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| A civil rights complaint has been filed against Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. alleging the national mortgage broker discriminates against African Americans.
Allied branches quote different fees and rates, show little respect and make inappropriate racist remarks to African Americans, according to an announcement from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. The group said it filed the civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Houston-based Allied, which did not respond to MortgageDaily.com’s request for a statement, says it is the largest branch network in the country. “NCRC’s investigation of broker conduct in the mortgage industry has exposed widespread and blatant disregard for our nations fair housing laws,” said coalition CEO John Taylor. In what the Washington, D.C., group has dubbed a Broker Fair Lending Audit, mystery shoppers reportedly conducted over 100 tests in six markets including Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. The coalition, represented by two civil rights and consumer protection law firms, alleges Allied and its branch personnel “engaged in a pattern and practice of discrimination against African Americans and residents of African-American neighborhoods.” “Allied’s discriminatory conduct causes direct injury,” said coalition executive David Berenbaum. “Allied’s brokers’ steering of qualified African American mortgage seekers to non-prime or less advantageous products impedes equal access to credit and reinforces a dual lending market rife with predatory lending.” |
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Sam Garcia worked in mortgage lending for twenty years prior to becoming publisher of MortgageDaily.com. e-mail:Â [email protected] |
