On September 29, 2022, the DOJ announced that it has secured an agreement to resolve allegations that Evolve Bank & Trust engaged in lending discrimination on the basis of race, sex and national origin in the pricing of its residential mortgage loans from at least 2014 through 2019. Under the department’s settlement, which is subject to the approval of the District Court, Evolve Bank will establish a settlement fund of $1.3 million to compensate affected borrowers and will also pay a $50,000 civil penalty.
Evolve Bank, headquartered in Memphis, maintains mortgage lending offices and provides mortgage lending services in 15 states throughout the country. The DOJ conducted an investigation of the bank after the Board referred it for potential fair lending violations. The DOJ found that, from at least 2014 through 2019, Evolve Bank’s loan pricing practices resulted in Black, Hispanic and female borrowers paying more in the “discretionary pricing” components of home loans than white or male borrowers for reasons unrelated to their creditworthiness.
Evolve has already taken steps to revise its policies and practices that resulted in Black, Hispanic and female borrowers paying more for home loans than white or male borrowers. In addition to the $1.3 million settlement fund, the bank agreed to maintain policies that reduce loan officer discretion, employ a fair lending officer who will work in close consultation with the bank’s leadership and provide fair lending training to its personnel.
The DOJ’s announcement can be found here.
A copy of the consent order can be found here.
