Oneman. One idiot.

This is so stupid! The article says the BofA unfairly targeted people who had low credit scores with higher interest rates. I fail to see the correlation between skin color and a crappy credit score. But only minorities get the settlement? I know plenty of white people who got "screwed" by BofA. I say quote unquote screwed because nobody forced anybody to take out a loan. Where did personal accountability go in this country? Didn't anyone listen to their parents when they said "if it sounds too good to be true, it is".

Actually Colleen, I think the article said that the discrimination occurred BEFORE BofA bought Countrywide.

It's not much of a wealth redistribution if you do the math. $335 million split up between 200,000 people averages out to about $1675 per person. Most of them probably get more than that back on their tax refunds every year.

Colleen,

Try reading the article again -

"In today’s settlement with Countrywide Financial Corporation, we resolved the government’s allegations that Countrywide and its subsidiaries – which are now owned by Bank of America – engaged in discriminatory mortgage lending practices against more than 200,000 qualified African-American and Hispanic borrowers from 2004 through 2008," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement."

Qualified - means that those persons financially qualified for normal loans but were specifically given subprime loans because of their skin color. CountryWide being sued into non-existence is the very definition of the "personal responsibility" you want to inflict upon those who are victims of this racist crime...

Wealth redistribution? Of course when you gouge someones elderly mother for drugs to keep her alive (that were probably developed using taxpayer grant money) it's called capitalism, right? The bottom line is that GREED is destroying this country not Obama. I know it's hard to grasp for someone that thinks in such simple terms.

I had a PERFECT credit score and 25% to put down on a home and was turned down!

WHERE IS MY MONEY?????

Obviously the article is not being read as it is written or intended be read, which would be indicated your obvious lack of understanding in your responses to it. The article clearly indicates that there widespread evidence of minorities being given unfair treatment in interest rates and fees when compared to white customers with similar situations, i.e., income and credit histories. The industry of large banks nearly sank our economy and you're out to defend them when their actions were in taking advantage of people? Let's find some smarts here and get some perspective!

Oh yeah, of course this is all Obama's fault. Never mind that it took place under the Bush administration. Never mind that Lawyers will soak up about 340 million of the "settlement" and never mind that John Boehner will find a way to soak the taxpayers for the entire settlement. You people must be insane.

@Michelle-3327398 even less than that if you take out the lawyers fees. This does nothing but make a bunch of lawyers and/or law firms more money. And give some politicians, some more see how much I look out for the consumer rhetoric.

AKRandy

Did you get turned down by multiple loan officers, or just one?

Yes, and since lawsuits like this take only a few months to work their way through the legal systems intead of years and years and years; we can attribute this law suit to the Obama Administration--right moran!

I hope this doesn't affect Brian M's pay package and bonus for the year. How will he make it?

So based on your logic:

1. Countrywide committed a crime

2. They were prosecuted for their crime

That is considered " Wealth Re-distribution " !!!

You Sir/ Ma'am are an IDIOT ! Put that in your little red book !

Hey, Bank of Airholes, arn't cha glad you acquired Countrywide? Here's another fine mess you got yourselves into! You also tried to screw your cardholders with the monthly user debit fee and lost hundreds of thousands customers! We can only assume that no one lost their top job over that mess. Your stock price is almost equivalant to Eastman Kodak's and it's not looking like your inline for another bailout! Karma Baby, Karma!

I don't know if they were doing it based on a persons race. The last mortgage I got right off the bat every time I talked to a loan officer they tried to walk me over to a adjustable loan. Even though I had a good credit rating. Some tried it with even without knowing my credit rating. It was more about them getting the highest commission plain and simple. I am white and they tried it with me. They take advantage of the less knowledgeable. Once you let them know you are on to them. You get the better offers. But not every buyer is sophisticated. When Countrywide was a independant company the CEO Angelo Mozilo admitted the illegal nature of what they were doing. Insider trading, security fraud and giving loans at bargain rates to Congressmen, Senators, Fannie Mae execs, etc. During that time his total compensation 2001-2006 was $470 million . All that was done was he was fined $67.5 million $20 million of which Countrywide will pay. So his penality for this grand scale bribing of government officials and theft was to pay back about 10% of what he "earned" by those criminal acts. Pretty good work if you can get it! Not only did he do this with Countrywide but the failed bank IndyMac was co-founded by him and he sold it off one year before it failed.

First of all, this vine is connected to an article that has changed three times. At the time I posted, there weren't details...but I still believe that these people who were supposedly discriminated against were unqualified to be signing a document if they didn't understand interest rates or the terms of their loan agreement at the time they signed the ppwk.

I do not believe Countrywide discriminated solely based on race. I believe they crapped on everybody they could, regardless of race.

It is more likely they steered more minorities to the subprime loans because they perceived them to be less sophisticated. But if they saw an opportunity with white folks, I doubt they would have let that pass.

but I still believe that these people who were supposedly discriminated against were unqualified to be signing a document if they didn't understand interest rates or the terms of their loan agreement at the time they signed the ppwk.

So if you apply for a loan, the bank gives you that loan at a higher rate then they charge someone else with the same qualifications, you have no way to know what you should be paying, and yet you would say it's perfectly OK that you're being cheated?

It's your own fault?

I bought a house in the beginning of 07. My real estate agent directed me to Countrywide.

After about 15 minutes of the guy trying to convince me that I wanted what I told him I didn't, and him not listening, I calmly gathered up the paperwork, stood up, said, "never mind", as he stammered, and tried to get me to come back, I calmly walked out the door. I ended up getting a loan to through a local bank that worked out fine.

I really don't feel bad about Countrywide getting what's coming to them, but if you can't be bothered to do the homework, and find out what rates you can expect, and SHOP AROUND, then it doesn't matter if you're black white brown or green, you're going to get screwed.

Greedy liars took advantage of lazy stupid people. Either group could have prevented the problem.

And where are the greatest rates of defaults on mortgages?

In minority communities and by minority borrowers.

So actually, Countrywide was doing the right thing by correctly guessing where the greater risk lay.

We got into this financial mess because the Gov't does stuff like these lawsuits. They block redlining of neighborhoods - and then those neighborhoods are all empty now with foreclosures.

The banks are not stupid. The simply want adequate interest for increased risk.

The facts on the ground prove that just because you have identical credit scores - that doesn't make you an equal risk. And different races have different likelyhoods of default at any given credit score.

That's not discrimination - that's reality.

So now we are prosecuting for not giving loans - when the problem was them giving too many loans. The financial crisis wasn't caused by too few loans.

Only Gov't is that stupid. It's time to regulate Washington. You get a chance in Nov. 2012. Tell them that we don't need them running our lives - they can't even run Gov't correctly.

Colleen - what makes you think that? Just because they were African-American or Latino? At least racism is alive and well. Read the article very closely. The claimants qualifications were good enough to get traditional financing (aka, lower rates and fees) but were forced into sub-prime mortgages solely because the bank figured they could get by w/ it. Contrary to popular belief, there are some people in this country who are not knowledgeable as to the intricacies of finance. That doesn't make them stupid. It's intimidating, especially for a lot of people who are first generation home buyers...meaning, their parents/grandparents potentially never owned a home.

Oh God...Severed, I highly doubt you own a home or hold a mortgage, so let me explain. When you go to the bank, to qualify for a loan, they will look over your paperwork and your income and your credit, to determine the AMOUNT YOU QUALIFY for. They don't tell you about property taxes you may need to escrow, they don't tell you about PMI that you may be required to escrow, etc. When YOU, the buyer, goes to buy a home, it is your responsibility to look at the current interest rates, and take those other monthly payments into account to figure out what you can TRULY afford. It isn't the bank's responsibility to show you how to properly budget your expenses. The rate you lock in at, is published daily by banks on bankrate. This rate may vary based on credit score. I can go online right now, enter my personal information (never been asked my race) and find out my rate based on credit score, money down, etc. and then I can shop for it. So nope...I'm not buying it. These people probably had low scores coupled with low money down...the interest rate is higher for that category and it has nothing to do with skin color.

