered; and 

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

18 years.’’. 

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

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

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

22 to section 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 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.’’. 


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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)) 

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, gender identity, 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 


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