b'Director Chopras leadership at the CFPB will also continue to shift the enforcement landscape. In his opening statement before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, Director Chopra outlined just a fraction of what we can expect the CFPB to be focused on going forward. Among those priorities, Director Chopra specifically noted that fair lending is a top priority and that the CFPB will pursue bad actors, but will also be watching for so-called digital redlining. This refers to a practice where institutions rely on algorithms, but can still run afoul of fair lending laws in practice if the algorithms fail to account for certain biases or existing disparities (thereby reinforcing them). This general sentiment was echoed by Attorney General Garland, who articulated how the DOJ will use U.S. Attorneys Offices around the country as force multipliers to augment fair lending investigations with local market knowledge and partner with state authorities wherever possible. Payday lending is another area likely to see a swing in enforcement. Despite years of uncertainty and regulatory shifts on payday lending enforcement, the CFPB has made clear that it intends to enforce the 2017 CFPB payday lending rule, effective June 2022. State agencies will also continue to apply enforcement pressure in the coming year. In 2021 state enforcement activity was up considerably from prior years. States also introduced new consumer protection legislation on a variety of topics, including debt collection (such as New Yorks Consumer Credit Fairness Act, referenced above). Armed with new rules and regulations to enforce, the promise of federal partnerships on issues such as fair lending, and a climate of uncertainty following the expiration of pandemic-related protections all indicate that elevated levels of state enforcement will likely continue.'