Fair Lending Compliance: Intelligence and Implications for Credit Risk Management Reviews

"Brilliant and informative. An in-depth look at innovative approaches to credit risk management written by industry practitioners. This publication will serve as an essential reference text for those who wish to make credit accessible to underserved consumers. It is comprehensive and clearly written."

The Honorable Rodney E. Hood

"Abrahams and Zhang's timely treatise is a must-read for all those interested in the critical role of credit in the economy. They ably explore the intersection of credit access and credit risk, suggesting a hybrid approach of human judgment and computer models as the necessary path to balanced and fair lending. In an environment of rapidly changing consumer demographics, as well as regulatory reform initiatives, this book suggests new analytical models by which to provide credit to ensure compliance and to manage enterprise risk."

Frank A. Hirsch Jr.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP Financial Services Attorney and former general counsel for Centura Banks, Inc.

"This book tackles head on the market failures that our current risk management systems need to address. Not only do Abrahams and Zhang adeptly articulate why we can and should improve our systems, they provide the analytic evidence, and the steps toward implementations. Fair Lending Compliance fills a much-needed gap in the field. If implemented systematically, this thought leadership will lead to improvements in fair lending practices for all Americans."

Alyssa Stewart Lee
Deputy Director
Urban Markets Initiative
The Brookings Institution

"[Fair Lending Compliance]...provides a unique blend of qualitative and quantitative guidance to two kinds of financial institutions: those that just need a little help in staying on the right side of complex fair housing regulations; and those that aspire to industry leadership in profitably and responsibly serving the unmet credit needs of diverse businesses and consumers in America's emerging domestic markets."

Michael A. Stegman, Ph.D.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Duncan MacRae '09 and Rebecca Kyle MacRae
Professor of Public Policy Emeritus
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"It is absolutely crucial that financial institutions know what to do with alternative data and have the proper tools to optimally utilize this new information. In the end, the potential benefits of alternative payment data that accrue to consumers, bureaus, data furnishers, and lenders is determined by how well the data are used. This is what makes Clark Abrahams and Mingyuan Zhang's work exciting and important . . . Fair Lending Compliance allows for new experiments by enabling greater versatility to innovate, evaluate and revise in easier, more creative and more productive ways than ever before. Lenders, analytics experts, and policy makers will find in the pages that follow a promising start for a more financially inclusive society."

Michael A. Turner, Ph.D.
President & Senior Scholar
The Political & Economic Research Council, Chapel Hill, NC