As Valley National Bank Redlines and Redacts, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Runaround on FOIA Explifies Regulatory Capture

By Matthew R. Lee, FOIA series

NEW YORK, August 4 -- Some have wondered how large US national banks were allowed to get into predatory lending, why community groups' warnings were ignored, and the meltdown happened.  Well, here is a partial explanation.

   US bank regulators, then as now, find way to exclude public review. Take for example the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, part of the Department of Treasury, and its recent denial of access to bank information under the Freedom of Information Act, and on appeal.

  Beginning in May, Inner City Press began requesting information from the OCC about Valley National Bank and its proposed acquisition of Florida-based 1st United Bank. 

  Fair Finance Watch and other NCRC members showed that Valley National's lending was disparate:  In 2012 in the New York City MSA for refinance loans, Valley National made 2152 such loans to whites and only 38 to African Americans -- entirely of keeping with the demographics and demographics of home ownership in the New York City MSA. Valley National denied 67% of such applications from African Americans, versus only 34.5% of such application from white.

  A first Inner City Press FOIA request about Valley National, the OCC's Rosalye Settles said she mis-understand, putting the entire request on hold then threatening to dismiss it.

  On June 8, Fair Finance Watch filed a second comment, including that:

Valley National has branches only below 88th Street in Manhattan (in which, intriguingly, a "Yellowbrick Real Estate Capital" breaks into the top five in pre-foreclosures).

  Valley National has no branches in Harlem, Washington Heights or The Bronx, predominantly African American and Latinos, low and moderate income areas.

  In Queens, it's Middle Village and Kew Gardens. In Brooklyn, Valley National's branches are along Ocean Parkway and in Bay Ridge. What about East New York, Brownsville, Bushwick and Bedford Stuyvesant?

  On July 16, Valley National submitted a response to the OCC, giving the OCC a full copy and a "redacted" or partially blacked out copy, as provided to Inner City Press,here.
  
  Inner City Press submitted a FOIA request to the OCC challenging the redactions. But the OCC's Marilyn Burton denied the FOIA request, saying it did not request any documents. Click here for the OCC's FOIA denial.

 So Inner City Press submitted an appeal, linking to exactly the redacted documents as Valley National provided to the OCC. But the OCC Frank Vance ruled that this was not an appeal, copy here. All of this while the OCC could haul off and rubber stamp Valley National's merger application any day.

  This is why banks get over. And Fair Finance Watch, and Inner City Press, aim to expose and end these practices. Watch this site.

   

Citigroup's Subprime Settlement on the Cheap A New Predatory Stage, Redlining Like Valley National Bank's Allowed

By Matthew R. Lee

NEW YORK, July 14 -- As Citigroup settles charges for its subprime lending for $7 billion dollars, the amount and the how the settlement is divided is but a new predatory stage.

  Less than 40% of the settlement even arguably goes to consumers who were wronged. The US government itself takes more than half of the money, an even higher percentage than in JPMorgan Chase's $13 billion settlement (in which the $4 million for consumer relief was double the $2 billion the Justice Department took).

  As Inner City Press and Fair Finance Watch repeatedly showed, including to the Federal Reserve, the moment Citicorp and Travelers merged, Citi became a predator. CitiFinancial based compensation on how badly consumers could be gouged, including selling credit insurance of no possible value to the purchaser.

  The Federal Reserve, based on this, imposed a $75 million fine which did nothing to stop Citi's behavior. After the meltdown and bailout, now this is a scam settlement meant to give the impression of a government crack-down. It is not.

   Even while the mega-banks take a pause from acquisitions, needed watchdog work continues on mid-sized banks like Valley National, whose attempt to buy into affluent Florida markets through 1st United Bank is subject to a Community Reinvestment Act challenge and pending Freedom of Information Act appeal by Inner City Press.

  Why were and are communities of color susceptible to predatory lending? Because they are redlined by FDIC-insured banks like Valley National Bank. 

  In the New York City Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2012, the most recent year for which Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data is publicly available, for refinance loans, Valley National made 2152 such loans to whites and only 38 to African Americans -- entirely of keeping with the demographics and demographics of home ownership in the New York City MSA. Valley National denied 67% of such applications from African Americans, versus only 34.5% of such application from white.

   Valley National Bank's branch pattern in New York City is indicative of redlining: in Manhattan, nothing 88th Street, no branches in Harlem, Washington Heights or The Bronx, predominantly African American and Latinos, low and moderate income areas. In Queens, it's Middle Village and Kew Gardens. In Brooklyn, Valley National's branches are along Ocean Parkway and in Bay Ridge. What about East New York, Brownsville, Bushwick and Bedford Stuyvesant?

  Along with groups in NCRC, Fair Finance Watch has shown a similar pattern in New Jersey, where in the Newark MSA for refinance loans in 2012, Valley National Bank made 2338 such loans to whites and only 44 to African Americans.

  But these patterns are not acted on -- rather, longstanding predatory lending like Citigroup's is laundered into a smoke and mirror settlement that is, in context, impunity. Watch this site.

   

Human Rights Applied to NYC City Council, From UN Haiti Cholera Test, Queens Scores Low

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, March 25, updated -- If it's true that all politics are local, then why not from the New York-based UN, embroiled in such questions as war crimes in Sri Lanka andFrance leaving Muslims at risk of attack in the Central African Republic, consider the records of New York City Councilmembers?

  The Urban Justice Center today releases a report card on the Council, assigning grade from A+ down to a C and C- in Staten Island to members of the NYC City Council. 

