Justice Department Secures $9 Million In Redlining Agreement

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that they reached a $9 million agreement with an Ohio-based bank to resolve redlining allegations. Redlining is an illegal practice in which lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in certain communities because of their race, color, or national origin. It is alleged that from at least 2015 to 2021, Park National Bank, headquartered in Newark, Ohio, engaged in the pattern or practice of lending discrimination in the Columbus metropolitan area. The bank’s branches and mortgage lenders were concentrated in majority-white neighborhoods, and company leaders failed to take any meaningful measures to compensate for its lack of physical presence in majority-Black and Hispanic communities, according to…

Largest Bank Headquartered In LA Will Pay Over $31M In Redlining Settlement

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Officials at the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that they have secured over $31 million from City National Bank to resolve allegations of redlining in Los Angeles County. City National is the largest bank headquartered in Los Angeles and among the 50 largest banks in the country. This is the largest redlining settlement agreement in the department’s history, according to a press release. Redlining is an illegal practice where lenders avoid providing credit services to individuals living in communities of color because of the race, color, or national origin of the residents in those communities. According to the complaint filed in federal court, City National avoided providing mortgage lending services to majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods…