Today, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), represented by the Washington, D.C. civil rights law firm of Relman and Associates, filed five civil rights complaints to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development against national mortgage lenders concluding a comprehensive investigation documenting discrimination in lending in violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act.

The companies named in the individual complaints are:

1. Fieldstone Investment Company and its subsidiary Fieldstone Mortgage Company, nationwide retail and wholesale lenders based in Columbia and Baltimore, Maryland.

2. Novastar Financial Inc. and its subsidiary Novastar Mortgage Inc, nationwide retail and wholesale lenders based in Kansas City, Missouri.

3. South Star Funding, a nationwide wholesale lender based in Atlanta, Georgia.

4. EquiFirst Corporation, and its affiliates, Regions Financial Corporation, Regions Bank, Regions Mortgage and EFC Holdings Corporation nationwide retail and wholesale lenders based in Charlotte, North Carolina and Birmingham Alabama.

5. Gelt Financial Corporation, a/k/a Gelt Holdings, Inc., based in Southampton, Pennsylvania and lending in that state, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Florida.

Today's filing, similar to NCRC's complaint against American General's practice's in Baltimore, exposes a national problem of underwriting practices through the use of minimum loan values to redline low to moderate income communities and/or exclude row houses that are situated in African American or Latino communities.

"These companies are denying the dream of homeownership to countless working families." stated John Taylor, President & CEO of NCRC. "NCRC calls upon the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity to stop this blatantly discriminatory policy and ensure equal access to credit for all Americans." According to the 2000 Census, the practice excludes loans for up to 25 percent of homes in metropolitan areas, and has even a greater impact in rural areas.

John Relman, Esq., counsel for NCRC, noted in today's filing that "these mortgage lenders' minimum property value and row home policies discriminate against African Americans and other minorities. The policies serve no justifiable business purpose and further limits access to communities that are already underserved."

NCRC's investigation included "mystery shopping," review of the respondents Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Data, analysis of Census and residential property data, and a review of each companies' underwriting practices. These companies have instituted a discriminatory minimum value policy of denying home equity loans to applicants whose homes are valued at less than $100,000. Four of the lenders (EquiFirst Corporation, Fieldstone Investment Company, Nova Star Financial, Inc. and South Star Funding) also limit or exclude loans made on row homes.

According to David Berenbaum, NCRC's Executive Vice President, "this minimum value policy has both the purpose and effect of discriminating against African Americans and residents of African-American neighborhoods, Latinos and others where the majority of homes are valued under the lender minimum loan value and favoring residents located in majority white neighborhoods. No legitimate business justification exists to justify this blatant violation of the Federal Fair Housing Act."

The complaints, along with comprehensive mapping of the impact of these policies across the country, can be downloaded in PDF format at http://www.NCRC.org.

Consumers who believe that they have been victimized by discriminatory and/or predatory lending practices may contact NCRC's fair housing and Consumer Rescue Fund staff either on-line at http://www.NCRC.org or by calling 800-475-NCRC.

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Source: usnewswire