On May 28, 2026, the ABA Banking Journal reported that a coalition of consumer groups and fair lending compliance firms has filed a lawsuit to prevent the CFPB from removing disparate impact as a prohibited practice from Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). The federal agencies recently removed disparate impact liability from their supervision and enforcement activities following an April 2025 executive order directing agencies to eliminate its use in all regulatory and enforcement contexts.
In April 2026, the CFPB issued a final rule amending Regulation B under the ECOA, including the elimination of disparate impact from its regulatory language and commentary suggesting such claims are permitted, and explicitly stating that ECOA does not support this theory of liability. The National Fair Housing Alliance, Rise Economy, BLDS LLC, and SolasAI filed a lawsuit against the CFPB, arguing that “the new rule would make it much harder to challenge banks and lenders for policies that unfairly hurt Black communities, women, immigrants, and other historically discriminated communities.” According to the group’s statement, the new rule removes protections against discrimination, narrows what counts as illegally discouraging people from applying for credit, and restricts the use of Special Purpose Credit Programs meant to help underserved communities access credit.
The ABA Banking Journal’s report can be found here.
The Plaintiff’s press release can be found here.