Contrary to popular belief, there are some people in this country who are not knowledgeable as to the intricacies of finance. That doesn't make them stupid. It's intimidating, especially for a lot of people who are first generation home buyers

Yes, buying your first home in intimidating. BUT if you're not willing to put the extra effort and thought in when it comes to buying something that costs a couple hundred thousand dollars, you're either lazy or stupid, and should not be buying a house.

Spencer - i'm so glad that you agree w/ the corporations blatantly discriminating. At some point, a person has to trust who they are doing business with. If I provide all the information and the bank comes back and says that you qualify for a what is considered a subprime mortgage, how would you necessarily know to question that? I'm so glad that racism and discrimination is not only alive and well in this country, but actually supported by a segment of the population.

@ colleen, um excuse me but "supposedly discriminated" and "unqualified" ??? Seems to me it really doesn't matter if it's been updated or not, because your first post (#1.3) is not much different than your post (#1.18). When you read and reread the article I guess you miss the part about the minorities being qualified. You know as far as credit scores and there income.

Either way if you don't have first hand knowledge about anyone that's been effected by this why rant. Your angle just shows where your trying to go with this.

If I provide all the information and the bank comes back and says that you qualify for a what is considered a subprime mortgage, how would you necessarily know to question that?

You're dealing with a huge amount of money, Most likely more than you'll make in several years. If that fact isn't enough to motivate you to talk to numerous business, and get all the possible information you can before signing your name on the line, then you are going to get screwed.

When you buy a tv, you check prices at 3 or 4 different stores. Why do people just use the first place they think of on a mortgage?

Yes there are dishonest people in the world. But if you're not willing to use a little common sense, and some leg work to avoid being taken advantage of, then you deserve what you get.

Spencer- You and me would do what you suggest everyone should do. I don't think you understand how many were ignorant of finacial matters and wereeasily fooled. I know of a few that I had to talk out of taking these sub-prime loans by Countrywide. Countrywide was telling everyone that they could afford these loans. Some that I tried to steer from these loans didn't listen to me and got caught up in the mess. The area in which I live is a very depressed area. Countrywide really done a number on a lot of people here by this "Trust us. We will put you in this house you want." and they were good at this con game. A terrible lesson for so many people.

Gee, very reminiscent of Barry using the CRA and ACORN to sue Citibank for fraudulent redlining loans which resulted in the banks lending to the poor and less fortunate who lied about their income to obtain fraudulent loans that started the housing crisis we are now experiencing. So can Countrywide sue them for lying about their income?

Amil0905

Yes, and since lawsuits like this take only a few months to work their way through the legal systems intead of years and years and years; we can attribute this law suit to the Obama Administration--right moran!

I believe the article credited Barry with a “historic settlement”...which makes me wonder HOW it got through the system so quickly and if this isn’t another political ploy to get the vote.

And where are the greatest rates of defaults on mortgages?

In minority communities and by minority borrowers.

Then why did Bush JR in late 2003, as part of his re election campaign, sign the American Dream Down Payment Act? Pushing for 5.5 million minority families to have us tax payers foot the bill for their down payments at the tune of 200 million per year.

Clearly anyone with a brain knew this would end in utter failure. Hell, he was even told as much in 2004. Bush was never a person to listen to anyone though.

Then again, when it's all about the votes, we have come to expect this.

Here are some excerpts of the speech Bush gave about having 5.5 million minority Americans in a home by the end of the decade.

Last year I set a goal to add 5.5 million new minority homeowners in America by the end of the decade. That is an attainable goal; that is an essential goal. And we're making progress toward that goal. In the past 18 months, more than 1 million minority families have become homeowners. (Applause.) And there's more that we can do to achieve the goal. The law I sign today will help us build on this progress in a very practical way.

Yet, within the first year of signing this Act, he was warned about what we are experiencing now.

Many people are able to afford a monthly mortgage payment, but are unable to make the down payment. So this legislation will authorize $200 million per year in down payment assistance to at least 40,000 low-income families. These funds will help American families achieve their goals, and at the same time, strengthen our communities.

The part in bold would be true if lenders didn't use predatory lending practices, lie to the government about if a person could actually make the payments, and use uneducated people to put into an ARM, just to jack the interest up down the road.

The problem with Bush JR trying to get the minority vote, was that it led to the housing collapse we are seeing now. Not only did our tax dollars go to the banks for the down payments, we were also blessed with bailing them out when all their underhanded crap finally failed on them.

Well of course blacks and hispanics were charged a higher interest. Do not our media and government always tell americans that blacks and hispanics are behind when it comes to higer paying jobs. Duuhhhh! Our favorite african american attorney general has done it again!!!!

Well when you have a low IQ you have too think in simple terms ....... LMAO

Countrywide sold me one of there ARM's I was only 23 so didnt understand everything I should of. It got tough but I buckled down though it and am now enjoying a 1.5% rate. But I dont get anything because Im not a minority. Seems kinda discriminatory.

You and me would do what you suggest everyone should do. I don't think you understand how many were ignorant of finacial matters and wereeasily fooled

If you are that ignorant about money, then you definitely aren't knowledgable and responsible enough to buy a house, and I can't imagine you would have a credit score high enough to qualify you for a house.

The man is an Oompa Loompa.

In the business world all Criminal Activity is punishable by a Civil Penalty. So the business can write down Crime as a Business Expense!

They can rip us off, and when they get caught, they can write off the loss, ripping us off again (as a tax deduction). After all, they need to rip us off to create jobs. <sarcasm>pfft libs don't get it...</sarcasm>

john "i don't know where the money went" corzine

335 million to cover-up upward of 6.7 billion in fraud that sound slike a good deal to me for the banks.

Don't forget. Mozillo is a friend of Obama's and arranged lots of "interesting" or rather "Low Interest" loans for several people in Obama's Chicago neighborhood. Perhaps for Obama himself. They're all a bunch of crooks, including Bank of America.

"We got into this financial mess because the Gov't does stuff like these lawsuits"
Wrong! We got into this mess because banks started giving out too many mortgages to people who couldn't afford to pay them off. Then they sold these sub-prime mortgages off, after they got rated AAA by the rating agencies of course, to investors who thought they were getting good deals. The banks were actually selling these mortgages to investors and then betting they would fail! Sounds like a lack of regulation to me. The banks got stupid. But so did the government for getting rid of the old regulations in the first place like Glass-Steagal. Sorry to break it to you but we need some regulations in place so they can't scam us out of trillions of dollars. Although I do agree with your sentiment that they can't the government properly and need to be voted out.

Whoa there Ryan! You need to check your backwards self. By giving minorities higher rates and riskier mortgages you are essentially making it more likely they would default. Your ignorance on this matter is essentially why Countrywide/BoA has been successfully sued. I'm not even sure how to communicate with a person such as yourself when your view of the world is so skewed.

You said: So now we are prosecuting for not giving loans - when the problem was them giving too many loans. The financial crisis wasn't caused by too few loans.

The problem wasn't that they didn't give the loans. It was that they gave the loans, but at a higher interest rate when they charged everyone else a lower rate based on their underwriting criteria. Racism at it's finest. Not sure how you could defend that unless you were racist.

Selfmade.

That generalization is the basis of the suit and settlement.

Everyone deserves to be rated as an individual.

FULL HOUSE-When a person is a higher risk you need a higher interest rate to cover the potential loss. You do not give a risky mortgage-you make a risky mortgage and when you do you better get a higher interest rate. This is now happening to the US-lenders/credit rating companies think it might be harder for the US to pay off the debt so the interest rate on new bonds will be higher

FullHouse

No actually it was caused by many things

1. The govt being in areas where they had no business being...practically mandating that those people who most of had ABSOLUTELY no business buying a house at anytime mostly because they could not afford it.

2. Real Estate agents playing fast and loose with the rules that should have stopped most people.

3. Banks not requiring various types of documentation that should have been needed like Employment and earnings documentation and actual disposable income after everything is paid for for the month.

