| On Community Reinvestment
Act Northfield Bank Challenged To OCC of
Otting
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- CJR -
PFT
SOUTH BRONX,
March 7 –
The current US
Comptroller of the Currency
Joseph Otting cashed out of
his position with OneWest Bank
in California by overseeing
fake comments in favor its
acquisition by the CIT Group.
Then, emboldened, he devoted
the Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency to weakening
or destroying the Community
Reinvestment Act which
provides for the public
process that he subverted with
fake comments.
Inner City Press, which along
with CRC opposed the merger
and then pursued a Freedom of
Information Act request for
all documents about Otting's
fraud, soon found its and Fair
Finance Watch's comments to
the OCC being rejected, or
ignored, or returned.
Now on
March 6 Fair Finance Watch and
Inner City Press filed timely
comments with Otting's OCC on
the application by Northfield
Bank to buy Victory State
Bank: "Re: Timely Initial
Comment Opposing Application
of Northfield Bank to acquire
Victory State
Bank
Dear Deputy Comptroller
Kiefer, Ms. Cummings and
others in the
OCC:
This is a timely first comment
opposing and requesting an
extension of the OCC's public
comment period on the
Application by Northfield Bank
to acquire Victory State
Bank.
This comment is timely.
While Comptroller Otting has
said he never saw
discrimination (except being
told by family members about
it), consider for the record
on this application that even
as reflected by the
too-limited 2018 HMDA data
available on the CFPB's
website, in New York State in
2018 made 91 loans to whites -
and only TWO to African
Americans, out of proportion
to the demographics of its
service area and of other
lenders' activities in
it.
While making only TWO loans to
African Americans in NYC in
2018, Northfield Bank denied
seven applications from
Africans, much more disparate
that its ratio for whites: 91
loans made, 97 denial: more
than three times more
disparate to African
Americans.
This application should be
denied. And for the record,
the CFPB's elimination of the
HMDA informaiton that has been
available on the FFIEC's and
even its own website for 2017
data is part of the
destruction of CRA and HMDA of
which the OCC is a
part.
On consumer (non) protection,
consider for the record these:
"This has
got to be the WORST bank I've
ever been in. I accompanied a
friend to this Northfield
branch because they had to
take care of a problem. They
had been trying to speak to
the manager about it, but he
was never in. My friend spoke
to someone who said she was
the assistant manager and she
was VERY rude,condescending,
and a know it all. I've
been a businessman for 30
years and have never come
across a person this rude to a
customer before. If she worked
for me, she would have been
fired. Another lady in the
back was talking to a customer
at the window very loudly and
I was almost embarrassed for
them. Totally unprofessional
employees! I had been thinking
of opening an account there,
but after seeing how my friend
was treated, no way! There are
too many better banks in the
area. No wonder it was empty!
Why do they hire people who
give such poor customer
service??I hope their other
branches aren't like
this. It's a disgrace,
and I plan to tell all my
friends and colleagues to stay
away from this bank. I
hope my friend goes up the
chain with their
complaint.
This review is for the 1123
Kings Highway branch which is
not even listed on Yelp. They
are a terrible bank! They are
unprofessional liars. I would
never trust them with my
money.
Also for the record, any and
all possible branch closing or
consolidations which result
from this proposal must be
disclosed, during the comment
period. Public hearings should
be
held.
In this context, the comment
period should be extended so
that public evidentiary
hearings can be held, and the
application should be denied."
While
Inner City Press' FOIA
requests get fee waivers from
the Federal Reserve and a
range of agencies in the US
and beyond, Otting's OCC
suddenly started denying them,
hindering access to the merger
applications on which CRA is
enforced.
Otting is trying
to push through this
CRA-killing proposal on a
short comment period,
cognizant of the other CRA,
the Congressioal Review Act.
Now it's been extended a
single both. It is not enough
- Otting must recuse.
But it is obvious that even
banks want more time.
On January 26, in
advance of Otting's belated
January 29 House of
Representatives appearance,
Inner City Press / Fair
Finance Watch submitted a
formal comment, here.
***
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