JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. has been accused of discriminatory practices by both the city of Miami and the city of Los Angeles after it was revealed that the nation’s largest bank pushed Black and Hispanic borrowers toward risky home loan products. These practices eventually resulted in a “foreclosure wave that hammered property values and city coffers,” The Los Angeles Times reported. The lawsuits also insisted that JPMorgan has a history of discriminatory practices and “has engaged in a continuous pattern and practice of mortgage discrimination” in both of these major cities since 2004. The lawsuit also slammed the bank for refusing to offer mortgage refinance or loan modifications to Black borrowers.
M&T Bank
A lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan in February accused one of the nation’s largest banks, M&T Bank, of racial discrimination and even had secret tapings to back its claims. The lawsuit was filed by the Fair Housing Justice Center in New York that is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. From 2012 to 2014, the Fair Housing Justice Center sent actors of different racial backgrounds to the bank to see if they would qualify for a mortgage. Black, Latino and Asian homebuyers were frequently denied for mortgages although they presented better incomes and credit scores than the white actors. Many of the interactions were secretly taped. The lawsuit also claims that the bank was caught encouraging homebuyers to move to certain neighborhoods based on their race and, in many instances, urging Black homebuyers to avoid moving into neighborhoods that were predominantly white.
