Bank of America, N.A., has been charged with treating Hispanic mortgage applicants in South Carolina worse than their non-Hispanic counterparts.
In February 2013, the
National Fair Housing Alliance sent a non-Hispanic woman and a Hispanic woman into BofA’s Charleston, South Carolina branch.
Both testers were told to enter the branch without an appointment to request information about home loan products for themselves and their spouses.
The testers were given similar financial profiles, though the Hispanic testers were slightly more qualified, according to
charges filed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
When the Hispanic tester went to the branch, the loan originator was allegedly not available. No attempt was made to reach the originator while the tester was in the branch. Even though the tester left her contact information, she never heard back.
Similar results were obtained by a second Hispanic tester.
But when the non-Hispanic tester visited the branch, the loan originator was contacted by cellphone and collected information about a potential transaction. The originator also made follow-up calls.
A second non-Hispanic tester received similar attention on another occasion.
A third paired test at the branch yielded quoted terms that were better for the non-Hispanic tester than the Hispanic tester.
In addition, although both testers contacted the originator to say thank you, the originator only responded to the non-Hispanic tester.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based BofA’s alleged actions violated the Fair Housing Act.
Following its tests, the NFHA filed a complaint against BofA with HUD.
An announcement Friday from HUD indicated that it has filed charges against BofA.
“The case will be heard in federal district court,” the statement said. “If it is determined that illegal discrimination has occurred, a judge may award actual and punitive damages, order injunctive or other equitable relief to deter further discrimination, and order that defendants pay NFHA’s attorney fees.”
