Another home lender has agreed to resolve allegations that it discriminated against a borrower on maternity leave — bringing to 14 the number of such settlements reached over the past three or so years.
The latest agreement comes just two months after the Department of Housing and Urban Development reached a settlement with Greenlight Financial Services.
That deal cost the Irvine, Calif.-based company $35,000 and resolved allegations it discriminated against a couple and four other applicants because they were on maternity leave.
HUD says that such discriminatory practices violate the Fair Housing Act.
On Friday, HUD announced that a conciliation agreement has been reached with FirstBank Mortgage Partners.
The Jackson, Tenn.-based firm allegedly denied a home loan to a couple because one of the applicants was on maternity leave.
To make matters worse, FirstBank allegedly approved the couple, scheduled a closing then denied their loan just a day before the closing.
The couple claim that in addition to losing the property they were purchasing, they also lost the housing where they were residing.
Left with no residence of their own, the wife and their infant twins were forced to move in with her parents, while the husband and their three-year-old child had to rent an apartment.
The couple claimed that FirstBank didn’t consider their ability to make payments during the maternity period and ignored the husband’s salary and wife’s short-term disability insurance payments.
They filed a complaint with HUD.
In the conciliation agreement, FirstBank agreed to pay the couple $35,000 and adopt a national paternal leave policy and receive annual fair housing and fair lending training.
“The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges associated with the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of sex or familial status, including denying a mortgage loan or mortgage insurance because an applicant is pregnant or on maternity leave,” the announcement stated.
| Date | Company | Amount |
| Jul 2014 | Greenlight Financial Service | $27,000 |
| Jun 2014 | Mountain America Credit Union | $25,000 |
| Nov 2013 | Bank of America | $45,000 |
| Oct 2013 | CMG Mortgage Insurance Co. | $30,000 |
| May 2013 | SunTrust Mortgage Inc. | $36,000 |
| Apr 2013 | Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. | $15,000 |
| Feb 2013 | PNC Mortgage | $13,000 |
| Nov 2012 | Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. | $1,015,000 |
| Sep 2012 | Land Home Financial Services | $20,000 |
| Jun 2012 | Bank of America Corp. | $261,180 |
| Apr 2012 | Magna Bank | $14,085 |
| Apr 2012 | Home Loan Center Inc. | $15,000 |
| Jun 2011 | Cornerstone Mortgage Co. | $765,000 |