4. A reasonable amount of down payment (doing a 100% financing that everyone knew was a sucker bet at best.)

5. Buyers commiting fraud by consistently overstating things on their end often with the assistance of the Realtor Agent i.e. I make $8500.00 a month when I really only make $3500.00

There is more than enough blame for everyone on those types of loans and the people who took them need to blame theirselves as much as everyone else. They were stupid for signing those contracts and they sound and look like cry babies on TV when they whine about how unfair it all is to them. GROWUP!!!!!

This is no surprise that BofA as well as the 5 other major US Banks have been involved in some type of fraud, stealing from customer bank accounts is just one of the many fraudulent activity these corrupted banks have been apart. Here is another confirmed and credible story about corruption at BofA.

The source previously was a Bank of America Corporate employee, but actually worked for Balboa Insurance, a firm which used to be owned by BofA to keep track of loans for lenders. The emails are dated from November 2010 and are communication between Balboa employees. The leaker seems to have proved employment authenticity by attaching copies of paystubs, an ID badge, and an unemployment form. This ex-employee describes him/herself as:

An email from Balboa operation team manager Jason Vaughn requested to have "images removed" from Balboa's internal tracking system, "Rembrandt/Tracksource," for 50 - 100 documents related to lender GMAC. In reply, another Balboa employee, Joan Anderson, said the document tracking numbers ("DTN's") could not be removed from Rembrandt. However, the "loan numbers" could be removed so that the "documents will not show as matched to those loans." Since the request to remove the numbers was "unusual," Anderson requested " upper management approval."
Source:http://blogs.computerworld.com/17970/anonymous_leaks_allegedly_expose_bank_of_america_mortgage_fraud

.

good comment

So Minorities got higher interest rates, and politicians got the lowest rates, whether they were a minority or not. I seem to remember it was Frank or Dodd that had gotten the sweetheart loans from Countrywide. Civil Servants? or Crooks? you decide.

Selfmade - That is exactly what the ACTUAL figures show.

Minority borrowers and communities have the highest default rates (at equal credit levels). Every race is not the same in it's behaviors. That is fact. Some races walk away from commitments like children more easily. There are plenty of facts that prove that. A home purchase is a big commitment (not as big as a baby).

When they give MORE scholarships to minorities (based on their percent of the general population) - the Gov't has no problem. Same thing with Gov't contracts having minority quotas.

But suddenly, when the private sector correctly sees that minorities have a higher risk of default at a given credit score - and then correctly assesses them as riskier - that is discrimination.

Please.

Record amounts of loans were given out. If anything, all loans should have been seen as riskier. In this non-whitegroup they actually got it right, but they get taken to court by the Gov't not because they didn't get the risk level right - or gave them the wrong loans - but because they didn't screw up and asses the risks too low, as they did with white people.

Essentially the Gov't is saying: "You screwed up by giving out too many loans (at record low interest rates) - you will no be punished for not giving those to everyone reguardless of their risks".

The blatant racism of the Gov't (especially the ObamaCrats) is plain. They say the banks should have made less loans and assessed risks on them higher as long as it was for a white. But they should have made more loans and assessed risks lower for minorities. All that despite overwhelming evidence that whites were better risks than the minorities with the same credit scores.

So its dumb for the people who signed these loans to complain but its perfectly fine with you that the government bailed out in the order of hundreds of billions of dollars the companies responsible? You don't see the injustice or inequality in that?

I wonder how many of them defaulted on their mortgages?

I'm sure there were plenty of non-minorities that were also taken advantage of - why are only minorities getting the money? Oh yes, I forgot that Holder is only concerned about 'redistributing' money to minorities.

Kent -

The Gov't could easily have said: "Countrywide had to low a risk assessment on all loans, but even more so when it was to a white".

I don't agree with it based on the actual risk, but they could have said it that way.

The problem is it wouldn't get a settlement and it wouldn't have produced a "payday" for a minority constitutency. Do you think even this Administration would have pushed for higher rates for the whites that suppossedly got "too good" of a deal?

But we all know that Countrywide didn't see the risks of default as HIGH enough for nearly all their loans. That even includes those non-whites in this settlement. They should probably have been seen as EVEN RISKIER - instead Countrywide is called discriminators for daring to nearly get the risk level right.

Bank America regrets the day they bought Countrywide, they were deceived and pay big time for that mistake. Mozzillo is a crook but will never be prosecuted because it's not against the law to make money off stupidity.

B of A employs a lot of good people who pay the price every day.

To IO812:

When a person is a higher risk you need a higher interest rate to cover the potential loss. You do not give a risky mortgage-you make a risky mortgage and when you do you better get a higher interest rate

I ask, is it your contention that because a person is a minority he or she should pay higher interest? Should not the banks and mortgage companies base the interest rates on the documentation and not ethnicity or skin color?

According to the article, many of the minorities qualified for traditional loans, but were steered into higher interest sub-prime loans. These people were defrauded, plain and simple.

Ryan in Texas and Satinick:

And where are the greatest rates of defaults on mortgages?

In minority communities and by minority borrowers.

So actually, Countrywide was doing the right thing by correctly guessing where the greater risk lay.

The states with the most foreclosures are Nevada, Arizona, Florida, California, and Utah. These are states, in many cases, with more majority, than minority citizens. Therefore, you should review your assumption that most of people who defaulted on their home loans are minorities.

While many lower class and minorities did default on their loans, because the banks and mortgage companies set them up with ARMs, interest only or balloon mortgages, many more people defaulted because they (majorities) purchase more house than they could afford or took the equity out of their homes. When many of these people were laid off or could not get a job making what they used to make, they could not afford to pay the mortgage and were forced to foreclose on their homes.

For the one who suggested all the minority home buyers are the sub-prime lenders; fact is that Countrywide got up to their ears in subprime lending they in fact were in the middle of. Which is how BofA got all these lawsuites as they tried to pass those subprime loans off to others from treasury, to AIG, to others. So if they were being a bit racis as this article suggests AND they got in over their heads on subprime lending AS WELL; then what... Did they get into their subprime lending mess, but specializing on subprime loans for so-called white trash?

I mean, lets think about both sides of this, and both groups of lawsuites that BofA is receiving of late, due to their Countrywide buyout.... Fact is, that even with the lawsuite this article mentions, BofA still has been the defendent on many cases from this or that business or entity that didn't enjoy having Countrywide's sub-prime loans packaged off to them, advertised as something other then what they were....

Banks are not allowed to discriminate and charge higher rates for minorities. But don't let a law get in the way of corruption.

However, I read somewhere that there are more lower class and minorities defaults, but larger dollars in the higher income areas, which makes sense. So each is larger, depending on whether you look at dollars or volume.

But CRA did put pressure on lenders to lend to lower income people, amny being minorities.

While many lower class and minorities did default on their loans, because the banks and mortgage companies set them up with ARMs, interest only or balloon mortgages, many more people defaulted because they (majorities) purchase more house than they could afford or took the equity out of their homes. When many of these people were laid off or could not get a job making what they used to make, they could not afford to pay the mortgage and were forced to foreclose on their homes.

I would add one caveat, without necessarily to argue how many are what.... People who bought "the amount of house" they could afford AT THE TIME, given their current financial and job situation (albeit this then wouldn't be subprime lending); who got hit hard by the recession. Layoff hit, job market bad, had to settle for a smaller job with fewer hours, and lousier pay; and suddenly what they COULD AFFORD at the time they took the loan out, no longer remained the case.

Considering the time frame on many mortgages (like 20 and 30 year mortgages), how many during the dot com bubble of the late 1990s expected that in 10 years their jobs would get outsourced to China, the economy would enter meltdown, and they'd stand to lose their jobs, else face severe hours cuts, as this or that business was reeling from what came out of the collapse of Leaman Brothers... And although a wise investor will make some contingency plans, in case things don't continue as they have been, aka a rainy day fund; there are limits to anyone's prognostication ability. And some had been on unemployment the full 99 weeks, and still faced troubles, else ended up having to settle for the type of job that traditionally high school students filled, to feed their families with.....

Well there's your problem right there. Whenever any of these mega corporations/banks are caught in any sort of wrongdoing, they're always allowed to "settle." If the corporations want to be treated like people, then they should suffer the same consequences that ordinary people suffer when caught doing wrong. They should be punished WHILE they pay their restitution. This is why America is going to hell. The people with the money can buy anything they want, including legislators, laws, and exemption from prosecution.

