![]() ![]() ![]() The Bank does not have, and has never had, a branch located in a majority-Black and Hispanic census tract in its Jacksonville assessment area, even though the majority-Black and Hispanic census tracts represent nearly 20% of the overall census tracts in the assessment area.While this is a common theme, the DOJ included more detailed allegations: The Bank located its branches in its Jacksonville Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) assessment area so as to serve the credit needs of residents in majority-White neighborhoods and avoid serving the credit needs of residents in majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods.The DOJ allegations reflect common themes of recent DOJ redlining settlements, although the DOJ also includes more detailed allegations. Despite this uncertainty, the DOJ stated that the Bank’s “acts, policies, and practices as alleged herein constitute unlawful discrimination against applicants and prospective applicants, including by redlining majority-Black and Hispanic communities in its assessment area and engaging in acts and practices directed at prospective applicants that would discourage prospective applicants from applying for credit on the basis of race, color, or national origin in violation of ECOA and Regulation B.” Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, has created uncertainty in the industry regarding ECOA’s applicability to redlining practices. In conjunction with the announcement of the proposed consent order, Attorney General Merrick Garland provided an update on the DOJ’s Combating Redlining Initiative that was launched in October 2021.Īs we noted regarding another recent redlining settlement, the finding by a federal district court that ECOA does not apply to prospective applicants in the Townstone case, and the CFPB’s appeal to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) entered into a proposed consent order with Ameris Bank to resolve allegations of redlining from 2016 through 2021 in majority Black and Hispanic areas in the Bank’s Jacksonville, Florida assessment area under both the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Fair Housing Act. ![]()
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