In Battleground
Michigan Disparate ChoiceOne
Eyes Detroit Area via State Bank
But Challenge
by
Matthew R. Lee,
Patreon Substack
FEDERAL
COURT, Aug 27
–
In the battleground state of
Michigan, a bank is trying to
move into suburban Detroit 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
Applications ChoiceOne
Financial Services, Inc.,
Sparta, Michigan; to merge
with Fentura Financial, Inc.,
and thereby indirectly acquire
The State Bank
Kelly
Potes, ChoiceOne’s CEO said
that the proposed "transaction
will allow ChoiceOne to
strengthen its presence in the
suburbs of Detroit while
adding the markets of Flint
and Saginaw." But consider
ChoiceOne's disparate lending
record:
Consider that
ChoiceOne Bank in Michigan in
2023 - data not yet included
in any CRA exam - made 759
mortgage loans to whites, and
only TWENTY to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied
only 246 applications from
whites, while denying 10 of
the applications that, based
on its marketing, it received
from African Americans.
ChoiceOne should be referred
to DOJ.
Meanwhile The
State Bank in Michigan in 2023
- data not yet included in any
CRA exam - made 414 mortgage
loans to whites, and only
THREE to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied only 36
applications from whites,
while denying one of the few
applications that, based on
its marketing, it received
from African Americans. The
State Bank should also be
referred to DOJ.
Why would
regulators even consider
approving this merger? Watch
this site.
***
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