Has no one ever sought a consumer loan? The lower the persons credit rating the lenders assume that the risk is greater, hence the higher interest rate. Remember car ads that offerred low interest rates for "well qualified" buyers, <read high credit ratings>. Seems that other qualifiers need to take precedence over just putting such weight on the credit rating.

We need to wean ourselves off of credit whenever possible or at the very least understand the risks and the cyclical nature of economies.

They were not evaluating risk correctly and it wasn't only the minorities they misled. I am white - I attended a foreclosure auction in Orlando Florida where Countrywide was the lender that you prequalified with. The informed me that I could afford a $900.00 monthly payment. Luckily I knew better because I'm 50 years old and have worked in finance most of my life. If I had followed their advice and got into a bad loan situation would I be part of this suit? I thank god every day that I didn't follow them blindly. Where is the justice for the white people they misled with false information. Actually they should be paying every single citizen because we've all been affected indirectly in some way.

You realize the only people really benefiting from this law suit is the lawyers that got paid big bucks.

I agree that those in charge should be going to jail. They got the big bucks for stearing the company down that path, they should have to serve the time for it.

I am absolutely not a racist

Kent, they always say that to take the sting out of saying something racist.

PLease tell me where it has been shown over and over again that a minority with the same credit score and circumstances as a white borrower is more likely to default. I'll concede it's possible, but have not seen such a study.

Well of course blacks and hispanics were charged a higher interest. Do not our media and government always tell americans that blacks and hispanics are behind when it comes to higer paying jobs. Duuhhhh! Our favorite african american attorney general has done it again!!!!

335 million .....wow they loose a whole days worth of fees paid by the customers, nothing like a little slap on the hand to set things right!

The lawsuit and most of the comments are all racist. If a person is higher risk than his/her credit rating should reflect that not the color of that persons skin. You can't lump everyone into high risk because of an assumption of risk based on other people of the same colors performance. Then again how right is it for the government to award such a judgement to a class of people based on the same thing? Not right at all, now the government has excluded whites and asians, which is just as racist.

Another illegal, predatory, oppressive and racially disenfranchisement tactic used by America's banks. Yes, these bank executives should be in criminal court. These executives wield a tremendous amount of financial authority over the lives of so many of our citizens. To deliberately economically suppress a racial segment of the U.S. population is the height of socially irresponsibility and commercial debasement!

These lofty criminals should go to jail.

The correlation of defaults to minorities, which so many of you love to jump on, is much less than the correlation to income and credit score... both of which make the minority correlation irrelevant. Like anything else, it is illegal and unreasonable to discriminate by race versus using real measures like income and credit score. Some minorities generally make less and generally have lower credit scores as a result... so what. They/we are all individuals. The credit application is tough and provides the right information for a sound loan decision. That is NOT what this is about!

Countrywide was found to have "steered" minorities towards higher interest and riskier loans. "Steering" is a huge deal in Real Estate and in the loan business. The laws governing cheating non-minorities are not so clear... non-minorities are never steered, they are just screwed.

So we shouldn't bemoan their award, we should demand our own... these scumbags cheated us all and drove the largest economic failure since the Great Depression. Keep the focus on the right target, people!

LMarcT I agree I had a Hispanic salesman try his hardest to sell me an Arm, he worked for Remax. I'll never forget he was pushing that ARM on me hard. I tried to insist on using the VA Loan (which I endorse for anyone who can use it) but he wouldn't because the VA won't allow them. SMH as a minority I believe all people who were screwed should reap the rewards from this settlement-not just minorities...

Countrywide sold me the exact same mortgage. But I don't get compensated. Why because im not a minority. Seems kinda discriminatory.

It got tough for awhile but I wasnt over extended and now am enjoying a 1.5% interest rate. Still paying same as always and knocking the hell out of the principal. Still gonna have to refi soon because of what could happen.

KSte,

I had an aggressive loan or two myself but went in with "eyes wide open". I knew I was moving within 2 to 3 years and the market was hot at the time.

Were you "steered" or did you get the loan because that's what you could qualify for at the time? Because your situation could be an example where they gave you a loan that you might not have had a prayer of getting otherwise, then you made the best of it and now enjoy home ownership.

The point is that these loans weren't all bad given the right conditions. These people are receiving compensation because they were qualified for cheaper/better loans but were steered to more expensive and higher commission loans instead.

Amazing, I'm actually reading comments here that are advocating racism. Suggesting that an INDIVIDUAL person should be treated in a negative manner purely because of their race.

And I guess once you've loaded them with a sub-prime mortgage and made it MORE LIKELY that they will default (than if they had a fixed-rate) then you can perpetuate this racism by continuing to say that "well, the minorities are the ones that default more often".

Absolutely unbelievable.

I already had a loan with a 6.75% rate but was convinced on how great these loans were. So you could say steered or cohorsed into that type of loan. Im not looking for hand outs but if anybody gets something from a faulty service then everyone should get something not just a selected group. They were telling me how hard these loans were to get and thats why there was such a high commision on it.

When I click into a NewsVine comment page such as this one, I feel as though I'm walking into the middle of a Batman fistfight already in progress. All I need are some cartoon expletive balloons and a studio horn section to blast each and every punch and kick.

Uncontrolled Greed. That is who to blame for this Bunch Of Ahole$ issue. Many people on both sides of each transaction are culpable.

Carmarie, its does not make sense to say those states are not a majority of Minorities, hence the word Minority. No state would fall under your category. BUT the states you mentioned if you check the census are higher minority. Nevada 27% hispanic, Arizona 30% hispanic, California only has a 57% white population, Florida 38% minorities.

The facts are Bank of America got a bad deal buying Countrywide. This was a company that was known to take high risk clients and give them loans. Even I as a white person had a high interest loan by them on my first house. They didn't just give them to minorities. If there wasn't a lawsuit like this,there would be another labeled minorities can't get loans, banks discriminate.

this is karma, pure and simple. This is the third class action lawsuit they have lost this year after our tax dollars bailed them out and they turned around and loaned our goverment billions at higher interest rates. they are worthless.

As I read this article, I was struck by the lack of detail about the investigation and the basis of this suit by the Department of Jusstice. Then, the last sentence caught my eye: "The Justice Department's civil rights division has about 20 investigations open into allegations that financial institutions engaged in discriminatory practices against minorities buying homes."

It made me wonder why the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ was bringing this suit, and several others like it, rather than the Financial Fraud unit's National Mortgage Fraud Task Force. This unit was instituted by Obama in 2009 specifically to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.

Though a little further investigation, I found the answer to questions being asked by several on this thread:

The Civil Rights Division investigated ONLY mortgages from Countrywide taken out by minorites. For all they know, there could be ten times as many sketchy subprime loan made to white people. But, they didn't care to investigate those. They were ONLY concerned with getting money returned to minorities.

Amazing, I'm actually reading comments here that are advocating racism. Suggesting that an INDIVIDUAL person should be treated in a negative manner purely because of their race.

And I guess once you've loaded them with a sub-prime mortgage and made it MORE LIKELY that they will default (than if they had a fixed-rate) then you can perpetuate this racism by continuing to say that "well, the minorities are the ones that default more often".

Absolutely unbelievable.

Bingo. A lot of racism and circular logic is being practiced here.

They're telling me a black person with a 680 or a Hispanic person with a 720 credit score is MORE LIKELY to default on a home lone than a white person with the SAME creditworthiness with the SAME LOAN?

So they're suggesting that there is something inherently wrong with people that have melanin which makes them irresponsible to the point where they cannot pay their mortgage for months??

Have you folks ever thought about the fact that these balloning subprime rates are the REASON that non-whites default on these loans at a higher rate?

More blaming the victim and justifying predatory lending that has not only affected the non-white buyers who lost their homes because of this deceitful practice (and i'm sure non-creditworthy whites were similarly conned) but the whole property/real estate industry.

