Bank of America accused of mortgage discrimination

Customers use Bank of America ATMs in Los Angeles.

By Anh Do

Dec. 7, 2013 4:33 PM PT

The city of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against Bank of America, the third banking giant accused of mortgage discrimination in minority communities that in turn led to a wave of foreclosures, reduced property tax revenue and increased costs for city services.

The city alleges that Bank of America “engaged in a continuous pattern and practice of mortgage discrimination in Los Angeles since at least 2004” by demanding different terms or conditions on loans that “vulnerable” borrowers could not afford, according to the complaint filed Friday in federal court.

Bank of America officials could not be reached for comment.

The city is seeking damages based on reduced property tax revenues on the decreased value of foreclosed properties, along with increased costs for city services resulting from foreclosures.

“In order to maximize profits at the expense of the city and minority borrowers,” Bank of America “adapted its unlawful discrimination to changing market conditions,” the lawsuit cited. “This unlawful pattern and practice conduct is continuing through the present.”

City Atty. Mike Feuer also sued Citigroup and Wells Fargo on Thursday, alleging that both banks engaged in predatory lending practices and redlining that saddled minorities with loans they couldn’t afford and resulted in a disproportionately high number of foreclosures in their neighborhoods, compared with white neighborhoods.

Banking officials released statements describing the cases as “baseless” and “without merit.”

Wells Fargo, the nation’s biggest mortgage lender, said it was proud of its record “as a fair and responsible lender.”

Citigroup said its lending standards are “fair to all” and its lending criteria are “blind to race, ethnicity, gender and any other prohibited basis.”

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E-mail: anh.do@latimes.com
Twitter: @newsterrier

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Anh Do

Anh Do, the community engagement editor at the Los Angeles Times, works across the newsroom to spotlight our journalists and journalism, bringing our diverse talent closer to the audiences they serve via virtual and live events. She’s a member of the recruiting team and also represents the paper in communicating with the public who have questions about The Times’ journalistic standards and practices. Before this job, she spent 11 years in Metro covering Asian American issues and general assignments. A second-generation journalist, she has reported for the Seattle Times, the Orange County Register and Nguoi Viet Daily News. Do, born in Saigon, is a graduate of USC with degrees in journalism and English. Her writing on culture and trauma has won awards from Columbia University and the Asian American Journalists Assn. She received Yale’s Poynter Fellowship in Journalism and, in 2016, was part of The Times team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the San Bernardino terrorist attacks. Apart from words, she’s passionate about all things canine, spending nearly three decades supporting dog rescue around the globe.

Bank of America accused of mortgage discrimination

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