The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last week fined Citibank $25 million for violating the Fair Housing Act by failing to offer preferential rates to some borrowers based on their race, color, national origin or sex.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, the Maryland Bankers Association and the Maryland Mortgage Bankers & Brokers Association are opposing proposed legislation in Maryland that would require a trust to be licensed as a debt collection agency to foreclose on a loan.

The CFPB in a recent court filing defended its constitutionality and said even if its structure is unconstitutional there is a better solution than invalidating the agency in entirety.

More than two dozen Democratic state attorneys general have threatened to sue if the CFPB delays the compliance date for the payday lending rule or goes ahead with its proposal to rescind the rule’s underwriting protection.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger last week reversed another policy decision made by former acting Director Mick Mulvaney: the bureau will enhance its advisory boards by increasing the frequency of committee meetings and extending membership terms.

In the latest installment of its “prevention of harm” philosophy, the CFPB criticized servicers for their handling of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages but failed to levy penalties, according to the bureau’s recent supervisory highlights report.

The CFPB should let the so-called GSE patch expire in 2021, researchers from two conservative think tanks recommend.

CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger faced criticism from Democrats on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs about recent bureau activities related to fair lending sanctions, the Military Lending Act examination and the new payday lending rule proposal.

CFPB to Hold Spring 2019 Advisory Committee Meetings; FTC Sends Annual Report to CFPB With ECOA Activities; Consumer Groups Seek CFPB Records on Eric Blankenstein; CFPB Warns of Widespread Elder Financial Abuse; CFPB Announces System for Prepaid Issuers to Submit Account Agreements.

The CFPB last month filed its first lawsuit under the leadership of Kathy Kraninger. Interestingly, the lawsuit seeks to enforce a 2017 civil investigative demand that was issued under former Director Richard Cordray.