FTC Challenges Exec's Characterization of Pricing Practices

The Federal Trade Commission has challenged the way a Gateway Funding Diversified Mortgage Services LP executive characterized his company's previous pricing practices and the FTC's understanding of them in commenting on a December 2008 settlement between the company and the federal agency related to those practices. In a letter responding to the Horsham, Pa.-based Gateway's president and chief executive Bruno Pasceri's comments denying that his company's past pricing practices were discriminatory and suggesting that the FTC did not understand those practices, Peggy L. Twohig -- associate director in the FTC's Division of Financial Practices/Bureau of Consumer Protection -- said, "In fact, the FTC conducted an extensive investigation, and our analysis was based on a thorough understanding of Gateway's loan pricing practices. On that basis, the commission concluded that Gateway's policy and practice of allowing loan officers to charge discretionary overages resulted in African-Americans and Hispanics being charged higher prices because of their race or ethnicity -- price disparities that were substantial, statistically significant, and could not be explained by factors related to underwriting risk or credit characteristics of the applicants." Ms. Twohig also noted that the commission "voted unanimously to file these fair lending charges." Gateway in December 2008 agreed to pay $200,000 to settle the charges.