08-09-2007, 08:58 AM
|
|
Mercenary
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 293
|
|
We'll see what becomes of this. I do believe Boston has been the site of a study on mortgage discrimination.
Quote:
Countrywide accused of racial bias - Boston Real Estate Blog - Boston Globe
Three African-American mortgage borrowers from Boston accused Countrywide Home Loans Inc. of racial discrimination in a federal lawsuit yesterday, saying the nation’s largest home lender charged them more for subprime mortgages than it charged white borrowers in similar financial situations.
The lawsuit, filed in US Court in Boston, contended Countrywide violated federal housing discrimination laws because the black homeowners in Boston paid higher fees to the network of agents that generate Countrywide’s new customers. The company, the suit said, uses an ‘‘unchecked, subjective surcharge’’ that adds to the total costs of loans for its customers, and black borrowers, it contended, paid more than whites.
The suit seeks class-action status and more than $100 million to reimburse black customers of Countrywide and its subprime subsidiary, Full Spectrum Lending Inc., including about 10,000 in Massachusetts.
Countrywide denied the allegations.
‘‘No other mortgage lender has done more to lower the barriers to homeownership among historically underserved communities than Countrywide, and we do not tolerate discrimination in any of our lending practices,’’ the company said in a statement.
Gary Klein, the Boston attorney who brought this latest case against Countrywide, said yesterday that ‘‘other lenders engaged in similar practices. There’s potential national exposure in the subprime lending industry for a broad pattern of discrimination.’’
Klein’s lawsuit does not provide evidence of how Countrywide allegedly charged black customers more than whites. Instead, he intends to ask the court for internal mortgage information from Countrywide to compare lending patterns for blacks and whites in hopes of establishing a pattern of different treatment.
|
|