The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York has announced a $53 million settlement agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank to resolve alleged discriminatory lending through its wholesale broker channel in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and the Fair Housing Act. Filed last week in Manhattan federal court, the U.S. Attorney’s complaint accused Chase of improperly steering African-American and Hispanic borrowers into certain loan products and charging them higher interest rates and fees than comparable white borrowers between 2006 and 2009. During the period, approximately 360,000 brokered mortgage loans were delivered...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week brought a relatively modest $28.8 million enforcement action against CitiFinancial Servicing and CitiMortgage to resolve allegations that struggling borrowers were kept in the dark about options available to save their homes. Under the terms of the consent order, CitiMortgage has to pay an estimated $17 million to compensate wronged consumers, along with a civil penalty of $3 million. The CFPB is also compelling CitiFinancial Services to refund approximately $4.4 million to consumers, and pay a civil penalty of $4.4 million. The bureau’s action related...
Prospects for a relatively speedy administrative solution to the eight-year-old conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appeared to dim after Treasury Secretary-nominee Steve Mnuchin backtracked from earlier comments on swiftly addressing the plight of the two government-sponsored enterprises. During a Jan. 19 Senate confirmation hearing, Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA, asked Mnuchin if he supports a recapitalization-and-release plan for the GSEs, as several industry groups have proposed. “First, let’s be clear,” Mnuchin said. “My comments were...
The states argue that the current ruling in the PHH case, if permitted to stand, will undermine the power of the Attorneys General to effectively protect consumers…
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