• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Fair Housing Project

A Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina

A Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina

Header Right

  • Resources
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • Services
    • Education & Outreach
    • Legal Representation
    • Fair Housing Advocate Award Recipients
    • Become a Fair Housing Tester
  • Know Your Rights
    • Fair Housing Basics
      • Fair Housing Law Overview
      • Enforcement in North Carolina
      • Resources
      • Our Brochures
      • Our Videos
    • Know Your Rights
      • Race & Color
      • Religion
      • National Origin
      • Sex & Sexual Harassment
      • Familial Status
      • Disability
  • En Español
    • Discriminación en la Vivienda
    • Contacto
    • Publicaciones
  • Calendar
  • Links
    • All Links
    • Fair Housing Working Group
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us

Search Fair Housing Project

Get the Fair Housing Project's Newsletter

Just enter your email below and we'll keep you posted when we have new articles. We won't share your email address and you can unsubscribe at any time. By submitting your e-mail address, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy (http://www.legalaidnc.org/privacy). We use MailChimp as our e-mail automation platform. By submitting your e-mail address, you also acknowledge that the information you provide will be transferred to MailChimp for processing in accordance with their Privacy Policy and Terms (https://mailchimp.com/legal).


Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required

View previous campaigns.

MENUMENU
  • Home
  • News
  • Services
    • Education & Outreach
    • Legal Representation
    • Fair Housing Advocate Award Recipients
    • Become a Fair Housing Tester
  • Know Your Rights
    • Fair Housing Basics
      • Fair Housing Law Overview
      • Enforcement in North Carolina
      • Resources
      • Our Brochures
      • Our Videos
    • Know Your Rights
      • Race & Color
      • Religion
      • National Origin
      • Sex & Sexual Harassment
      • Familial Status
      • Disability
  • En Español
    • Discriminación en la Vivienda
    • Contacto
    • Publicaciones
  • Calendar
  • Links
    • All Links
    • Fair Housing Working Group
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / News / DOJ Sues NY Mortgage Company for Lending Discrimination

DOJ Sues NY Mortgage Company for Lending Discrimination

April 3, 2012by Jeff Dillman

The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit alleging that GFI Mortgage Bankers, Inc., violated the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by charging African-American and Latino borrowers higher interest rates and fees on home mortgage loans than white borrowers. According to the Justice Department’s press release announcing the lawsuit:

From 2005 through at least 2009, GFI charged higher loan prices to African-American and Hispanic borrowers than it charged to similarly-situated white borrowers by charging higher interest rates and fees for home mortgage loans. For example, an African-American borrower who took out a home mortgage loan in 2007 paid on average approximately $7,500 more over the first four years of the loan than a similarly-situated white borrower. For a Hispanic borrower, the difference was approximately $5,600 more over the first four years of the loan than a similarly-situated white borrower. The disparities, based on race or national origin, are statistically significant, and are unrelated to credit risk or loan characteristic.

During the period when the discrimination occurred, GFI had a policy or practice of allowing and encouraging its loan officers in New York and New Jersey to promote loan products, price loans and charge fees in a manner that was unrelated to credit risk or loan characteristics. GFI knew that its loan officers priced loans in ways unrelated to a borrower’s creditworthiness, resulting in thousands of dollars in overcharges for African-American and Hispanic borrowers based on their race or national origin. By providing its loan officers a substantial percentage of the profits generated on each loan, GFI’s compensation scheme provided strong financial incentives to loan officers to price their loan products in a discriminatory manner. Moreover, GFI failed to supervise, train, or adequately monitor its loan officers to ensure that they were pricing loans in a non-discriminatory manner.

During the period when the discrimination occurred, the number of home mortgage loans issued by GFI increased from 974 in 2005 to 2,270 in 2009. At the same time, GFI’s revenue from its home mortgage loan services increased from $305 million in 2005 to $768 million in 2009.

GFI is a New York-based mortgage banker that operates in seven states. Read the DOJ’s press release here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: News Tagged With: African American, DOJ, Latino, lawsuit, mortgage, national origin, race

Previous Post: « Consumer Group Releases New Study on Fair Lending
Next Post: 44th Anniversary of Fair Housing Act »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

More from this Newsletter Issue

Recent Newsletters

  • Newsletter – December 2022
  • Newsletter – Summer 2022
  • Newsletter – Spring 2022
  • Newsletter – Winter 2022
  • Newsletter – Summer 2021
  • Newsletter – Spring 2021
  • Newsletter – Winter 2021
  • Newsletter – Fall 2020
  • Newsletter – Summer 2020
  • Newsletter – Spring 2020
  • Contact Us

    Fair Housing Project
    P.O. Box 26087
    Raleigh, NC 27611-6087
    1-855-797-3247
    info@fairhousingnc.org

    Our Mission

    The Fair Housing Project of Legal Aid of North Carolina works to eliminate housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity for all people through education, outreach, public policy initiatives, advocacy and enforcement.

     

    Legal Aid of North Carolina offers many services, which you can learn about at their website.

    Disclaimer

    The materials contained on this website are for information and education purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Legal Aid of North Carolina does not provide legal assistance by email. Contact the Fair Housing Project or a private attorney if you need to speak with an attorney regarding your particular situation. View our complete disclaimer.

    Copyright © 2023 Fair Housing Project, a project of Legal Aid North Carolina
    224 South Dawson Street, Raleigh, NC 27601 • 1-855-797-3247 • info@fairhousingnc.org
    Website by Tomatillo Design