WASHINGTON — When the Federal Housing Finance Agency opened a fair-lending monitoring office last August, there was little fanfare. But the launch of the Office of Fair Lending Oversight stood in contrast to different moves by officials elsewhere in the Trump administration.
Today the FHFA’s Office of Fair Lending Oversight is still somewhat under the radar. It has five employees, technically falls within the agency's Division of Housing Mission and Goals. and has left some observers unclear about its mission. But the new office has offered hope to consumer advocates who were alarmed at efforts by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development to cut back on fair-lending enforcement.