United States and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. BancorpSouth Bank (N.D. Miss.)

On June 29, 2016, the United States filed a complaint and consent order in United States and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. BancorpSouth Bank (N.D. Miss.).  The joint complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) alleges that the bank failed to provide its home mortgage lending services to majority-minority neighborhoods on an equal basis as it provided those services to predominantly white neighborhoods, a practice commonly known as "redlining," throughout its major market areas in the Memphis Metropolitan Statistical Area; discriminated on the basis of race in the pricing and underwriting of mortgage loans originated by its Community Banking Department; and implemented a discriminatory loan policy or practice of denying applications from minorities more quickly than similarly-situated white applicants in its Mortgage Department, in violation of ECOA and FHA.  The consent order requires the bank to amend its pricing and underwriting policies, establish a monitoring program, have employees undergo fair housing and fair lending training, extend credit offers to unlawfully denied applicants, and open a new full-service branch or Loan Processing Office (LPO) in a high-minority neighborhood, among other injunctive relief.  The consent order also includes a $2.78 million settlement fund to remediate harmed borrowers for pricing and underwriting discrimination; a $4 million loan subsidy program to extend mortgage loans to qualified applicants in the Memphis MSA; at least $800,000 in advertising, outreach, and community partnerships; and a $3 million civil money penalty to the CFPB. The court entered the consent order on July 25, 2016.