Mortgage Compliance Magazine features Stein’s analysis of social media and fair lending

For lenders, the use of social media to attract potential customers hasn’t yet been too complicated from a legal standpoint. However, the industry is changing, and social media is about to collide with fair lending practices head-on. Financial services attorney, David Stein outlines this reality in his article, “Social Media  & Fair Lending: A 21^st Century Collision,” which is featured in the June 2019 issue of Mortgage Compliance Magazine. According to Stein, “[s]ocial media allows mortgage lenders to engage in segmented targeting of customers based on demographic criteria.” Because complex algorithms are woven into social media advertising, “undesirable” audiences may not have the opportunity to view ads equally, which causes trouble with industry regulations, such as TILA, UDAAP and S.A.F.E. To build compliant practices, Stein encourages mortgage lenders that use social media advertising to be proactive, document each marketing decision, and continually update policies, training, monitoring and reporting to ensure practices “keep pace with technology.”