In the News

The Ascent, December 21, 2022, Major Mortgage Lender Is Accused of Discrimination KeyBank is said to have underserved Black borrowers in the Philadelphia region, according to a new report from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Last year, only 2.2% of the more than 1,2000 mortgages it approved in that area went to Black borrowers. By […]

Times of News, December 28, 2022, Review of RBC’s $13.5B takeover of HSBC Canada shows limits to system: critics BMO set out its benefits plan in late November, outlining more than $40 billion in lending commitments to low and moderate-income households, minorities, small businesses, and community development opportunities. TD is also working through its own

The Billy Penn Newsletter, December 28, 2022, What will Philly’s mayoral candidates do about gentrification? Here’s what they said By the start of the 2010s, Philadelphia was one of the seven most gentrified cities in the country, per a study by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. “Gentrification is our number one problem,” longtime Point Breeze

Small Business Trends, December 26, 2022, A Different Kind of Lender Can Get You the Loan You Need On The Small Business Radio Show this week, Eleni Delimpaltadaki Janis founded Equivico at the nexus of smart investments and social justice. Her organization provides loans for small businesses starting at 2.5%. She believes that social equity and economic inclusion is a lens

Wusa9, January 2, 2023, ‘Now is the time to be bold’ | Muriel Bowser sworn in for historic 3rd term as DC Mayor “Our population crested 700,000, we created an 800,000-job economy, we had a record number of visitors coming to DC each and every year, we drove down unemployment in 7 and 8, we

Tap Into Plainfield, December 26, 2022, Advocacy Group Asks Feds to Require Racial Equity Promises from Banks Before Merger When a bank partakes in illegal redlining, they are withholding loans from people simply because they live in a low income community, and are deemed riskier, a practice that results in neighborhoods that not only suffer

Credit Union National Association, December 19, 2022, Sudden HMDA rule changes require reasonable transition period Credit unions and other financial institutions need a reasonable transition period to comply with sudden changes in the 2020 Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) final rule, CUNA and other trades wrote to Federal Financial Institution Examination Council member agencies. CUNA’s

Bloomberg, December 19, 2022, Big US Banks Fall Short on Promises to Create Black Homeowners Wells Fargo & Co., once the nation’s biggest home lender, has held mortgages on six houses on the block in recent decades, according to those records. Bank of America Corp. had five and JPMorgan Chase & Co. one. Today, those

Next, December 16, 2022, Report calls KeyBank worst major mortgage lender for Black homebuyers The NCRS said it found “indications” of redlining practices in major cities including Philadelphia, Cleveland, Seattle, and others. Redlining means the bank approved mortgages for low-income White applicants at a higher rate than for high-income Black applicants. In 2016, KeyBank pursued

Messenger-Inquirer, December 15, 2022, Old National closing Southtown branch Wade Jenkins, Owensboro market president for Old National, said, “We routinely review our banking center locations to ensure that they are distributed in a way that meet our clients’ needs and banking preferences.” CNBC says that 2,927 branches closed nationally in 2021. And the National Community

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 15, 2022, Advocates urge KeyBank to boost its home lending to Blacks The dispute between the bank and the advocacy organizations became public when representatives from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition in Washington, D.C., said KeyBank made promises to increase its lending to low-income people, Blacks and other minorities in 2016 when

Bloomberg, December 14, 2022, Chicago Taps Brakes on Gentrification With a Tax on Teardowns  Right next to the California stop on Chicago’s Blue Line, one-bedroom apartments in a new luxury building start north of $2,000 a month. Recently built single-family homes on adjacent streets frequently go for $1 million or more. Coffee shops and craft breweries have become

Market Watch, December 13, 2022, ‘This is classic redlining’: A nonprofit ends its relationship with KeyBank over allegations of failing Black home buyers The Justice Department declined to comment on allegations made by the NCRC. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which enforces the Equal Credit Opportunity Act to curtail discrimination in credit transactions and has

The American Prospect, December 13, 2022, KeyBank Promised to Increase Low-Income Lending, Then Did the Opposite “This example is exactly why we need to re-evaluate the merger approval process,” said Jesse Van Tol, NCRC’s president and CEO. A review of the historically permissive bank merger procedures is under way, and sorely needed. For outside groups