Bank of America Corp. says that charges by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that it discriminated against disabled borrowers are just plain wrong. The company claims that in the cases cited by HUD, it used the more strict standards required on government-insured loans.
HUD issued a statement earlier today indicating that BofA discriminated against homeowners with disabilities. The bank’s actions were allegedly in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
HUD cited two borrowers in Michigan and one in Wisconsin who claimed that BofA required them to provide personal medical information and documentation regarding their disability as well as proof of continued Social Security payments in order to qualify for home loans.
HUD said that the borrowers were turned down prior to providing the requested documentation.
But BofA issued a statement indicating that its policy is to comply with all applicable fair lending laws and regulations.
BofA claims that the three cases cited by HUD involve inconsistencies between the guidelines for determining the duration of disability income awards on loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration versus on conventional mortgages.
“In each instance, we followed the stricter FHA standards and, importantly, all three borrowers received funding for their loans from Bank of America,” the Charlotte, N.C.-based company stated. “There is no basis to allege that Bank of America has engaged in a systemic practice of discriminating on the basis of disability in connection with mortgage lending.”
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HUD Charges BofA With Discrimination
Just weeks after agreeing to a massive servicer settlement with federal and state officials, Bank of America has been charged with discriminatory lending.
