| In Virginia
Disparate TowneBank Wants
Village Bank despite HMDA
Reversal of FDIC on FOIA
by
Matthew R. Lee,
Patreon Substack
FEDERAL
COURT, Feb 11
–
In Virginia, a bank is trying
to move into the Richmond area
via merger, with a disparate
lending record. Fair Finance
Watch with Inner City Press on
the FOIA has filed a timely
first comment on, the
Application by TowneBank to
acquire Village Bank &
Trust.
But
consider ChoiceOne's disparate
lending
record:
In Viginia in
2023 - in HMDA data not yet
taken into account in any CRA
exam - Towne Bank based on its
marketing made 1282 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 192
loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 43
applications from African
Americans, and only 64from
whites. It should be referred
to DOJ.
In North Carolina
in 2023 Towne Bank based on
its marketing made 1107 loans
to whites, and only 80 loans
to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 10
applications from African
Americans, and only 92 from
whites.
In
Maryland in 2023 Towne Bank
based on its marketing made
1172 loans to whites, and only
366 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied
30 applications from African
Americans, and only 40 from
whites.
The new Merger
Guidance should be applied -
that is a test case.
TowneBank filed a
response on December 4, by
Troutman Pepper's Seth A.
Winter who claims data
documenting HMDA data has
nothing to do with a merger -
he should know better, since
he represented
Linkbancorp which was forced
to implement a lending plan
after Inner City Press
documented similar
disparities. It is a bad faith
response.
And another:
Inner City Press on December
12 submitted a FOIA request
for Towne Bank's branch
closing information, asking
for the expedited treatment it
routinely gets from other
agencies. But the FDIC denied
it, being dismissive of the
impact of branch closings -
and the FDIC took 27 days to
deny expedited processing,
providing no email address to
appeal to.
On February 10
the FDIC wrote again to Inner
City Press, stating that "Mr.
Lee:
Attached, please find the
FDIC’s response to your
appeal. As it has been
remanded back to the FOIA
Group based on the additional
information you provided
justifying the request for
expedited processing, you will
be hearing back from the FOIA
Group." But the new
information was obvious:
information about a proposed
merger should be provided
while the comment period is
still open, not after. And
that a cynical bank should not
benefit from hiding
information about its branch
closings.
On February 11
the FDIC wrote: "We denied
your request for expedited
processing on January 29,
2025, and you appealed
this decision. The
appeal was assigned log #
2025-FDIC-APPEAL-0006.
On February 10, 2025,
your request was remanded to
the FOIA/PA Group “for further
action and an additional
response to you.”
In light of the additional
information you provided,
please be advised that your
request for expedited is
granted." Now we await the
improperly withheld documents.
Why would
regulators even consider
approving this merger? Watch
this site.
***
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