| In Battleground
Michigan Disparate ChoiceOne
Eyes Detroit via State Bank
Opaque HELOC
by
Matthew R. Lee,
Patreon Substack
FEDERAL
COURT, Sept 20
–
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.
On September 17,
ChoiceOne calling itself COB
wrote in, inter alia, that
loans "denied were Home Equity
Line of Credit loans, for
which no denial reason is
given. Reporting denial
reasons for HELOCs is
optional, rather than
mandatory for COB, and COB
opts not to report." This is
far from a best practice -
we'll have more on this.
Why would
regulators even consider
approving this merger? 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 480, front cubicle
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 2006-2024 Inner City
Press, Inc. To request reprint or other
permission, e-contact Editorial [at]
innercitypress.com
|
,
