On July 29, 2019 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it has approved a Conciliation Agreement between the California Reinvestment Coalition and CIT Group, Inc., and CIT Bank, N.A., dba OneWest Bank, resolving allegations that the bank engaged in lending discrimination by “redlining” in the Los Angeles region. OneWest Bank is a retail bank with 60 branches in Southern California. The complaint, filed by the California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC), alleged […]
Category: Fair Housing
HAS REDLINING ENFORCEMENT RETURNED?
At the end of the Obama administration redlining consent decrees were becoming coming. Redlining cases, once the purview of large banks, had drifted down to the community bank level. Since the beginning of 2016 redlining cases have dried up, other than one case left over from the prior administration that was settled favorably for the bank. On June 13, 2009 The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of […]
HUD CHARGES FACEBOOK WITH UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATION
On March 29, 2019 the Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it is charging Facebook with violating the Fair Housing Act by encouraging, enabling, and causing housing discrimination through the company’s advertising platform. HUD alleges that Facebook unlawfully discriminates based on race, color, national origin, religion, familial status, sex, and disability by restricting who can view housing-related ads on Facebook’s platforms and across the internet. Further, HUD claims Facebook mines extensive data about […]
OCC FINES CITIBANK FOR FAIR HOUSING ACT VIOLATION
On March 19th, The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) levied a $25 million civil money penalty against Citibank for violating the Fair Housing Act. The violation stems from inconsistent issuing of lender credits through their Relationship Loan Pricing (RLP) program. The OCC found that there were control weaknesses related to the program that resulted in eligible mortgage loan customers not receiving an interest rate reduction or a credit to their closing costs. […]
NATIVE AMERICAN DISCRIMINATION
Recently the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved a Conciliation Agreement resolving claims brought by three homeowners, a couple and an individual, against loanDepot.com, LLC, and Appraisal Management Services of America, Inc. The three alleged that the lender refused to refinance their homes because they are on Native American lands. The individual also claimed that loanDepot.com would not refinance his house because he is Native American. The Fair Housing Act prohibits housing […]