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Financial Services Law Insights and Observations

Nation's Biggest Bank Agrees to $55 Million Settlement with DOJ Regarding Allegations of Discriminatory Lending Practices

Courts Banking Mortgages Consumer Lending DOJ Discrimination

Courts

On January 18, the DOJ filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing a national bank of discriminating against minorities in home lending. According to the government’s complaint, the DOJ alleges, among other things, that the bank “failed to adequately monitor for and fully remedy the effects of race and national origin disparities in APR” and did not “maintain adequate data to determine whether it was discriminating” before ending its wholesale lending practice in late 2009. Two days later, on January 20, the bank agreed to settle the matter and will pay $55 million, while denying any wrong doing. The bank maintains its view that the DOJ’s case is based on legacy allegations that concern pricing decisions of independent third-party brokers. The details of the settlement have not been released as of the publication date of this post.