The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reached an agreement with OneWest Bank (Bank) over allegations that the Bank discriminated based on race and national origin in marketing and originating mortgages. HUD alleged the bank’s branch locations, marketing and mortgage origination practices discriminated against residents in majority-minority neighborhoods in the bank’s Community Reinvestment Act assessment area. This practice is often referred to as “redlining,” the practice of denying loans to residents of predominately minority neighborhoods.

The Conciliation Agreement, effective July 26, 2019, requires the bank to, among other things, open or acquire a full-service retail branch in a census tract with a majority-minority and low-to-moderate income population. The Bank agreed to originate $100,000,000 in mortgage loans to borrowers in majority-minority areas and provide $5,000,000 in discounts or subsidies for mortgage loans made in majority-minority areas. The bank also agreed to spend $1,300,000 in marketing and outreach to consumers in majority-minority areas and require employees in the mortgage lending department to attend two hours of fair lending training per year.

Author

John Zasada, JD, CAMS – Regulatory Consulting Director, Financial Institutions Group. John can be reached at zasada@doeren.com.