On October 13, 2006, the Department of Justice filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana against Centier Bank under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. 1691. The DOJ alleged that Centier Bank had engaged in a ...
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On October 13, 2006, the Department of Justice filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana against Centier Bank under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-3619, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. 1691. The DOJ alleged that Centier Bank had engaged in a practice called redlining by unlawfully failing to market and provide its lending products and services on an equal basis to majority-minority census tracts in northwestern Indiana. The DOJ specifically alleged that Centier Bank intentionally failed to serve heavily African-American and Hispanic communities in the cities of Gary, East-Chicago, and Hammond.
The two parties entered a settlement agreement that was agreed to by the court on October 16, 2006. Under the settlement agreement, the Defendant-lender agreed to open branch offices during the three year term of the settlement agreement. Centier Bank will also invest $3.5 million in a special financing program and spend at least $875,000 for consumer financial education and outreach purposes.
On January 5, 2010 both parties and the court (Judge Lozano) agreed to an order amending the original settlement by extending the deadline for Centier Bank to open its new branch in Hammond, Indiana.
Similar cases brought forth by the Department of Justice against lenders under allegations of redlining include
United States v. Old Kent Financial Corporation,
United States v. First American Bank, and
United States v. Citizens Republic Bancorp, Inc..
Megan Richardson - 04/03/2014
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