Redlining

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.

As part of a settlement with the Justice Department, Patriot Bank must invest more than $1 million of the total in a loan subsidy fund for minority homeowners and take other corrective steps in its everyday business. The bank denied any wrongdoing.

Internet-based banks are siphoning deposits away from urban centers in the U.S. and, unlike brick-and-mortar banks, face no requirement that they loan money back into those communities.

The Department of Justice alleged that Ameris failed to open a single bank branch or provide home loans in minority neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida. Attorney General Merrick Garland said that many similar redlining investigations are currently underway.

American Bank of Oklahoma agreed to a consent order in August to settle allegations from the Department of Justice over redlining. However, the institution strenuously objected to references to the Tulsa Race Massacre in the agreement and asked that the language be stricken.

Two separate programs providing as much as $10,000 in assistance are open to eligible borrowers in the Philadelphia area.

The Department of Justice cited American Bank of Oklahoma's lending record, as well as racially inflammatory emails it claims bank employees forwarded, in support of its redlining claims.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is reviewing HSBC's lending practices in certain majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, the bank disclosed. The regions under scrutiny include New York, Seattle and several parts of California, according to the nonprofit organization whose complaint prompted the investigation.

The racially targeted mass shooting at a Buffalo, New York, grocery store in 2022 has renewed conversations about whether banks have a duty to help segregated, impoverished communities that were shaped in part by discriminatory lending practices. What do banks owe the Black community, and what influence could they have?

The Home Loan banks are failing to serve huge numbers of Americans because of their reliance on outdated credit scoring models.

The Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania-based financial institution, from 2017 to 2021, did not sufficiently serve the credit needs of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in and around Philadelphia, the DOJ alleges.

The groups also want regulators to downgrade the Cleveland bank's rating under the Community Reinvestment Act. The demands represent an escalation of a dispute over whether Key fulfilled promises it made under a 2016 community benefits agreement.

Prosecutors claim every dollar in subsidy funds from settlements equates to ten times the amount in value in home lending efforts.

The Government Accountability Office said that examiner guidance at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency didn’t take into account new statistical methods to uncover potential redlining.

Questionnaires sent to banks in recent months seek information about loans to same-sex couples, women on maternity leave and people with limited English proficiency. Industry executives and attorneys say the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau may be offering hints about specific types of fair-lending cases it could pursue.

The state joins Illinois and Massachusetts in subjecting nondepository companies to state-level Community Reinvestment Act requirements.