These powerful racists were giving bad loans to non-whites (who should have asked more questions or had a financial or legal representative present and BEEN SUSPICIOUS of these white people offering those loans) AND LITERALLY PLACING BETS THAT PEOPLE WOULD DEFAULT ON THEM!!

How dispicable can you get?

Ryan, oi812 et al: That stuff you're spewing is just BS. Quite a few of my non-minority friends, with and without sub-prime loans, have defaulted on their mortgages. And for you Ryan: some of my non-minority friends walked away from other commitments (re:children; that was a nice little racist dig you threw in there) I'd also like to see a study of the other bigoted stereotypes your claiming as fact. What you fail to realize is that if you set someone up to fail the probability of failure is higher. All things being EQUAL, if I charged you 7% interest and someone else 4.35% interest, who do you think would have the easier time repaying the loan? Who would have the harder time, thereby increasing the probability of defaulting? Sheesh, do you even read the stuff you type before hitting enter???

It's the attack of the GEN Y diversity police.

Oh please. It is this mindset that allows things like this to happen. You were probably in support of the CRA too weren't you?

The CRA being a Democrat program and all and the impetus for approving all of those bad loans to begin with.

Flex, I'm bewildered at how a dolt like you gets by in everyday life. Bewildered.

Let's see- in direct result of the Enron scandal and the subprime mortgage mess two bipartisan bills were passed to help protect consumers and defend against these sort of things happening again, the Frank-Dodd Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley act... both of which every single serious Republican presidential candidate says they want to repeal.

I am bewildered by your bewilderment Puffhead.

Yes they are guarding our liberties.

Are you good with math? Take 335 Million (the settlement) and divide by 200,000 (the number said to have been discriminated against). That equals a pay out of $1,675.00. Do you think that Countrywide made more off these families then $1,675.00? You bet your sweet tush they did.

This wasn't defending our liberties. This was bribe money. I'm willing to bet the people discriminated won't even see the full $1,675.00.

Todd-Kicks,

Both of those bills won't defend us and won't put a single executive in jail. They are actually designed to protect the big boys like BofA and institute too big to fail.

So "Really?", Countrywide got caught with their hands in the cookie jar overcharging people and denying people loans and you STILL contend that those darned liberals forced banks to make loans? Seriously? How does that work?

todd-KCKS Dodd/Frank Bill was after the r horses left the barn-Funny those two were the ones that blocked Bush for 5 years when Bush tried to reform Freddie/Fannie, which were at the heart of this whole mess. Don't you just love it when you can cause the meltdown of the global economy and then make a bill to cover your butt

Hey Huh, what was your interest rate? Even if it was the lowest anyone could get, guess what, Dodd got a better one. Doesn't that bother you that a Civil Servant gets a better loan for making laws that benefited Countrywide? And I don't care if Frank and Dodd are Republicans or Democrats, bottom line is that they are crooks.

Cniht-

you are right, they won't put an executive in jail for things that happened before it was passed- that would be in violation of ex post facto as stated in the constitution. But going forward violations will include financial penalties and potientially jail time. What happened at the time of the prime morgage fiasco was not illegal and therefore no one can be arrested. However if you check- most of the high ranking Enron Management did go to jail for violating existing laws. SOX is mostly about disclosure laws to help prevent corporations from lying to and blind siding investors.

Bet BofA regrets buying countrywide.

Liberals suck.. Rotten hippy mentality, anti american anarchists. .Yeah, i know. It's all Bush's fault right?..

I have never in my life seen a bank "go after" anyone forcing them to take a loan. However, I have seen people go into banks asking for money.

Then when they cannot or will not make the payments they cry racism or blame the banks for giving them the money in the first place.

Idiocy.

That's not what happened. Countrywide directly marketed loan products toward minorities, via mail, email, and phone contact, with unreasonable promises that were part of deals that seemed "too good to pass up", knowing that they were creating bubbles, knowing that those bubbles would burst. If this were a case of abusive borrowers, that would be clear, and your argument would be sound. However, this was NOT the case. If you have never seen banks "go after" anyone, you're either very fortunate, or smart enough to trash those deals. If so, good for you...you're better off for that.

Why do you have to bring race to this? It's not about forcing the people to take loans, READ THE ARTICLE, but charging higher interests. I bet you believe no big business tries to take advantage of anybody, or whites are saints.

To Really?-1739510: I hate to disagree with you but I HAVE seen a bank not only 'go after' people to get them to take out one of the sub-prime wonders but also make it look legal when they did it! I worked in the bank and was at lunch with a group of them and they even (in jest) suggested to a new co-worker that they could give him a 'good new loan' for his new house that he needed. His response was "I wouldn't TOUCH one of those loans if you GAVE it to me!" At the time, I had no idea what he was referring to. You are very misinformed if you think they didn't 'go after' what they referred to as 'what the market would bear' and they didn't care how they did it only that they would get the credit for it meaning a bonus or a raise for being the best at it.

All advertizing is targeted at a specific group.

Advertizing loans is no different. Just because the bank advertized these loans and even if their claims were bogus, as MOST ads are, the borrower is still responsible.

Unless they were forced to sign the loan documents under duress, they are responsible.

@Diana

I am not as mistaken as you might think. Bankers and used car salesmen have a lot in common and I know enough not to trust either.

However, unless the bankers literally drag someone in off the street and force them to take out a loan, the borrower is just as guilty, if not more so as they only claim ignorance when the foreclosure process starts.

I bought 2 homes during this period and both times I had to INSIST on a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.

The high pressure sales pitch was on in both cases. All about how your initial payments would be so much lower, blah, blah, blah.

Later, it came out the the reps writing the mortgages got big bonuses and kickbacks for each adjustable rate, sub-prime, interest-only or balloon mortgage written.

It was all bad for the consumer, and you had to INSIST (even threaten to go elsewhere) to get what was best for you.

People with less than stellar credit, could't easily threaten to go elsewhere.

Usually elderly people don't buy homes, because of upkeep, maintenance, and they usually almost, always have their homes purchased and paid for.

You know "really", I'm starting to think there is NOTHING you right wingers won't take any personal responsibility for. You're probably a Newt backer aren't you?

Really?-1739510... You're an idiot! People who go in applying for a mortgage like anyone else, think they are doing everything correctly, only to find they were intentionally duped into paying more. How is that they are at fault? I think it's a shame that this would happen to anyone due to race, age sex, etc. These were people who qualified for better loans it's not like they were dead beats. I detect a "hint" of bigot as far as you are concerned.

Max,

They often refinance to pay for needed repairs, enter into reverse mortgages for needed money or sell to move to a warmer climate.

So, yes they commonly deal with loan officers in banks, and in retirement on a fixed income, they can easily be given lousy rates, high fees, bad loans.

serious, I've seen this happen myself too. Bank Against Aamerica is paying this settlement not because they sold subprime loans, but because of HOW. The reps are paid HUGE Bonuses for getting these ARMs out the door, so in comes the High Preassure. Mostly outright LIES, mixed with misleading information and a splash of re-direction. Some of these reps would tell you they don't even offer fixed rates because the deal on the ARM is Sooooo good. Some reps would even ridicule you if you suggest a fixed rate. One called me an "Idiot if you don't take this" (I left immediately when he said that). (by the way, I'm calling them BoA because they bought the name, they bought the responsibility. I hope this takes them down).

Mike, Robert et al,

I retired at 40. I own my home. It is paid for. I took out a 15 year mortgage and made the payments on time. I did not refinance every time the interest rates dropped .5 percent like many of my neighbors did.

I paid my mortgage and I am still living in my home while my neighbors who refinanced in order to use their equity to buy that new truck and swimming pool no longer live here. They were foreclosed on because they bought what the TV ads were selling them and they treated their home like an ATM.

So while you might call me an idiot, or believe that I take no personal responsibility, you might want to remember this.....

I am only responsible for myself. I am not responsible for my neighbors actions nor he mine.

Really,

You may believe that but when your neighborhood goes down the toilet and is one bank-owned, lawn unmowed, house unrepaired eyesore after another, you will find you property value went with theirs, and you can't sell.

I have no intention of selling and these are high end homes, they are being well taken care of.

As I live in Florida, there is another retiree buying into the area every minute.

