Familial Status – Discrimination based on the presence or the anticipated presence of children under the age of 18. In my seminars I point out how unusual it is to see cases of family status discrimination. Most examiners don’t look for this problem and most lenders don’t engage in this type of discrimination. So imagine my surprise when HUD slammed a Houston-based mortgage lender with a big enforcement action for familial status discrimination. The lender […]
Tag: Fair Lending
WHAT’S UP WITH FORECLOSURES
Foreclosures are getting a lot of attention right now. In early February the news was that foreclosure-related documents were being signed and processed without being read. On April 13, 2011 the federal bank regulatory agencies took enforcement action against 14 financial institutions for engaging in a pattern of misconduct and negligence related to foreclosures. There are also rumblings of fair lending problems related to foreclosures. So why is the spotlight on foreclosures? It is a […]
WHAT’S UP WITH FAIR LENDING
There are not a lot of changes with Fair Lending right now, but the topic is red hot. Both HUD and the Department of Justice have taken recent action, and much more is coming. HUD Settlement Agreement On December 21, 2010 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC), and First National Bank of St. Louis entered into an agreement that requires the bank to […]
Fair Lending – Is it still “hot”?
Regrettably, the most overt forms of discrimination persist; those incidents that we should read about in history books still manage to find their way onto the front pages of our newspapers. We still see cross-burnings across the nation’s heartland. We still see hate-fueled violence carried out in our biggest cities and in our smallest towns. We just recently read of a justice of the peace in Louisiana who saw it as his prerogative to refuse […]