U.S. Bank Settles Fair Housing Dispute with Native American Couple

U.S. Bank in Minneapolis will pay nearly $11,500 to a Native American couple in North Dakota to settle a lending-discrimination complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

U.S. Bank, its appraiser Red Sky Risk Services (formerly USB Lending Support Services) and one of its loan officers were accused of violating the Fair Housing Act by refusing to refinance the couple's mortgage loan "because their property is located on a reservation," HUD said in a press release Monday.

The couple alleged in a complaint to HUD that the loan officer told them U.S. Bank was unable to make the loan and that Red Sky was unable to appraise the property because their property is located on a Native-American reservation, the release said.

U.S. Bank agreed to pay the couple's $11,489.56 U.S. Bank credit card balance and to approve the couple's application for a mortgage refinancing at the same interest rate and other terms that they had applied for, the release said.

In addition, U.S. Bank and Red Sky agreed to amend their policies on residential mortgage lending on properties that lie on Native American reservations to ensure they comply with the Fair Housing Act, the release said.

The $80.4-million-asset U.S. Bank is a unit of U.S. Bancorp.

This article originally appeared in American Banker.
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