I don't recall seeing where these people failed to make payments, or were foreclosed on. They were making higher monthly payments because Countrywide lied to them about the rates they qualified for.

To Really and others who comment in a similar vein.

My wife is a Mortgage broker and she told me what was happening in the market. Countrywide were not the only people doing this. Even the banks were targeting unsophisticated minorities. She quit 2 jobs because of such practices.

Really? I was wondering how long it take some idiot to make a comment like this. What do you call giving white people a loan at low rate and giving black and brown people a loan at higher rates? IT IS CALLED RACISM! People did not have to cry racism or blame the banks BOA brought it on themselves. Not only did they dupe black and brown people a lot of other people were hurt too!

Caveat Emptor - Let the buyer beware.

The "unsophisticated" will always be taken advantage of.

The government guaranteeing these loans was the first mistake. They FORCED banks to grant sub-prime loans. Had they not done this in the name of "social justice," we would not be reading this story because these people would not have gotten loans and they would be living in apartments where they belong and likely are now.

Home ownership is not for everyone, it just isn't.

Not sure about the discrimination part, but in 2005 when my husband and I called to get a pre-approval over the phone before looking at houses, Countrywide tried really hard to get us to go for twice as much mortgage as I knew we could afford. So this story really doesn't suprise me.

Banks always do that. You know how much you can afford and how much you can pay.

Letting any bank sell you more than you can afford is only the responsibility of those who allow them to do so.

Really - why do they belong in an apt? Please explain that to me. These people had jobs, high credit scores and were perfectly within the qualifications for a traditional mortgage. Why is it ok that they were discriminated against? We actually have laws in this country to protect people from predatory lending and discriminating against anyone on the basis of age, sex, marital status, etc. We are not talking about giving people loans that did not deserve them. Again, that's a different story altogether. We are talking about people getting taken advantage of. Cut and dried.

Yes because only minorties got screwed by these bankers...Looks like they were right when some said they couldn't wait for their free money when Obama was elected...

Rob68... Yet another small minded idiot joining the party. The story stated that minorities where systematically discriminated against. True, plenty of people were victims of the mortgage meltdown, but these were people who had good credit, and for no other reason than being black or hispanic they still given sh&tty loans at hire rates. But, you don't seem to care you a$$ munch!

Let me get this straight. They get advertising targeting them, they go into the bank, the bank tells them what the interest rate is, and they sign the paperwork. What kind of idiot goes out and makes a large purchase/investment like this and doesn't shop around. They targeted me too. I said no, it's called personal responsibility and personal accountability. Now, for the common enemy. The one thing everyone agrees on: Countrywide was crooked and the head of Countrywide paid a huge settlement so he could still walk the streets amongst us.

hey Mike..Ever have a conversation with someone who didn't agree with you w/o calling names?? Probably not since it is hard to have a conversation with someone with your head shoved so far up your ass...

Yes I know what the article said...And I said that minorities weren't the only ones who got screwed...Let me ask you something genius....Let's say I'm black/hispanic/whatever....And I go apply for a loan and I now my credit is good..And some ahole says "Oh hey we can get you a home for 6%" and I know that there are interest rates lower elsewhere, but yet i sign on that line because I really want that house...Who is responsible??

But yeah it is MUCH more fun to blame others for our own stupidity....

On a side not, when will the world stop calling anyone who isn't white a "minority"? And I ask this in all seriousness...I am White living in a predominately Hispanic state...Can I call myself a minority?

Wouldn't it be nice to be as smart and business savvy as Rob and Really! I have news for you two morons, I worked from '02 to '07 for Nationwide and we jokingly called them "monkeyARM's and beanerARM's. Not once in the almost 6 years I worked there did I or anyone else in my branch offer them a fixed rate first. You are right, once you sign your name to it, you own it but you shouldn't be targeted because of your race nor should you need a lawyer on retainer to buy a home or vehicle.

That's because you're a racist pig Frank......And it seems you are actually proud of it...If that were me and I worked for Nationwide I would never have admitted that that is what *I* called them....

Detract Really?... all you want. It won't diminish the fact that his basic tenents are right.

BTW - it is not a left or right political thing, but rather one of human individuality.

Riddle me this, were all the point of sale lenders right wing? Did all the point of sale buyers exercise due diligence in their thinking? Haven't politicians (L or R) promoted home ownership as part of the American dream? Didn't the democrats demonize bush for not doing enough to promote minority home ownership in 2004?

Good luck in trying to think that the right wing created the problem, especially in light that our economy is driven by the consumer to the tune of around 70%.

to serious,

i took care of foreclosed homes for 2 years. keeping up on landscaping and basic repairs. most municipalaties fine the owner of the note 10 times or more what i would charge.lawns had to be mowed every week. they know which houses were foreclosures and even if the next door neighbors lawn was a foot high and the foreclosure was 1/2 that they send their pulic works crews out to cut it generally at the rate of 400.00 a pop! the home cannot sell if their is a lean for mowing put on it by the municipality. i've heard of 5k mowing bills paid by the lender at closing. the lenders actually hire people to drive by the homes every week to inspect lawns and break-ins.

Nancy and Harry's plan continues to be to have eveyone who can't afford a home still get one and then sue the financial institutions if they make the loan.............or if they don't make the loan. These two, along with Obama, are the greatest threat America has faced since the late 1800's.

It's just time that these SOB's paid up. They were bailed out with US tax dollars and they are showing strong profits. It's now time that the dirty secrets of fake money shown on books and corporate malfeasance be exposed.

Realtors, mortgage brokers, surveyors, appraisers, and lenders made a killing and they came to us, the taxpayer, to get them out of hock.

Frank and Dodd didn't start the fire but accelerated it--and the Bush Administration was duplicitous. I note on opensecrets.org that the financial sector is throwing the money behind the GOP pack. They don't like to be regulated.

They weren't so much bailed out as they were reimbursed for the bad loans.

Freddie and Fannie pressured the banks to make those loans and then told them they would GUARANTEE the loans. So the risk was removed from the banks and placed on the government.

The loans failed and since the government GUARANTEED these loans, they were responsible for paying them off.

Want to fix this? GET THE GOVERNMENT OUT OF THE HOUSING MARKET!!

Amen. This started with the CRA...typical Liberal Ideology at work. In La La Land, everyone deserves a castle with a moat and magical unicorns...it's not fair that only those who earned it get to have it.

It's about charging them more, ret@rd

Oh shut up!

Actually the greatest threat to face America, including the Muslim extremists, is the far right wing Republicans. Ignorant, uneducated people who back the lies of the ultra rich while handing them their wallets. Stupid people.

If I am a potential risk, and I want a loan, does it not suffice to say that I may pay a higher premium to get that loan? Jaysus people...if I have an 800 credit score, should I pay higher because I'm responsible? (Liberals would say yes). Or does it make more sense to reward me with a lower interest rate because I'm lower risk?

Boy, that Robert guy has the worst case of cranial rectal inversion that I have ever seen, and I have spent a lot of time among liberals.

Colleen,

The problem was they took 2 applications with the same credit score, the same income and liabilities and gave two very different loans to the applicants.

Minority applicants and white applicants WITH THE SAME RISK were given different loans - over and over and over and over.

Why is that difficult to understand?

read the article again!!! they qualified for better loans, therefore they weren't dead beats, but were given crappy ones because of their race! reading comprehension is at about a 2nd grade level on this page!

First of all...I see nothing in the article that spells it out quite the way you do, so I don't buy it. Secondly, where is the personal accountability for the idiot who signs the ppwk?

colleen-392992

Amen. This started with the CRA...typical Liberal Ideology at work. In La La Land, everyone deserves a castle with a moat and magical unicorns...it's not fair that only those who earned it get to have it.

...besides pay you bills as agreed, exactly how do you "earn" the right to be treated fairly when you seeking a mortage.

The gonvernment guaranteed good lonas made to good people with good intentions. Since many of you cannot follow along, Let me say this Clearly:

THE BANKS LIED (to investors, creditors AND home buyers), They FABRICATED DOCUMENTS, DEFRAUDED INVESTORS, and they USED HOME BUYERS. All of this to inflate the securities in a massive pump and dump SCAM.

