Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Reg B) | American Bankers Association

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The ECOA requires bankers to treat all similarly situated credit applicants equally based solely on their credit qualifications and not any of the prohibited bases such as race, national origin, gender or age. It is one of the two main pillars of the nation’s fair lending laws (the other is the Fair Housing Act). The statute is implemented by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Regulation B.

Statutes

15 U.S.C. 1691

Rules & Regulations

Regulation B (12. C.F.R. 1002)

Staff Analysis

CFPB 1071 Final Rule
August 11, 2023
Mitigating Fair Lending Risk in the Appraisal Process
September 20, 2022
CFPB Statement Regarding Limited English Proficiency
February 1, 2021
CFPB Advisory Opinion on Special Purpose Credit Programs under Reg B
January 4, 2021

ECOA Questions from the Hotline

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Agency Guidance

CFPB Small business lending collection and reporting requirements
March 30, 2023
Small business lending rulemaking
March 30, 2023
Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Reg B) Interpretive Rule
March 16, 2021
Equal Credit Opportunity (Regulation B); Special Purpose Credit Programs (Advisory Opinion)
January 15, 2021
Identification of Language Preference on the Uniform Residential Loan Application
November 20, 2017
CFPB Bulletin 2013-02: Indirect Auto Lending and Compliance with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act
March 21, 2013
Interagency Policy Statement on Discrimination in Lending
April 15, 1994

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Exam Procedures

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Policy Library
News

Policy Library

Letter to Congress & Regulators
Letter to CFPB on Circular 2023-03 addressing ECOA
February 12, 2024
Letter to Congress & Regulators
ABA Letter of Support re S.J. Res. 32
November 29, 2023
Letter to Congress & Regulators
ABA Letter in Support of S.J. Res.32
September 19, 2023
Staff Analysis
CFPB 1071 Final Rule
August 11, 2023

News

Article
The 2024 compliance outlook
January 18, 2024
Article
Compliance question of the month: What methods may banks use to estimate gross annual revenue to determine their tier for data collection purposes under the §1071 rule?
August 18, 2023
NewsByte
CFPB to lenders: Algorithms, AI used in credit decisions must be explainable
May 26, 2022
NewsByte
CFPB affirms ECOA applies to existing borrowers
May 10, 2022

Proposed Rules

FHFA: Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Fair Lending Oversight

Proposed Rules & Recent Amendments

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Regulation B) Ethnicity and Race Information Collection
October 2, 2017

Related Training & Events

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (Reg B)
Self-Paced Training
Reg B Creditors' Requests for Information
Self-Paced Training
Reg B Evaluating Applications
Self-Paced Training
Reg B Appraisals and Other Valuations
Self-Paced Training

ABA Resources

Guide
ABA Toolbox on Fair Lending
October 31, 2016
Guide
Comment Letter Writing Guide: Proposal to Require Financial Institutions to Report Data on Small Business Credit Applications (DFA §1071)
December 10, 2021

Agency Materials

In Depth

Related Products

Our Experts

Kitty Ryan

Senior Vice President, Regulatory Compliance and Policy

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