InfoBytes Blog
CFPB and DOJ Take Action Against Bank over Mortgage Lending Practices
On June 29, the CFPB announced a joint action with the DOJ against a regional bank with operations in Memphis, Tennessee for allegedly engaging in discriminatory mortgage lending practices in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and the Fair Housing Act (FHA). According to the CFPB’s and the DOJ’s complaint, between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2015, the bank (i) engaged in redlining practices in the Memphis area by structuring its business to meet the credit needs of majority-White neighborhoods while ignoring the credit needs of individuals in majority-minority neighborhoods; (ii) discriminated against African American borrowers by allowing its employees to practice discretion in making credit decisions on mortgage loans, which ultimately resulted in African Americans being denied certain mortgages at significantly greater rates than similarly situated white applicants; (iii) charged African Americans, on average, 30 basis points more for first lien and 64 basis points more for second lien mortgage loans than similarly situated white borrowers; and (iv) implemented a policy under which loan officers were advised to deny minority applicants more quickly than other applicants and to deny credit assistance to “borderline” applicants. The complaint further alleges that a series of matched-pair tests at Memphis branches “revealed that the Bank treated African American testers less favorably than similarly situated white testers.”
Subject to approval, the proposed consent order would require the bank to take several remedial actions to improve its allegedly discriminatory mortgage lending practices, among which include: (i) allocating $4 million to a loan subsidy program that offers mortgage loans on a more affordable basis to applicants in majority-minority neighborhoods; (ii) spending at least $300,000 on a targeted advertising and outreach campaign that considers the results of a credit needs assessment performed by an independent third-party auditor, advertises the loan subsidy program, and generates mortgage loan applicants from qualified residents in majority-minority neighborhoods; (iii) spending $500,000 on local partnerships that provide education, credit repair, and other assistance in majority-minority neighborhoods; (iv) opening an additional branch or loan production office in a high-minority neighborhood; (v) extending credit offers to African American consumers who were denied mortgage loans as a result of the bank’s allegedly discriminatory underwriting policy; and (vi) implementing policies that ensure employees provide equal assistance to mortgage loan applicants, regardless of race or other prohibited characteristics. Under the proposed consent order, the bank would pay $2.78 million in consumer redress and a $3 million civil penalty. The CFPB’s proposed consent order notes that the bank has “recently taken a number of steps to improve its compliance management system, reduce its fair lending risk, and increase its lending in minority areas.”