In July of this year the three senators, including the now Vice President-elect, wrote a letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau aimed to bring attention to alleged discriminatory outcomes resulting from underwriting practices in educational loans. To support their position, Vice President-Elect Harris and her fellow senators cite to an article published by the American Enterprise Institute and co-authored by Ms. DeGroote: Pricing Without Discrimination.[1]
The 2017 article details a connection between new nontraditional factors used to determine lending for higher education loans and the potential for disparate impact on protected classes; such as minorities and women. The article provides a deep analysis on the trends of financial lending for higher education in the United States against the backdrop of a well-established body of law intended to prevent discriminatory business practices on a federal level. The senators cited Ms. DeGroote’s work in a letter directed to the highest office of oversight for financial lending practices in the United States, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Read the letter to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
Vice President-elect Harris, along with Senators Warren and Brown, addressed how some major financial institutions consider an applicant’s school, anticipated income, or major, among other issues, in determining his or her creditworthiness. The Senators cited to Ms. DeGroote’s article to support their argument that this type of practice can result in discrimination against minority and women borrowers.
Ms. DeGroote’s advocacy impressed the Senators, and it is the same advocacy she brings to the table for her clients. Kiersty is thorough, reliable, and passionate about standing up for her clients and making sure that their voice is heard.
[1] Dowse B. Rustin IV, Neil E. Grayson, Kiersty M. Degroote, Pricing Without Discrimination, Alternative Student Loan Pricing, Income Share Agreements, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, AEI (Feb. 2017), available at https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/pricing-without-discrimination-alternative-student-loan-pricing-income-share-agreements-and-the-equal-credit-opportunity-act/.
