| After
Investors Bank Hit With FDIC Conditions,
CRA Protest To BankPlus - First Bank and
Trust
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Story Order
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- ESPN
FEDERAL COURT / S
Bronx, Nov 13 – Whether or not
the U.S. Community
Reinvestment Act will be again
enforced until the new
Administration and its
regulators is an open
question. And now for the
FDIC, BankPlus' application to
acquire First Bank and Trust
will be a litmus test.
On November 12,
Fair Finance Watch and Inner
City Press filed with the
FDIC:
"This is a first
timely comment opposing,
requesting hearings and an
extension of the comment
period on the applications by
BankPlus to acquire First Bank
and Trust As an initial
matter, this is a request that
the FDIC immediately send by
email to Inner City Press all
non-exempt portions of the
applications / notices for
which the Applicants have
requested confidential
treatment.
Fair Finance
Watch has been tracking
BankPlus:
The applicant
BankPlus 2020 in Mississippi
based on its disparate
marketing made 1918 mortgage
loans to whites, with 198
denials to whites -- while
making only 211 loans to
African Americans, with 80
denials. This is far out of
keeping with the demographics,
and other lenders, in
Mississippi - this is
outrageous. This is a pattern.
BankPlus in 2020
in Alabama based on its
disparate marketing made 71
mortgage loans to whites, with
four denials to whites --
while making NO loans to
African Americans.
Perhaps
most relevant, BankPlus is
disparate in the state it is
trying to make this
acquisition to impose and
expand its practices. South
State Bank NA in 2020 in
Louisiana based on its
disparate marketing made 24
mortgage loans to whites, with
eight denials to whites --
while making as in Alabama N)
loans to African
Americans.
FFW and Inner City Press have
been deeply concerned about
the rush by the FDIC to
rubber-stamp mergers by
redliners. This has been
killing the Community
Reinvestment Act and we timely
request public hearings."
Meanwhile, the
FDIC wrote:
"Matthew
Lee, Esquire Executive
Director Inner City Press/Fair
Finance Watch Dear Mr.
Lee: We are writing to inform
you that the FDIC approved
Investors Bank’s application
to acquire eight branches from
Berkshire Bank. As part of the
application review process, we
investigated the issues you
raised in your e-mail dated
January 19, 2019... The Bank
will develop and Board approve
an Action Plan within 60 days
of the effective date of
this Order to ensure that its
home mortgage lending
adequately addresses the
credit needs of all segments
of its market areas. The
Action Plan should
include, at a minimum, the
following: a. The Bank will
regularly monitor application
and origination activity of
home mortgage loans in
majority-minority census
tracts and from Blacks
throughout the Bank’s
assessment areas. b. The
Bank will ensure marketing and
outreach efforts are inclusive
of all communities,
including minority communities
within all the Bank’s
assessment areas. The
marketing and outreach efforts
should focus on home mortgage
product awareness.
Marketing activities should
use materials and media that
reflect the racial and
ethnic composition of
the targeted communities. The
Bank should also have
specific advertising and
outreach goals, and the
results of these efforts
should be documented,
monitored, and evaluated for
effectiveness. 5. Upon
Board approval of this Order,
the Bank will provide a copy
of the signed Order to
the FDIC's New York Regional
Office within 30 days.
6. Upon Board approval of such
Action Plan, the Bank will
provide a copy of the
Plan to the FDIC’s New
York Regional Office. 7. The
Bank will provide the FDIC’s
New York Regional Office with
quarterly updates
detailing its progress in
meeting the goals listed in
the Action
Plan."
So
what's up with
the FDIC,
on BankPlus'
disparities?
Watch this site.
***
Your
support means a lot. As little as $5 a month
helps keep us going and grants you access to
exclusive bonus material on our Patreon
page. Click
here to become a patron.
Feedback:
Box 20047, Dag
Hammarskjold Station NY NY 10017
Other, earlier Inner City Press are
listed here,
and some are available in the ProQuest
service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.
Copyright 2006-2021 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
