The Department of Justice filed both its complaint and consent decree against the Defendant-lender in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia on March 17, 1992. The DOJ alleged that Decatur Federal S&L had violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA), 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. 1691(a)(1), by intentionally avoiding non-white neighborhoods in Atlanta when expanding its business in the years since fair housing and lending statutes were enacted. In support of its contention, the DOJ alleged in its Complaint that the Defendant did not operate any branch offices in predominantly minority areas in the Atlanta area, did not advertise in minority community media, and almost exclusively hired white employees to market loans to prospective customers.

Under the consent decree entered into by the parties, Decatur Federal agreed to continue and expand its affirmative marketing, advertising, and other mortgage lending outreach programs; to revise the delineation of its lending community under the Community Reinvestment Act; to establish and implement criteria to ensure against any discrimination in its branch activities; to ensure the fair and nondiscriminatory consideration of all mortgage loan applicants; and to continue to monitor its own performance to assure a mortgage lending program free of racial discrimination. Decatur Federal also placed $1,000,000.00 in a Consent Decree Fund to be administered by the United States and distributed to persons whom the United States has identified to as being allegedly aggrieved persons under the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The consent decree continued until March 3, 1999, when it was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Charles A. Moye, Jr.

Andrew Nash - 06/02/2008


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