On June 12, 2025, Reuters reported that a federal judge in Chicago refused to allow the CFPB to vacate a racial discrimination settlement reached last year with Townstone Financial. The court found that there was no basis for granting an extraordinary request.
The CFPB originally filed the case in 2020, alleging that Townstone redlined by discouraging Black would-be home buyers from applying for mortgages by making racist comments. In November 2024, the CFPB filed a proposed order to resolve the case, which it sought to vacate in March 2025, stating that after a thorough review, the Bureau is seeking to “make Townstone whole by returning the six-figure penalty they were forced to pay.”
According to the article, U.S. District Judge Franklin Valderrama challenged CFPB claims that there had been no evidence underlying the CFPB's original case and said the courts had not addressed the question prior to the settlement.
Read the Reuters article here.