Fair Housing Poster on Bank Website

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Question:

We have started accepting applications for mortgage loans online. Would there be any requirement or need to have a reproduction of the fair housing poster on the site? The regulation says that these fair housing posters should be displayed so that all persons seeking to engage in residential real estate related transactions would be able to see it. In our online process, our customers could theoretically complete the whole loan without ever stepping foot into one of our offices. In those cases, they would never see the poster.

Answer:

Obviously, the regulations regarding posting of the Equal Housing Lender poster were written before the advent of online loan applications. Therefore, they do not address any requirement to put the poster on the website. This is definitely a gray area. In my mind, the analysis is as follows. It cannot hurt to make the poster available online if we are taking loan applications online. Putting it online could mitigate any potential regulatory or litigation risk. It doesn't really cost anything to make the poster available online. Therefore, my recommendation would be to have the poster online if you are taking loan applications online, but that's because I'm adverse to taking needless risks. Your risk appetite may be different and you may come to a different conclusion. Your answer wouldn't be wrong and neither would mine.

First published on BankersOnline.com 10/22/07