On June 8th, the CFPB issued a Statement on Ability To Repay and Immigration Status. The CFPB emphasized that the Ability to Repay (ATR) requirements for dwelling-secured transactions, as well as credit card accounts, may obligate creditors to consider ...a consumer's immigration status, especially where removal from the United States may disrupt the consumer's income. Such …obligation arises if documentation in the consumer's application or other records indicates that the consumer's repayment ability will change on account of their immigration status.... Failing to do so …would overlook key information regarding the consumer's income, and may risk the creditor failing to reasonably assess the consumer's ability to repay the credit sought….
The CFPB also pointed out that there are many different types of lawful immigration statuses and it is unable to provide further analysis. In other words, the CFPB says that creditors can (and may be obligated to) consider immigration status when determining ATR but it can’t really give any more guidance than that. It also points out that the Statement does not have the force or effect of law and is not legally binding.
Published 2026/06/22
