- The pendulum swings. Many banks were accused of predatory lending - "reverse redlining" - in minority neighborhoods during the housing bubble, but now Santander Bank (NYSE:SAN) is about to be sued by the city of Providence for "redlining" those same neighborhoods in recent years.
- “The attitude is, if we can’t do subprime loans, predatory loans in the black community, we won’t do any loans at all,” says John Relman, the lead lawyer on the case. “For us it is a civil rights issue.”
- The suit claims Santander - which purchased northeastern based Sovereign Bank in 2009 - upped new mortgages in white neighborhoods by 25% over the 2006/07 level, while cutting loans in minority neighborhoods by 63%. Other lenders showed similar patterns, says Relman, but not at the level of Santander.
- Relman in 2008 sued Wells Fargo on behalf of Baltimore and Memphis for "reverse redlining." The bank ultimately settled with the DOJ for over $230M.