NY Attorney General Accuses Mortgage Lender of Redlining

On September 2, 2014, the New York attorney general filed a lawsuit alleging that a regional bank engaged in unlawful discrimination by systemically denying access to mortgage loans through "redlining" Buffalo's African-American neighborhoods. According to AG's complaint, the bank created a "Trade Area" map defining its lending area that included most of the city of Buffalo and its surrounding areas, but excluded the predominantly African-American neighborhoods in Buffalo's East Side. This practice also extended to locating bank branches, according to the government's allegations. The bank denies the claims in the complaint, calling them "meritless" and stating that it is confident its residential lending practices met all applicable laws and regulations. The New York case is reminiscent of redlining cases filed by the U.S. Department of Justice during the 1990s, before the housing bubble and expanded mortgage lending, including U.S. v. Chevy Chase FSB which similarly alleged unlawful redlining practices based on the areas the lender excluded from its primary marketing territory.

Read more: The New York Times