Redlining

A Trump-appointed judge refused to dismiss a settlement between the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a Chicago mortgage lender over lending practices that an appeals court already said violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

The Department of Justice is seeking to terminate a Biden-era lending discrimination settlement with Lakeland Bank. Last month, the DOJ took similar action in a case involving Mississippi-based Trustmark National Bank.

Cases involving accusations of redlining, kickbacks, underpaid employees and more swept across the mortgage industry in recent months.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a proposed version of the consent order on Jan. 17 and the company involved said it was finalized that day.

Plaintiffs want to certify a class of 119,100 minority mortgage customers who were unfairly deprived of ultra-low mortgage rates during the refi boom.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice issued a consent order against Wisconsin-based nonbank mortgage originator Fairway Independent Mortgage over redlining allegations. Fairway is the country's fifth-largest mortgage originator by volume.

OceanFirst's own press release points out the federal government has obtained $120 million in relief in similar cases since 2021.

Nikitra Bailey, EVP at the National Fair Housing Alliance, says communities of color are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change because of prior redlining practices. She explains that a HUD rule could make a big difference.

The Justice Department and the CFPB are increasingly relying on emails among employees that contain discriminatory comments to strengthen their hand in cases against lenders.

First National Bank of Pennsylvania, a unit of FNB Corp., ran into trouble in connection with North Carolina operations it acquired from Yadkin Financial in 2017.