CFPB Update On The Amicus Program And Other Litigation

The CFPB issued a Fair Lending Report in May of 2022 ("Report"), in which it provided updates on its involvement with ongoing litigation, including its amicus program. The CFPB emphasized that its amicus program provides courts with its views and helps "ensure that consumer financial protection statutes are correctly and consistently interpreted."

The CFPB highlighted a 2021 amicus brief that it jointly filed with the Department of Justice, Federal Reserve Board, and Federal Trade Commission in the case of Fralish v. Bank of America, where a consumer sued his bank for closing his credit card account without an explanation required by the Equal Credit Opportunity Act ("ECOA"). The amicus brief rebutted Bank of America's argument that the ECOA only applies when consumers apply for credit. The brief contends that the ECOA's protections against credit discrimination extend to all aspects of a credit arrangement. In other words, the ECOA's protections apply regardless