CFPB’s Immigration Status Guidance Creates a Compliance Catch-22 for Creditors

CFPB guidance on ability to repay, immigration status, and fair lending creates a difficult compliance dilemma for creditors. The CFPB’s June 5, 2026 statement on “ Ability to Repay and Immigration Status ” presents creditors with a difficult, and potentially unprecedented, compliance dilemma. The Bureau says that when creditors are required to assess a consumer’s ability to repay, they may, and in some circumstances may be required to, consider information about the consumer’s immigration status if that information bears on the consumer’s current or reasonably expected future income….