Redlining

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The Home Loan banks are failing to serve huge numbers of Americans because of their reliance on outdated credit scoring models.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

A crackdown is coming at a particularly awkward time for the financial industry: bankers are pressing government authorities to approve mergers and acquisitions at one of the fastest clips since the 2008 financial crisis and to get their paydays linked to those deals, more executives may feel pressure to resolve government claims.

Trustmark Bank agreed to pay $9 million to resolve allegations that it discriminated against Black and Hispanic residents in Memphis, Tennessee. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Department of Justice and other agencies will continue their crackdown.

An Indiana housing nonprofit wants the Fed to take a closer look at the proposed merger. Its latest move is a lawsuit that alleges racial discrimination by the regional bank.

The Houston company has agreed to pay a $3 million penalty, provide $4 million in loan subsidies to new borrowers and make other investments aimed at improving home buying opportunities for Black and Hispanic households.

Six online lenders and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition have asked the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for clarity on whether disparate-impact rules apply to lending decisions made by machines.

As global warming intensifies storms and flooding, formerly redlined neighborhoods with majority BIPOC occupants will likely bear the brunt of the damage risk, according to a Redfin analysis.

State financial regulators cited Buffalo-based Hunt Mortgage Corp. on Thursday for weakness in lending to minorities and minority neighborhoods, as they released a report finding an overall lack of lending by nonbank mortgage companies in Buffalo despite laws banning the practice of redlining.

After the agency pulled back on fair-lending enforcement in the Trump administration, interim Director Dave Uejio has made clear his intent to use the “disparate impact” standard to launch more anti-discrimination probes.

Black borrowers locked in an average mortgage rate of 4.44% for conventional loans — 15 basis points higher than white borrowers, according to an analysis of HMDA data by the National Association of Real Estate Brokers.

The agency’s report on mortgage data submitted by lenders identified persistent disparities between white borrowers and minorities in denial rates and pricing. Some observers say the bureau should have been more explicit as the nation wrestles with systemic racism.