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NCUA's new fair lending guide is
available for downloading from
NCUA's website. NCUA sent a letter
Tuesday explaining how it will select
FCUs for possible fair lending exams.
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March 20, 2013 – NCUA Chairman Debbie Matz announced Tuesday that the agency is launching a new fair lending examination program and making a number of resources available to federal credit unions – including a downloadable fair lending guide and a free April 4 webinar – to help credit unions comply with fair lending laws.
NAFCU General Counsel and Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Carrie Hunt and NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel PJ Hoffman recently met with Gail Laster, director of NCUA’s Office of Consumer Protection, to discuss the new program.
As explained in a letter to federal credit unions, 13-FCU-02, NCUA will use several factors to determine whether a federal credit union will be examined specifically for compliance with fair lending laws. The determination will be based on the credit union’s Home Mortgage Disclosure Act report, fair lending violations, general compliance risks and other factors. Credit unions that show a potential for higher fair lending risk based on these factors will be subject to off-site supervision contact and potentially an examination in the following exam cycle.
To help credit unions develop and evaluate their fair lending compliance programs, NCUA has created a new fair lending guide, which is available online. The April 4 webinar hosted by NCUA’s OCP, slated for 1-2:30 p.m. Eastern, will provide an overview of the new fair lending examination program and look at how the off-site supervision contact process works, as well as fair lending tips and best practices.
While NAFCU believes it is imperative that credit unions have appropriate fair lending standards in place, the association has voiced concerns over additional regulatory burden for credit unions.
"We will be following how NCUA implements this initiative and want to ensure that NCUA has created a fair process for credit union examinations in regards to fair lending," said NAFCU President and CEO Fred Becker. "We believe that credit unions are complying with the law and oppose any unnecessary, additional disruption of credit union operations – disruptions that take away from serving their membership.”