Case: United States v. Fleet Mortgage Corp.

1:96-cv-02279 | U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

Filed Date: May 7, 1996

Closed Date: 1999

Clearinghouse coding complete

Case Summary

The Department of Justice filed suit on May 7, 1996, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against a mortgage company subsidiary of Fleet Mortgage Financial Group alleging that the company engaged in discriminatory lending practices. The Department of Justice specifically argued that the defendant charged African American and Hispanic borrowers higher prices for home mortgage loans than comparatively qualified white borrowers by requiring African American and Hispanic…

The Department of Justice filed suit on May 7, 1996, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York against a mortgage company subsidiary of Fleet Mortgage Financial Group alleging that the company engaged in discriminatory lending practices.

The Department of Justice specifically argued that the defendant charged African American and Hispanic borrowers higher prices for home mortgage loans than comparatively qualified white borrowers by requiring African American and Hispanic borrowers to pay higher interest rates or upfront fees. These allegations surfaced after the Federal Reserve completed a routine compliance check with two of Fleet Mortgage Financial Group's branches in Westbury, New York and Woodbridge, New Jersey.

The parties settled the case on June 24, 1996, which was approved by the court. Under the settlement agreement, the defendant was required to establish a four million dollar settlement fund to compensate minority borrowers who the parties agreed had paid higher prices for loans between August 1993 and June 1994. The fund was also to contribute to a fair lending outreach campaign. In addition, the defendant was permanently enjoined from continuing such discriminatory practices.

The case is now closed.

Summary Authors

Andrew Nash (6/2/2008)

Megan Richardson (3/30/2014)

People


Judge(s)

Chrein, A. Simon (New York)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Carter, Zachary W. (New York)

Cohen, Sanford M. (New York)

Griffin, Howard R. (District of Columbia)

Attorney for Defendant

Bennett, Robert Stephen (District of Columbia)

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Documents in the Clearinghouse

Document

1:96-cv-02279

Docket (PACER)

June 24, 1996

June 24, 1996

Docket
1

1:96-cv-02279

Complaint

May 7, 1996

May 7, 1996

Complaint

Fleet Subsidiary to Pay $4 Million to Settle Claims that Blacks and Hispanics were Charged Higher Loan Prices than Whites

No Court

May 7, 1996

May 7, 1996

Press Release

1:96-cv-02279

Settlement Agreement

May 7, 1996

May 7, 1996

Settlement Agreement

[Summary of Case from the DOJ]

No Court

None

None

Other

Docket

Last updated Feb. 19, 2024, 3:03 a.m.

ECF Number Description Date Link Date / Link
1

COMPLAINT filed and no summons(es) issued for Fleet Mortgage Corp. (Learned, Michele) (Entered: 05/08/1996)

May 7, 1996

May 7, 1996

2

ANSWER to Complaint by Fleet Mortgage Corp. (Jean (Entered: 05/09/1996)

May 7, 1996

May 7, 1996

3

STIPULATION AND ORDER of Settlement each party to this litigation will bear its own costs and attorney's fees. ( signed by Judge Edward R. Korman dated 5/7/96 ) (Jean (Entered: 05/13/1996)

May 13, 1996

May 13, 1996

4

ORDER, set status conference for 10:30 8/19/96 before Magistrate A. S. Chrein ( signed by Magistrate A. S. Chrein ) (Jean (Entered: 06/07/1996)

June 7, 1996

June 7, 1996

5

LETTER dated 5/25/96 from Stephanie Singletary to Judge Korman regarding the settlement details as to the 600 customers that were overcharged. (Jean (Entered: 06/12/1996)

June 12, 1996

June 12, 1996

Case closed (Jean (Entered: 06/24/1996)

June 24, 1996

June 24, 1996

Case Details

State / Territory: New York

Case Type(s):

Fair Housing/Lending/Insurance

Special Collection(s):

Multi-LexSum (in sample)

Key Dates

Filing Date: May 7, 1996

Closing Date: 1999

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Section on Housing and Civil Enforcement.

Plaintiff Type(s):

U.S. Dept of Justice plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

Fleet Mortgage Corp., Private Entity/Person

Defendant Type(s):

Bank or credit provider

Case Details

Causes of Action:

Fair Housing Act/Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.

Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), 15 U.S.C. § 1691

Available Documents:

Trial Court Docket

Complaint (any)

Monetary Relief

Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff

Nature of Relief:

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Damages

Source of Relief:

Settlement

Form of Settlement:

Private Settlement Agreement

Amount Defendant Pays: $4,000,000.00

Order Duration: 1996 - 1999

Content of Injunction:

Develop anti-discrimination policy

Monitoring

Issues

General:

Housing

Predatory lending

Discrimination-area:

Lending

Discrimination-basis:

National origin discrimination

Race discrimination

Race:

Black

National Origin/Ethnicity:

Hispanic