National CAPACD Disappointed With Congress for Passage
of Lending Discrimination Bill

Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, aptly nicknamed the “Bank Lobbyist Act.” The bill undermines the consumer protections that were put in place after the 2008 financial crisis. Furthermore, it exempts more than four in five banks and credit unions from a policy that requires the collection of disaggregated Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) data by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which National CAPACD and other allies successfully advocated for in 2015.

“Without disaggregated data, it will be nearly impossible to uncover lending disparities and discrimination experienced by AAPI subpopulations. Because of this bill, it will be much more difficult to tell whether some borrowers are being denied credit or are getting more expensive, risky mortgages because of the color of their skin,” says Seema Agnani, Executive Director of National CAPACD. “Discrimination in lending is still a pervasive problem for communities of color and the laws put in place to protect us should be strengthened, not weakened. We are disappointed that Congress has, once again, conceded to the interests of big banks over the needs of communities vulnerable to discrimination and exploitation.”