The BANKS ARE NOT INNOCENT, stop pretending that they are, someome might believe you.

You are deliberately obfuscating the article. You must sell home loans.

Colleen, I live in NEOhio, ground zero for Countrywide's misbehavior. This has been in our newspapers for years.

Believe me, or don't.

I KNOW Countrywide deserves this fine. BoA, they should have dug deeper into Countrywide's books before they bought, because they are now stuck holding the bag.

But hey, lying to the customer is just good business practice, right?

Really, I agree with you on Robert. Reperations for all!!!

Colleen (and Really) you fu*king idiot, this has nothing to do w/ people taking out bad loans that they could not afford. This is a case where these people did have 800 credit scores but were tricked into taking subprime mortgages. If it happened to you, you would go berzerk and demand something to be done. But since you're clearly a racist whore, you are complaining about this? What the hell is wrong w/ you.

"Really" is doing what idiot box fox-icans do best....selectively ignoring the facts... the fact of the matter is if you took two people with the same incomes and credit rating to bank of America.... If one of those me were colored... they would be offered a loan that was not equal to the other man... Sorry to crush your delusion really that is discrimination... when it comes to as something as important as a home and investment its illegal.

livingandlearning...thank you for showing the world that a liberal cannot play nice. To reiterate my point, nowhere in the article does it say these people had 800 credit scores, it says they were "qualified". Qualified (because of the CRA) meant that people with LOW SCORES and HIGH RISK could still qualify for a loan at an adjustable/higher interest rate. It would NEVER happen to me because contrary to what you believe, I am the furthest thing from a "fu*king idiot"...I bought what I could afford on a high credit score which qualified me for a 4.875% fixed 30 year note, on which I do not escrow, pay no PMI, and pay extra principle every month...oh, and I had a substantial down payment besides. How you ask? Hard work and personal accountability, and research on the biggest investment of my life BEFORE I signed my life away. So go back to your bridge you silly little troll...leave the conversation to the adults.

@ colleen ...To reiterate how much your missing the point, This was about equally qualified people being offered different loans which is illegal... It doesn't matter if people took them or not... it was illegal case closed.

MireV03...no, the article does NOT say that. It says "qualified buyers", and as I stated above, different people "qualify" for different types of loans. The article is misleading at best. They may have qualified for a loan, but that rate could vary significantly to someone else's. And like medical tests, each person is an individual. Find me a study where there is 1000 people the same age, with the same income, with the same exact monthly expenses, same amount of dependents, same amount of other loans, etc. and I'll believe the hype. There is no evidence to that. And, if what the article implies were really true, don't you think the settlement would be far higher than it actually is? Regardless, these people didn't do their due diligence on their own investment...whose fault is that?

colleen,

like I said, I worked in the business for almost 6 years and IT DID HAPPEN. Inside jokes, blatant racism and lots of bonuses. I bought and sold 9 homes in that time and being blond haired and blue eyed, I was never targeted the way I would target others. I'm truly sorry for my actions and only hope that I don't end up in hell for what I did to others.

Really? ...Really do want to go there?

So lets see....

If they DON'T give a loan to a minority borrower, they are racist.

If they DO give them a loan and they cannot or will not make the payments, they are racist

Did you really read the article. Countrywide is paying out a huge settlement because they targeted, yes targeted minorities (I worked at a mortgage company from 2002 - 2005), and although these minorities QUALIFIED for a traditional 30 year fixed interest rate mortgage Countrywide sold them higher interest loans. I also want to know, where in this article did it say, these people could not pay or defaulted on their loans? I do not care how you slice it, dice it, mix it or fix it, what Countrywide did to these individuals was criminal.

Really,

I believe that you made a comment earlier that many of your neighbors refinanced their homes to buy the new truck, etc..., using the equity in their homes as an ATM, could not afford to keep up with their mortgage payments, and had to move. Later you stated that you live in a "high class" (whatever that means) area and you do not have to worry about your house value because retirees are grabbing up these houses. From your statements, it appears that more than minorities were foreclosed on. Many Americans were caught in the housing debacle, and just as those in your neighborhood they were living beyond their means, and not discriminated against because of their color. You should be appalled and not trying to defend wrong doing.

carmarie = would you feel better if really? said "discrimination"?

Perhaps you can highlite where Really? condoned anything. BTW - I will confess that I don't read all comments so please do point out his condoning the loan originators.

Please mind your rhetoric on having to read the article...

Countrywide is paying out a huge settlement because they targeted, yes targeted minorities

BofA is paying, countrywide is no more.

(I worked at a mortgage company from 2002 - 2005), and although these minorities QUALIFIED for a traditional 30 year fixed interest rate mortgage Countrywide sold them higher interest loans

Now you are saying that the buyers didn't realize that when they <buyers> compared loan rates they couldn't discern which rate was higher so they chose the higher?

You then go on to write...

where in this article did it say, these people could not pay or defaulted on their loans? I do not care how you slice it, dice it, mix it or fix it, what Countrywide did to these individuals was criminal.

Gee sweety, if someone enters foreclosure it is implied that the reason is that payments were not made.

As for criminal behavior, many of the loan originators sure did go for everything they could get. Since you admitted that you were part of it, how much time did you serve?

Interesting that obama and company chose to only go after civil action and not criminal as well. Then again, criminal allegations require more proof of intent. At least some will get something back since BofA bought countrywide. The buyers would have been SOL if countrywide just closed its doors or filed bankruptcy

Countrywide's old boss got to walk with $400million, and a promise to never work in banking again.
20/20 did an undercover investigation, and found blatant fraud - whites with good credit encouraged to go elsewhere, minorities give high rate loans. As the defaults began - and after Countrywide dumped the mess they created on BofA - the investigation revealed bias and fraud. No prosecutions - there oughta be a law. Oh wait, there was...

Banks have never paid anything ....ever! It will be paid by customers, that is the only way banks have their money in the first place.

How did you get screwed? Did you take out a loan or did some banker force the money into your hands?

It all comes down to research. Any big decision in life should be researched to the fullest extend. There is so much more information out there that is so easy to obtain. CHECK IT OUT FIRST FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!

BROOKE, you got doubly screwed because you can't touch these reparations unless you ARE black. This country is effed.

True individuals taking out loans deserve blame, but BofA and Countryfried are to blame as well. They were changing incomes for people so they could get loans, and robosining without looking at the applications. In this case they raise rates knowing people were a certain race. How messes up is this?

Whos' going to jail? No one!

Sure some incomes were changed. Yet WHO signed those papers asserting that to be true?

The borrower.

They could have walked away and done the right thing, but they didn't.

Without that signature, there is no loan.

But, I'm sure you'll be smiling from ear to ear once you receive the nice check...

Countrywide destroyed the market in NEOhio.

They were fraudulent up one side and down the other.

I'm happy to see them pay up.

Actually it's too bad BoA bought them - they shouldn't have. If I owned BoA stock, I'd have been P-Oed

No one is saying anything about the shrinking home values. I paid $200,000.00 for my home in 2005, by the time Idid a short sale in 2009. House sold for $130,000.00 I had no choice

serious...(#6.7).."Actually it's too bad BoA bought them - they shouldn't have."

They were "forced" to buy Countrywide by "Friend of Angelo" Senator Chris Dodd and House Banking Queen Barney Fwank....they got Billions of TARP money to do it. The whole Countrywide Scandal had to be safely tucked away till Dodd and Frank were leaving Congress....Dodd is gone and nobody is going to go after Barney...he's all of a sudden, not running for re-election.

Dodd got a few of those "Friends Of Angelo" sweetheart loans and Barney had a special pet name for Angelo Mozilo...called him Angelo Godzillo....said he was endowed like a Giant Japanese Lizard Monster ....Barney's Favorite Take-out Soup...Cream of Sum Yung Gai.....

Max, my condolances on your loss. Mine lost value as well during the farm crisis in the 80's, regained value up until this recession, but is still worth more than when I bought. Nothing like first hand experience that markets fluctuate and there is little any individual can do.

Read the article. Understand the article. If you can.

