On July 23, 2026, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) updated its Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) Baseline Review Procedures. Notably, the updates were issued just two days after the final amendments to Regulation B, the regulation implementing ECOA, became effective. While the overall examination structure largely remains unchanged, the updates signal a shift in how CFPB examiners may approach fair lending reviews going forward.
As before, the baseline review procedures will be used by examiners “to identify and analyze risks of ECOA violations, to facilitate the identification of certain types of ECOA and Regulation B violations, and to inform fair lending prioritization decisions for future [CFPB] reviews.” The five-module structure, which includes a review and assessment of (1) supervisory history, (2) compliance management, (3) origination risks, (4) servicing risks, and (5) risks to related models, remains intact and will continue to be used to evaluate how institutions’ compliance management systems identify and manage fair lending risks under ECOA.
However, the procedures were updated to align with the CFPB’s recent amendments to Regulation B. Among the most notable changes, the updated procedures remove references to disparate impact liability under ECOA, narrow the discussion of discouragement, and reduce certain redlining-related review questions. Under the updated procedures, creditors are prohibited from making any oral or written statement, in advertising or otherwise, to applicants or prospective applicants that would “cause a reasonable person to believe that the creditor would deny, or would grant on less favorable terms, a credit application by the applicant or prospective applicant because of the applicant or prospective applicant’s prohibited basis characteristic(s).” (Under the prior version (April 2019), an oral or written statement “that would discourage, on a prohibited basis, a reasonable person from making or pursuing an application” was considered prohibited conduct.) These changes align with the “knows or should know” test adopted adopt in the Bureau’s recent Reg B revisions: “A statement is prohibited discouragement only if a creditor ‘‘knows or should know’’ that the statement would “cause a reasonable person to believe that the creditor would deny their credit application, or would grant it on less favorable terms, because of their prohibited basis characteristic(s).” The prior version of the procedures included a paragraph explaining that “courts have recognized three methods of proof of lending discrimination under ECOA: overt evidence of discrimination, disparate treatment, and disparate impact.” This paragraph is deleted in its entirety from the 2026 version.
Also of note, the CFPB streamlined the Baseline Review Procedures for Redlining to remove questions relating to (1) geography- or neighborhood-based advertising that favors or disfavors certain areas, (2) service providers selectively serving particular neighborhoods, and (3) whether the institution has mapped branch patterns, applications, and/or originations. The Bureau will continue to review employee statements reflecting discriminatory intent and CRA-assessment-area exclusions reflecting bias toward minority-concentration areas.
Although the revisions narrow certain areas of examiner focus, financial institutions should not interpret the changes as a reduction in overall fair lending expectations. Examination tools such as information requests, publicly available information about the institution, and information obtained via interviews or other supervisory meetings with the institution remain in play. Fair lending remains a significant supervisory and enforcement risk, and financial institutions should continue to focus on strong governance, effective controls, and well-documented compliance practices to demonstrate compliance with ECOA and Regulation B.