News In Brief

US tells Household Finance it must end bias on loans

The Justice Department obtained a court order Wednesday requiring Household Finance Corporation, one of the nation's largest consumer cash lenders, to refrain from discriminating against women, unmarried people, and people receiving public assistance.

The order, in the form of a consent decree, resolves a civil suit filed at the same time in which the government charged HFC with violating the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.