January 13, 2017
The HUD official site has announced that the agency is bringing charges of Fair Housing Act violations against Bank Of America in South Carolina.
According to a press release, “The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that it has charged Bank of America, N.A., and two of its employees with violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against prospective Hispanic mortgage borrowers in Charleston, South Carolina.”
Federal Fair Housing laws make it illegal to discriminate against borrowers based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability. According to HUD press release HUDNo.17-004, “The National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a complaint with HUD claiming the bank discriminated against prospective borrowers who are Hispanic by failing to provide them with information about loan products or by offering them loan products with less attractive terms, as compared to prospective borrowers who are not Hispanic.”
The press release adds that before lodging the Fair Housing complaint, NFHA “conducted a series of tests comparing the treatment of Hispanic and non-Hispanic testers who posed as prospective borrowers at a Bank of America branch in Charleston, South Carolina. ”
According to HUD, the tests “showed that the bank discriminated because of national origin by treating the Hispanic testers less favorably” than the testers who are not Hispanic.
The Fair Housing Act case “reflects our nation’s promise of fair housing and equal access to credit for qualified families, regardless of their national origin,” according to Gustavo Velasquez, HUD’s Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, who was quoted in the press release. “HUD will continue working to ensure that lenders fulfill their obligation under the law to treat all applicants equally.”
Fair Housing Act laws apply in all stages of the house hunting process whether seeking an FHA home loan, conventional or other type of mortgage, rental housing, etc.
Borrowers who need to file a fair housing complaint can do so via the HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at(800) 669-9777(voice) or (800) 927-9275(TTY). The FHA/HUD official site says it’s also possible to file complaints online at www.hud.gov/fairhousing.
Joe Wallace has been specializing in military and personal finance topics since 1995. His work has appeared on Air Force Television News, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and a variety of print and online publications. He is a 13-year Air Force veteran and a member of the Air Force Public Affairs Alumni Association. He was Managing editor for www.valoans.com for (8) years and is currently the Associate Editor for FHANewsblog.com.
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