A lender should explain who it lends to by describing the deals it does: the loan purposes, property types, occupancy, loan sizes, and states it serves, in the terms its guidelines use. Who it does not lend to gets the same treatment, stated as properties, purposes, and places it does not finance, never as kinds of people. Written that way, a fit page saves both sides a wasted application without discouraging anyone on a basis fair lending rules protect.
Lenders can hesitate to publish a fit page, because "who we don't serve" sounds risky to a compliance team. The risk sits in the wording. A bridge lender that never finances owner-occupied homes helps everyone by saying so; the same lender saying it "prefers seasoned professionals in their prime" has started describing people.
This is a content-planning question for lenders, mortgage brokers, and private lenders. It is not legal advice; counsel decides which fair lending rules reach each program and approves the wording. It is one piece of the broader real estate and lending content plan.
What the discouragement rule says
Regulation B, the CFPB's rule under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, as amended in 2026, says a creditor "shall not discriminate against an applicant on a prohibited basis regarding any aspect of a credit transaction." It reaches marketing too: a creditor "shall not make any oral or written statement, in advertising or otherwise," directed at applicants or prospective applicants that it knows or should know "would cause a reasonable person to believe that the creditor would deny, or would grant on less favorable terms," an application because of a prohibited basis characteristic. Statements include "visual images such as symbols, photographs, or videos."
The prohibited bases are set out in the definitions: "race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided that the applicant has the capacity to enter into a binding contract)," the fact that income comes from a public assistance program, and the good faith exercise of rights under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The commentary's examples of discouragement include "a statement that the applicant should not bother to apply, after the applicant states that he is retired" and "the use of interview scripts that discourage applications on a prohibited basis."
Fit criteria that belong on the page
Criteria tied to the deal belong in plain view: loan purpose (purchase, refinance, cash-out, construction), property type and condition, occupancy, lien position, a loan size range if compliance approves stating one, and the states where the firm lends. Business-purpose lenders can add the borrower structures they accept, such as entities, stated as documentation requirements.
Write each criterion the way your underwriting guidelines write it, and link it to the page that explains the program, following the approach in explaining loan programs without quoting rates that change. A deal criterion is not a person criterion. "We finance non-owner-occupied rentals of one to four units" describes a loan; "ideal for investors in their prime earning years" describes a person and brings age into the copy.
Keep the page and the intake script in step. The commentary's examples of discouragement include scripts, so the words a loan officer uses on a first call deserve the same review as the website. If the page says the firm lends on two to four units and the intake script still screens those borrowers out, a borrower hears two different policies, and compliance should see both versions side by side.
Writing the "who we don't lend to" section
State exclusions the same way. "We do not finance owner-occupied homes, vacant land, or properties in states where we do not lend" is specific and checkable. Keep out phrases that point at people, such as retirees, young buyers, single applicants, or borrowers whose income comes from public assistance, since each maps onto a prohibited basis. A good working question for your compliance lead is "Which of our decline reasons can be described as a property or loan condition, and which should never appear on the site?" Everything in the second group stays off the page.
Where a borrower's situation does not fit, say what happens next. If your firm refers borrowers elsewhere, describe how, in terms counsel has approved, so the page ends with a next step rather than a closed door.
Statements that encourage, and their limits
The commentary also says "a creditor may affirmatively solicit or encourage members of traditionally disadvantaged groups to apply for credit." That gives a lender room for outreach content, such as a page written in a second language, provided the program behind it is real and counsel approves the wording. Translated pages bring their own review, because Regulation Z lists "misleading foreign-language advertisements" among prohibited practices for credit secured by a dwelling, so a translated page goes through the same term review as the English one.
Outreach content should describe a real program and a real path to apply. A page inviting borrowers with limited credit history, for example, needs to say what the program accepts in place of a long credit file and which documents the borrower brings, taken from the guidelines. An encouraging headline over a program that will not approve the borrower helps nobody, and it can create the very mismatch between marketing and underwriting that a fit page is meant to remove.
A fictional example: one lender's fit section, rewritten
A fictional private lender in Indiana that makes bridge and rental loans had a fit section reading "Perfect for seasoned investors and young entrepreneurs; not for retirees." Here is the rewrite, with the reason for each change.
| Before | After | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "seasoned investors and young entrepreneurs" | "Borrowers buying or refinancing non-owner-occupied residential property" | Describes the loan, not the borrower's age |
| "not for retirees" | Removed | Age is a prohibited basis, and the commentary's own example involves a retired applicant |
| (nothing on documents) | "Rehab loans require a written scope of work and budget" | States a documentation requirement the guidelines already set |
| (nothing on states) | "We lend in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky" | States served, checked against licensing records |
Nothing in the rewrite came from the writer's imagination. The writer should not have to decide which borrowers the lender turns away, because the underwriting guidelines and decline records already show that, and the page restates them as deal conditions. In Hudson South's process, the Authority Asset gathers approved business knowledge and evidence such as those guidelines, Hudson Twenty-One records how the lender's people explain fit across 21 dimensions, Market Intelligence researches what borrowers ask before applying, and AEO Creation turns those inputs into answer-first pages. The questions around fit are mapped on what investors ask before choosing a DSCR or investment property lender.
Say who you serve without saying the wrong thing
On a free 30-minute call, Hudson South walks through how competing lenders describe their fit and where your site leaves borrowers guessing.
Get your free competitor analysisSources
- § 1002.4 General rules. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- § 1002.2 Definitions. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- § 1026.24 Advertising. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Read 2026-10-16.
- 12 CFR 1002.4: General rules. eCFR, Office of the Federal Register. Read 2026-10-16.