On April 14, 2023, the CFPB announced a revised version of its “Methodology for Determining Average Prime Offer Rates, which describes the calculations used to determine average prime offer rates (APOR) for purposes of federal mortgage rules. APORs are annual percentage rates derived from average interest rates, points, and other loan pricing terms currently offered to consumers by a representative sample of creditors for mortgage loans that have low-risk pricing characteristics.

On April 10, 2023, the HUD announced a groundbreaking $3 million settlement reached by two of its fair housing enforcement partners, the State of California Civil Rights Department (CRD) and Project Sentinel. The settlement resolves allegations that Vasona Management, Inc., a California property management company, and more than thirty apartment complex owners discriminated against families with children at more than forty-eight apartment complexes throughout the Bay Area by prohibiting any outdoor play activities and requiring parents to supervise children under the age of 14 in all common areas.

On April 10, 2023, the FTC approved a final consent order against The Bountiful Company for abusing a feature of Amazon.com to deceive consumers into thinking that its newly introduced supplements had more product ratings and reviews, higher average ratings, and “#1 Best Seller” and “Amazon’s Choice” badges. The Bountiful Company is a manufacturer, marketer, and distributor of various vitamins and supplements.

On April 3, 2023, the HUD announced that it is charging the Melinda Bautista Teruel 1992 Revocable Trust and Melinda Teruel, owners of an apartment building in Burlingame, California, with discriminating against a family with two minor children. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination against families with children under the age of 18.

On April 3, 2023, the OFAC launched its new website at ofac.treasury.gov. The OFAC’s new website includes new functionalities such as a new streamlined landing page, enhanced Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) search, sanctions program filter, recent actions information embedded in each sanctions page, and a new “mega menu” interface.

On April 3, 2023, the CFPB issued a policy statement that explains the legal prohibition on abusive conduct in consumer financial markets and summarizes over a decade of precedent. The policy statement details post-financial crisis prohibition on illegal abusive conduct. It aims to assist consumer financial protection enforcers in identifying wrongdoing, and will help firms avoid committing abusive acts or practices.

On April 5, 2023, the FDIC issued the March 2023 edition of the Consumer Compliance Supervisory Highlights. The purpose of this publication is to enhance transparency regarding the FDIC’s consumer compliance supervisory activities and to provide a high-level overview of consumer compliance issues identified in 2022 through the FDIC’s supervision of state non-member banks and thrifts.

In March 2023, the CFPB announced their 2022 Consumer Response Annual Report to Congress. The CFPB reported handling approximately 1,287,000 complaints in 2022 and sent more than 820,000 complaints to approximately 3,200 companies for review and response.