by Matthew R. Lee, Patreon Substack
FEDERAL COURT, Jan 9 – In Virginia, a bank is trying to move into the Richmond area via merger, with a disparate lending record. Fair Finance Watch with Inner City Press on the FOIA has filed a timely first comment on, the Application by TowneBank to acquire Village Bank & Trust.
But consider ChoiceOne's disparate lending record:
In Viginia in 2023 - in HMDA data not yet taken into account in any CRA exam - Towne Bank based on its marketing made 1282 mortgage loans to whites, and only 192 loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 43 applications from African Americans, and only 64from whites. It should be referred to DOJ.
In North Carolina in 2023 Towne Bank based on its marketing made 1107 loans to whites, and only 80 loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 10 applications from African Americans, and only 92 from whites.
In Maryland in 2023 Towne Bank based on its marketing made 1172 loans to whites, and only 366 loans to African Americans. Meanwhile it denied 30 applications from African Americans, and only 40 from whites.
The new Merger Guidance should be applied - that is a test case.
TowneBank filed a response on December 4, by Troutman Pepper's Seth A. Winter who claims data documenting HMDA data has nothing to do with a merger - he should know better, since he represented Linkbancorp which was forced to implement a lending plan after Inner City Press documented similar disparities. It is a bad faith response.
And another: Inner City Press on December 12 submitted a FOIA request for Towne Bank's branch closing information, asking for the expedited treatment it routinely gets from other agencies. But the FDIC denied it, being dismissive of the impact of branch closings - and the FDIC took 27 days to deny expedited processing, providing no email address to appeal to.
But on January 9 Inner City Press emailed its FOIA appeal to FDIC General Counsel Harrel M. Pettway, informing him that his agency's "SecureDelivery.us" portal doesn't allow for submission of appeals. Need for reform - and a stay of the application.
Watch this site.
***
Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron.
Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com
