Redlining Isn’t What it Used To Be
Discrimination and Bias in Residential Lending
As previously reported, this summer the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a housing discrimination charge under the Fair Housing Act against an appraisal company, individual appraiser, appraisal...more
On October 15, 2024, the CFPB and DOJ filed a complaint and proposed consent order against the Company, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA), Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and its implementing Regulation B,...more
On October 10, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a landmark redlining settlement with Citadel Federal Credit Union (Citadel), marking the first such agreement with a credit union in the DOJ’s history. This...more
The Justice Department announced that Citadel Federal Credit Union has agreed to pay more than $6.5 million to resolve allegations that it engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining majority-Black and Hispanic...more
Recently the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville,...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement agreement with Washington Trust Company, of Westerly (WTC) to resolve claims that WTC redlined majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Rhode Island....more
On August 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its eighth redlining settlement under its Combatting Redlining Initiative. The settlement between the DOJ and the American Bank of Oklahoma, which originated from a...more
On January 12, the DOJ announced a more than $31 million settlement with a national bank over redlining allegations. Calling the action the largest redlining settlement agreement in the department’s history...more
On December 19, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted summary judgment in favor of a national bank with respect to discriminatory lending allegations brought by the County of Cook in Illinois...more
The Justice Department announced that it has entered into an agreement with Lakeland Bank to settle the DOJ’s claims that Lakeland engaged in unlawful redlining in the Newark, New Jersey metropolitan area. The DOJ’s lawsuit...more
The U.S. Department of Justice announced last Thursday that it had reached an agreement with First Merchants Bank, an Indiana state-chartered bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank on June...more
Last week, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Inc. filed a complaint against Liberty Bank in Connecticut federal district court alleging that the Bank engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending in violation of the federal...more
The American Bankers Association jointly with state bankers associations, the American Financial Services Association, and the Mortgage Bankers Association are urging the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)...more
The U.S. Department of Justice announced earlier this week that it has reached an agreement with KleinBank, a state-chartered Minnesota bank, to settle the redlining lawsuit that the DOJ filed against the bank in January...more
In a blog post entitled “How S.2155 (the Bank Lobbyist Act) Facilitates Discriminatory Lending” Professor Adam Levitin claimed that “This bill functionally exempts 85% of US banks and credit unions from fair lending laws in...more
While the nationwide economy has steadily improved since the recession, many cities are still clawing their way back to financial stability. California, in particular, was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, leaving cities in...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has given the City of Miami the go-ahead to sue banks under the Fair Housing Act for alleged racially discriminatory lending practices that resulted in increased foreclosures and fiscal harm to the...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, by a 5-3 majority, that the city of Miami was authorized to bring lawsuits based on allegations that banks engaged in financial-crisis-era discriminatory lending. The city alleged that the...more
On May 1, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Bank of America Corp. v. City of Miami, No. 15-1111, holding (1) that a city qualifies as an “aggrieved person” able to bring suit under the Fair Housing Act, but...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently commenced a redlining lawsuit against KleinBank, a state-chartered Minnesota bank subject to the regulatory authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The...more
On December 28, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it filed a complaint against, and entered a consent order with, two Ohio-based banks, resolving allegations that the banks had violated the Fair Housing Act...more
CFPB “mystery shoppers,” along with secret recordings, were part of the CFPB’s factual allegations in a recent mortgage discrimination settlement. The DOJ and CFPB announced a settlement with BancorpSouth Bank to resolve...more
On June 29, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and BancorpSouth Bank (BancorpSouth) agreed to settle allegations of redlining and discrimination in violation of the Equal Credit...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a proposed consent order with BancorpSouth Bank to settle charges that the bank’s mortgage lending practices violated the Fair...more
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a proposed consent order with BancorpSouth Bank to settle charges that the bank’s mortgage lending practices violated the...more