NC announces $13.5M settlement with bank accused of Charlotte, Winston-Salem redlining
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein on Monday announced a $13.5 million settlement with a bank accused of discriminatory lending practices toward Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Charlotte and Winston-Salem.
Working with the U.S Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, Stein argued First National Bank of Pennsylvania engaged in “redlining” by routinely avoiding providing home loans to applicants in Black and Hispanic areas and discouraging them from applying for loans.
“We will not tolerate businesses that discriminate against our people, that is not who we are as a state,” Stein said on a call with news outlets. “North Carolinians’ right to be treated with equality and dignity is foundational to their ability to live happy lives and to be part of a productive state — and when those rights are infringed upon, we will take action.”
As part of the settlement, First National Bank agreed to invest at least $11.75 million into a loan subsidy fund “with the goal of increasing credit for home mortgage loans, home improvement loans, and home refinance loans” in Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, according to the consent agreement.
The bank also will open two new branches in Charlotte and one in Winston-Salem in majority-Black and Hispanic areas.
Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said that the settlement with FNB, which operates 350 branches in seven states, should serve as a warning to other financial institutions.
“Redlining will not be tolerated,” Clarke said. “We are prepared to hold institutions accountable when they engage in discriminatory conduct.”
In 2021, the DOJ created the Combatting Redlining Initiative, intended to go after cases like this one. Clarke said that the FNB agreement is the 12th redlining settlement reached since the initiative’s creation.
This story was originally published February 5, 2024 at 11:51 AM.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misspelled Kristen Clarke’s name and misstated the number of completed redlining settlements.
