The bank is focusing on pre-seed companies that specialize in fintech or other forms of technology and have diverse founders.

Gov. Jay Inslee has signed a law that will offer loans to minority borrowers to help cover down payments and closing costs. Supporters say it will benefit groups that were victimized by racially restrictive real estate covenants.

The Cleveland-based bank says it will submit to a racial equity audit conducted by an outside law firm, as Citigroup and Wells Fargo have previously done. The bank's decision follows a request that regulators investigate Key's mortgage lending practices for alleged redlining.

The California Reinvestment Coalition, the group behind the assessment, is calling for increased nonbank oversight.

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

More than 90% of appraisers are white, and researchers have found that bias leads to lower valuations for homeowners of color. A Flagstar executive said the mortgage-focused bank is "not just going to sit on the sidelines and watch this happen."

The Ohio-based bank concentrated most of its lending branches in majority-white neighborhoods and did nothing to compensate for its lack of physical presence, the DOJ claims.

The filing is the most recent accusation of discrimination in the field, an issue that has drawn attention from the White House last year.

While Black-owned residential properties increased in value by 42.5%, compared with 38.2% for all houses, Nicole Bachaud, senior economist with the company noted that "we're still a long way from housing equity."

The biggest gaps are in cities with the largest concentrations of people in this demographic, a LendingTree study of the 50 largest metro areas found.