TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Kate Prince on Sep 29, 2022

The U.S. Department of Justice has come to an agreement with Memphis-based Evolve Bank & Trust to resolve allegations of lending discrimination on the basis of race, sex and national origin in the pricing of its residential mortgage loans from at least 2014 through 2019. The DOJ’s complaint against Evolve accuses the bank of engaging in practices which resulted in Black, Hispanic, and female borrowers paying more in the “discretionary pricing” components of home loans than white or male borrowers for reasons unrelated to their creditworthiness. The settlement, if approved by District Court, will require Evolve to establish a settlement fund of $1.3 million to compensate affected borrowers as well as pay a $50,000 civil penalty. The bank will also maintain policies that reduce loan officer discretion, employ a fair lending officer who will work in close consultation with the bank’s leadership and provide fair lending training to its personnel. Read more from the DOJ.