HUD Leads Interagency Rescission of 2022 Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs

Today, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a joint rescission of the Interagency Statement on Special Purpose Credit Programs Under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Regulation B. 
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The original interagency statement (“Interagency Statement”), issued in February 2022 by the Biden administration, encouraged creditors to develop special purpose credit programs (SPCPs) under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and its implementing regulation, Regulation B, in a manner designed to favor one class of Americans over another. Creditors were never permitted to discriminate against borrowers based on protected characteristics, but this rescission makes clear that creditors should not rely upon the Interagency Statement, previous guidance, or other related issuances going forward.   

This joint statement captures President Trump’s vision of restoring a merit-based system, due process, and equal treatment under the law for all Americans. This approach addresses the harmful effects of promoting unlawful preferences based on protected characteristics as outlined in Executive Order 14173, “Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity” and Executive Order 14151, “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.”   

“No regulation or interagency statement fixated on the Biden administration’s DEI commitments can defeat the Fair Housing Act’s categorical prohibition against discriminating on the basis of race and color in any residential real estate-related transaction,” said HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor. “Credit decisions must be made on economically relevant criteria and never on race or other protected characteristics. Under Secretary Turner’s leadership, HUD will never again be in the sordid business of divvying up Americans by race.”  

“It is illegal to favor individuals for housing benefits, mortgage loans, or any credit programs based on protected characteristics like race,” said DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon. “This DOJ will defend the civil rights of all Americans and enforce the law to ensure widespread discrimination caused by ‘equity’ efforts is relegated to the history books alongside Jim Crow and other historical systems of discrimination.” 

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