§ 1071 · Background
What is Section 1071?
A small business lending data rule with roots in the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, and a decade-long path to enforcement.
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Section 1071 requires certain lenders to collect and report data on the small business credit applications they receive — things like the loan amount, the business's census tract, gross annual revenue, and (for some fields) whether the business is owned by women, minorities, or veterans. The goal, set by Congress, is to give regulators and the public visibility into whether small businesses — especially those owned by women and minorities — have fair access to credit.
Where it comes from
Section 1071 is a provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis. It amended the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) to add a small business data collection mandate, similar in spirit to the mortgage-lending data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA).
The CFPB is the agency responsible for writing the implementing regulation. It did so by amending Regulation B, the regulation that already implements ECOA.
Why it took over a decade
Congress passed Section 1071 in 2010, but the CFPB didn't finalize the implementing rule until March 30, 2023 — thirteen years later. Once finalized, the rule faced legal challenges in multiple federal courts, which led to a series of compliance-date extensions: a 2024 interim rule, a June 2025 interim final rule, and an October 2025 final extension rule.
On May 1, 2026, the CFPB issued a revised final rule that narrowed the rule's scope — raising the coverage threshold and cutting the number of required data fields — while keeping the core data-collection mandate intact. That revised rule is the current law. See the full timeline for every step along the way.
What it means for lenders today
If your institution originates enough small business credit to meet the coverage threshold, you'll need to start collecting specific data fields on small business credit applications beginning January 1, 2028, and file that data annually through the SBLAR starting in 2029.
Why equipment finance lenders should pay attention
Section 1071 isn't written specifically for equipment finance, but it applies to it. The rule covers small business credit transactions broadly — term loans, lines of credit, and financing structured as credit generally count, which includes a large share of equipment loans and finance leases. Because equipment finance business models often run high transaction volume at smaller dollar amounts, lenders and brokers in this space frequently cross the 1,000-transaction coverage threshold well before a bank or credit union of similar asset size would.
That combination — genuinely covered, but not always thinking of themselves as a "1071 lender" — is exactly the gap Agent 1071 is being built to close, starting with equipment finance lenders and brokers.
This is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Consult qualified counsel or a compliance professional for guidance specific to your institution.