The Department of Justice said Wednesday that a Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffet had discriminated against potential black and Latino buyers.
The DOJ and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in their settlement with the company that they avoided writing mortgage loans in minority-majority neighborhoods in West Philadelphia, Camden, New Jersey, and Delaware. In order to make loans in underserved neighborhoods, Trident will have to set aside 20 million dollars.
According to the DOJ, employees of Trident made racist comments about making loans to Black homebuyers, called certain neighborhoods "ghettos", and posed in front of the Confederate flag.
An assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said thatdent's redlining activity denied communities of color equal access to residential mortgages, stripped them of the opportunity to build wealth, and devalue properties in their neighborhoods.
The company agreed to hire mortgage loan officers in affected neighborhoods as well as pay a fine. The $20 million in loan subsidies will be provided by a separate company since Trident no longer operates, according to the Department of Justice.
Home Services of America didn't reply immediately.
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