  The report "revisits two recent land-use projects -- Willets Point in Queens and Seward Park Extension Urban Park Renewal Area in Manhattan, which impact New Yorkers' housing, workers' and government accountability rights. It also discusses the human rights implications of waterfront redevelopment projects in Mill Basin, Brooklyn and St. George, Staten Island in post Hurricane Sandy New York City."

  The UN famously failed during Super Storm Sandy, neglecting to inform Ambassadors when it would be closed and when their cars, with diplomatic plates, could be removed from the UN's underground garages, as Inner City Press reported.

  In Haiti, the UN thumbs its nose at principles of accountability, refusing to even acknowledge service of process of legal papers in court cases from bringing cholera to the Island. 

   But former Mayor Bloomberg is now a UN official, on climate change; Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was going to meet with Mayor Bill De Blasio until it got canceled on the day of the East Harlem gas explosion.

  The Free UN Coalition for Access asked why it was not on Ban's public schedule, but UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said since it got canceled, this did not have to be answered. Isn't the right to information also a human right?

  The view east from the UN is of Queens, and it is notable that Queens Council members score low on human rights, with Peter Vallone Jr. among the bottom three. 

  The top eight in the rankings are all from Manhattan or Brooklyn; the top Bronxite after that represent Riverdale. Have any Councilmembers joined the call on the US Mission to the UN, or State Department in DC, to hold the UN accountable for cholera in Haiti? If all politics are local, they should. 

Updated: the above was published at the March 24-25 midnight embargo time. But on the afternoon of March 25, Inner City Press asked UJC's Research and Policy Coordinator Nicole Bramsted if the reports considered Council members' work on such issues as holding the UN accountable for cholera in Haiti -- or, one might add, extending a human rights monitoring mandate to the UN mission in Western Sahara. Inner City Press also ask for any comment on there being no Bronx (or Queens) Council members in the top eight ranked members.

  Bramsted and her colleague replied that such work is included in the narrative portion of the surveys, for example resolutions for the Senate to ratify CEDAW; low scoring geographies, it was said, could be held up in the spotlight. Watch this site.

   

Bragging of Uptick, BankUnited Excludes Poorer New Yorkers, Summers in Fed Wings?

By Matthew R. Lee

NEW YORK, July 24 -- Alongside the debate on the economy at the national level, amid President Barack Obama speeches and reports he's considering Larry Summers to replace Ben Bernanke atop the Federal Reserve, a sample bank earnings conference call Wednesday told another story.

John Kanas of BankUnited fielded questions from Deutsche Bank, Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse and Inner City Press. He bragged of construction cranes on Brickell Avenue in Miami, and of his bank's four branches in Manhattan and one in Suffolk County on Long Island.

Inner City Press asked if BankUnited's chosen assessment area for the Community Reinvestment Act, to serve low and moderate income people, was only affluent sections of Manhattan and Suffolk County, and for more detail on any plans to open branches in New York City's "outer boroughs" including The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.

Kanas at first asked for clarification -- Inner City Press has questioned him before on these topics, when he led North Fork Bank then at Capital One -- then said that the Suffolk branch is right near the Nassau County line.

Shouldn't BankUnited's CRA assessment area then include Nassau? And how can the lowest income sections of New York City be excluded?

This is a question being asked not only in New York, but also through NCRC by a coalition of groups in Florida.

Earlier in the call, before taking questions, Kanas had bragged that many of "his" deposits came from previous relationships in the New York market. Since North Fork bought Northside Savings Bank in The Bronx, Inner City Press on Wednesday asked if any of BankUnited's deposits come from The Bronx. Kanas said no, they are Manhattan. But is that a fact?

Until earlier this month, Inner City Press used and cited SNL Financial in stories such as these. A request to continue, and specifically about BankUnited, is pending before Christina M. Twomey of SNL's Public Relations. We hope to have more on this - and on Summers and the Fed. Watch this site.

  

After NYC Blizzard, Jail Bus Stuck in Snow, Unplowed Outer Borough Blame Game

By Matthew Russell Lee

NEW YORK CITY, December 28 -- In the aftermath of the NYC blizzard of 2010, the streets left unplowed included Baxter Street, directly behind the Manhattan courthouses and detention facilities.

At dusk on December 27, as Inner City Press was on its way to the courthouse, it came upon an NYC Corrections Department bus stuck in the snow. Exclusive video here.

As several City workers and machines tried to extricate the bus, two police cars were behind the bus with their sirens on. A passerby wondered at the possibility of a jail break.

On 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in front of the Public Library, already the snow was turning to ponds of slush in every crosswalk.

In the outer boroughs, even in the following days, many streets had not yet been plowed. Click here for Inner City Press footage of a street in Astoria, Queens, unplowed two day after the blizzard.

Corrections Dept bus stuck in snow, Dec. 27, 2010 (c) MRLee

Astoria councilman Peter Vallone fils denounced the lack of plowing, saying that emergency services vehicles could not get through and not enough planning had been done.

Astute Astorians have noticed the rundown signs on Vallone's Councilmanic and law office, as well as his name on the City's green garbage cans, taking credit for them.

Bronx state senator Ruben Diaz pere sent out pictures of buses stuck in the snow, noting that none including Mayor Mike Bloomberg had suggested they put chains over their tires.

Those impacted include, for example, a young worker at the A-Wah restaurant on Catherine Street in Chinatown, unable take the subway home to Sunset Park in Brooklyn and so sleeping in the store. The Beijing duck sandwiches and salt chicken are good, but so is a good night's sleep.

There will be a continued blame game until and even after the snow melts. Watch this site.