Fed OKs Home BancShares Tennessee Proposal Opposed by FFW Says CFPB Not Substantive

Fed OKs Home BancShares Tennessee Proposal Opposed by FFW Says CFPB Not Substantive by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack FEDERAL COURT, March 12 – Home BancShares, whose Centennial Bank has a disparate lending record in all five states it it is, including an office in New York, applied to the Federal Reserve to buy a bank in Tennessee, Mountain Commerce.   Fair Finance Watch opposed it, in comments filed January 19 with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and the Federal Reserve Board which had recently allowed a $7 billion mega-merger to proceed with no Fed review. On March 12, the Federal Reserve Board rubber-stamped the merger. It admitted that the HMDA data cited by FFW was accurate; it added that "In addition, the commenter noted a consumer complaint against Centennial Bank that is publicly available on the CFPB’s website. Complaints based on individual customer transactions generally are not considered to be substantive comments and, thus, generally are not considered by the Board in its evaluation of the statutory factors governing the transaction. See 12 CFR 225.16(c)(3); SR Letter 97-10 (Apr. 24, 1997), https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/srletters/1997/sr9710.htm." But that was about consumers opposing a merger based on their own transaction, not a pattern of comments to the CFPB. The Fed denied FFW's petition for rulemaking that it preserve HMDA which it handed off to the under-fire CFPB. Now the Fed dissed the CFPB complaint database as non-substantive. What's next? From the comment:  Fair Finance Watch has been monitoring Home BancShares and its Centennial Bank and finds that in Arkansas in 2024 Centennial made 870 mortgage loans to whites while denying only 242 applications from whites, while making only 64 loans to African Americans and denying fully 48 applications from African Americans.    This is disparate - and note Centennial's significant decrease in loans to African Americans in Arkansas, from 113 loans to African Americans in 2020 to only 64 in 2024. Now they want to go into Tennessee - FFW is filing opposition and requesting hearings.    Likewise in Florida in 2024 Centennial made 406 mortgage loans to whites while denying only 146 applications from whites, while making only 23 loans to African Americans and denying fully 27 applications from African Americans - that is, more than its loans to African Americans. This is extremely disparate - this application should be denied.   In Alabama in 2024 Centennial made 20 mortgage loans to whites while denying only 11 applications from whites, while making only ONE loan to an African American - extremely disparate.    In Texas in 2024 Centennial made 477 mortgage loans to whites while denying only 151 applications from whites, while making only 14 loans to African Americans and denying fully 12 applications from African Americans. This again is extremely disparate; the proposal should be denied to prevent these patterns from being imposed on Tennessee.     There are extensive consumer complaints against Home's Centennial Bank. Since the Federal Reserve Board now appears dismissive of complaint based on the platform on which they appear, here for the record is a sample complaint from the CFPB site... On January 20 the St. Louis Fed's Senior Manager  Mergers & Acquisitions emailed FFW: "Receipt confirmed." Home BancShares responses emphasized that FFW (and Inner City Press) are "domiciled" in New York. And? On Feb 25 the Fed asked Home BancShares, in its second AI letter, "by March 9, 2026.        Provide a discussion regarding Centennial Bank’s efforts to serve the convenience and needs of the communities within the bank’s assessment areas since the April 3, 2023 Community Reinvestment Act evaluation.    Confirm whether Bancshares plans to apply its risk-management policies, procedures, and controls at the combined organization following the transaction."    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 SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA Mail: Box 130222, Chinatown Station, NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com