FTC accuses Golden Empire Mortgage of bias against Latino borrowers
The FTC says the Bakersfield home lender charged Latinos higher prices for mortgages. A lawyer for the company disputes the allegations.
By E. Scott Reckard
Have mortgage lenders discriminated against minority borrowers by charging them higher interest rates and fees? Fair-lending advocacy groups have long maintained that this is so, and federal consumer protection officials are agreeing in a case involving a California home lender.The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that it had accused a Bakersfield-based mortgage banking company of charging Latinos higher prices for mortgage loans than it charged non-Latino whites. The agency alleged that the discrepancies could not be explained by applicants’ credit histories or underwriting risk - read more