Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Mass AG Accuses Lender Of Race-Based Discrimination In Predatory Lending Practices In Civil Suit

(originally posted 6-3-08)
In Boston, Massachusetts, Reuters reports:

  • Massachusetts authorities sued H&R Block Inc. on Tuesday, charging that its mortgage unit discriminated against black and Latino borrowers and escalated a crisis over property foreclosures in the state. The lawsuit is the first by a U.S. state to accuse a subprime-mortgage lender of civil rights violations following a wave of foreclosures of homes in poor, often black, neighborhoods nationwide. The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, accuses H&R's subprime-lending subsidiary, Option One Mortgage Corp, of engaging "in unfair and deceptive conduct on a broad scale."

According to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley in the lawsuit, Option One and its corporate parent, H & R Block, allegedly marketed loans with layers of risky features, including:

  1. 100% Financing,
  2. 2/28 Loans with “Teaser Rates”,
  3. “Stated Income,” “No-Doc” or “Low-Doc” Loans,
  4. Substantial Prepayment Penalties,
  5. Lucrative Broker Incentives to Sell Expensive Subprime Loans.

For more, see Mass. sues H&R Block over mortgages to minorities.

From the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office:

Go here and go here for other posts on alleged race bias in real estate transactions. race bias predatory lending