In Virginia
Disparate TowneBank Wants
Village Bank Ignoring HMDA Data
and Linkbank Link
by
Matthew R. Lee,
Patreon Substack
FEDERAL
COURT, Dec 4
–
In Virginia, a bank is trying
to move into the Richmond area
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
Application by TowneBank to
acquire Village Bank &
Trust.
But
consider ChoiceOne's disparate
lending
record:
In Viginia in
2023 - in HMDA data not yet
taken into account in any CRA
exam - Towne Bank based on its
marketing made 1282 mortgage
loans to whites, and only 192
loans to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 43
applications from African
Americans, and only 64from
whites. It should be referred
to DOJ.
In North Carolina
in 2023 Towne Bank based on
its marketing made 1107 loans
to whites, and only 80 loans
to African Americans.
Meanwhile it denied 10
applications from African
Americans, and only 92 from
whites.
In
Maryland in 2023 Towne Bank
based on its marketing made
1172 loans to whites, and only
366 loans to African
Americans. Meanwhile it denied
30 applications from African
Americans, and only 40 from
whites.
The new Merger
Guidance should be applied -
that is a test case.
TowneBank filed a
response on December 4, by
Troutman Pepper's Seth A.
Winter who claims data
documenting HMDA data has
nothing to do with a merger -
he should know better, since
he represented
Linkbancorp which was forced
to implement a lending plan
after Inner City Press
documented similar
disparities. It is a bad faith
response.
Why would
regulators even consider
approving this merger? Watch
this site.
***
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