Its just for black and hispanics.. get loss

If you are white, this administration doesn't care about you. This is the same DOJ that refused to prosecute the black panthers for white voters intimidation, even though they had clear proof on the cameras. Everything this DOJ with racist Holder does is about making whitey pay some "minority" group. To him, if you are white you are racist until proven otherwise-- and even then they will take advantage of you because as a white person you automatically owe them something. This is the same man who in testifying to Congress referred to blacks as "his people."

PEOPLE, PEOPLE, PLEASE GROW UP!

Most of you do not have a clue. By the time the light comes on, it will be too late. Any business discriminating against any group for any reason is WRONG. No one should be trying to defend their actions. This happened before the Obama administration... they are not the blame. If you really knew how bad all of us were screwed by the banks and wall street, you would be up in arms, and not holding on to your bigotry.

gregorian10

It is not about white or black, that is a distraction, it is about a company defrauding a group of people using a specific criteria. It is the Blacks and Hispanics this time. It might be the poor whites, the uneducated, and bigots the next time. Your outrage is misguided. You should be outraged that any group of AMERICANS were discriminated against.

WAKE UP, we are ALL IN THIS TOGETHER! We all stand together or we fail together. Once you realize that, the country can grow and become strong once again.

You are correct. In the end, the consumer will be picking up this tab. All costs will be carried forward as usual.

I bet neither of you two paid combined the amount of federal income tax in the past 10 years that I paid last year. Those who constantly complain about "tax money for the poor" are IDIOTS. More tax dollars goes to corporate welfare every year than goes to poor people in a decade. And where oh where are the jobs?

And by the way? I'm white, have a double masters in Business Administration & Political science, own my own home outright and am a conservative. I'm just not a redneck Tea Party blabbermouth hick.

First off, I probably did pay more in taxes. I have a full-time career AND TWO small side businesses...so get off your high horse. I pay more in taxes than the average person's annual salary.

Secondly, your reply has absolutely no relevance to my original post.

Actually Robert, I think you're a troll...because the TEA Party is AGAINST corporate welfare. If you truly are a conservative, and hate corporate welfare, you are a part of the Tea Party. Oh, and if you REALLY hate corporate welfare, you'd better take a good hard look at what party contributes the most to it, both by legislation and cronyism...and here's a hint, it's not the Republicans. PS--remember Solyndra?

Well Robert. Truth be told, I don't pay any income taxes at all. I own my own business and thanks to write offs and deductions, I operate at a loss every year. I work for myself, so no one tells me when to work or how.

So who is the idiot now?

So tell us the truth Robert, did you put yourself thru school (pay every penny yourself) or did your Daddy foot the bill? Not everyone has a leg up to begin with, born white in the right neighbood, etc.

Also, you wrote: "And by the way?" Is this actually suppose to be a question or did you make a mistake by adding the "?"? Hopefully you really are asking a question and did not make a mistake! After all, you are white and hold 2 degrees and would look like an idiot if you made a mistake!

The banks were "forced" to make loans to minorities using the same loan criteria they used for non-minority buyers.

They chose to make bad loans because they could make a lot of money and dump the results on someone else.

Greed is good, right?

So according to the brilliant logic of Really and Colleen, you completely deserve to get screwed over if you don't have an MBA and understand everything there is to know about the mortgage market. You people are absolutely despicable. If this was a case where minorities were getting loans that would not normally qualify for just because of their skin color, then I may tend to agree. But if you actually read the article you would see that they blatantly discriminated against people of color to get them to take sub-prime loans. How is that ok on any level? Wow, it's no wonder that I'm moving away from the Republican party after 20+ years.

Troll, troll, trolling away...you were never a member of the Republican Party. If you were, you would realize that this has to do with personal accountability, and not skin color. If you had the same qualifications as everyone with a great fixed rate and were too stupid to realize that your rate was higher and adjustable, then you had no business applying for a loan in the first place. I don't care if you're a purple martian...its my tax dollars footing this bill and that is particularly "despicable" to me. PS--I'm also mad at the idiots on the other end of the spectrum who are getting loan mods on houses up to $767K in debt. You think those idiots didn't realize it was too good to be true that they were buying a mansion on a $75K a year salary? This goes both ways. Why aren't you championing them too while you're at it? Oh...were they just greedy? Or were they too cheated by the big bad banks?

colleen - you could not be any more ridiculous. Troll, troll, trolling away. You sound like a 3rd grader. Grow up. This has nothing to do w/ personal responsibility. This has everything to do w/ consumer protection and predatory lending. And, by the way, i have the same problem w/ the CRA. If someone is not qualified for a loan, they should not get a loan. At the same time, if someone fully qualifies for a preferred rate loan, and they do not get that loan because of their race then they have every right to sue and win. This is a great day for all of these people.

And, for the others on this vine who stated the same thing happened to them but they are white, then I suggest that you sue as well. That's also complete crap.

Well, at least we can agree on something...but you calling me a 3rd grader, AFTER calling me a "fu*king idiot" is Pot/Kettle me thinks.

You know "Really" I wondered how long it would take you to get caught lying. If you claim business losses to the point of paying no taxes whatsoever for more than five years in a row you will be declared a hobby by the IRS and still have to pay taxes. With 9 business locations I think I know a bit about business taxes.

I put myself through college and went for twenty years when I could to get a double masters. My two daughters both have masters. My wife has a PHD. But I do know you people. I came from dirt poor southern white trash. Only difference is that I got out and the rest joined the Tea Party.

As for you Tea Party ignorant you have destroyed the Conservative name. You're not conservatives. You're fascists. I do know the difference. Conservatives don't rush to war behind lies. Fascists do. Conservatives don't defend illegal activities in order to make money. Fascists do. Conservatives believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Tea Party idiots believe in white supremacy, hate and returning to the 1950's. As a true conservative I want no part of the bubba nation.

Actually Colleen with your racist hate against minorities I would be surprised to find you didn't belong to a white supremacy group and that is your right as an American. But it is my right to oppose what you stand for. I am conservative. I'm pro gun, pro English, pro controlling the borders, anti abortion except to save a mothers life/rape/incest (as are most conservatives), pro balanced budget, anti deficit. Never voted for a Democrat for President in 65 years. I have voted for Independents and will continue to vote for them as long as racist Tea Party fascists control the Republican Party.

You see the litmus test for a fascist is one who calls everyone other than those who agree with them on EVERYTHING a "liberal". I'm not a liberal. I'm a conservative with an education and who knows that the American dream should be the same for everyone. Being white was an accident by birth. it doesn't make me better than anyone else despite what you so obviously think.

Robert,

What is nice post. It was a pleasure to read. I am a "liberal", but I respect your views. Whatever any of us are, as far as race, is an accident of birth and does not make us any better than anyone else. Nicely put.

Robert,

You give me hope!

I was a moderate Republican for over 30 years - but will not be back until the radical right is eliminated.

The difference in a real conservative and a real liberal is that we are both willing to compromise for the greater good. I for example am against surgical abortion but I realize some form will always exist. For that reason i support the morning after pill which removes microscopic tissue with neither a heartbeat or formation. To me that is much more palatable than surgical abortion. If the far left and far right who are extremists would just compromise on this one issue we could make surgical abortions a rarity within 10 years.

Bingo Cassandra. Exactly.

How in the hell can you call me a racist based on my comments? You know what I am against?? NON-PRODUCERS...period. I don't like white people, black people, brown people whose only sustenance is the government teat. I'm not a racist, I'm a tired, hard-working American...and I and what's left of others like me are slowly but surely becoming the minority. Who's going to support us? Stop calling me a racist...this country is so PC it's not even funny. I'm right and you know it...anyone who disagrees is just to scared to say it.

It's TOO scared to say it. You're wrong. Besides, the article wasn't about non-producers, anyway.

Sorry Collen. You are a racist. You come on here and start ranting about lazy people who are cheating you out of something when the government case clearly demonstrates that Countrywide ripped off non white people who qualified just as well as any white person. For some reason it upsets you that minorities with good credit should expect the same rate as whites with the same credit.

You want to talk about lazy people taking advantage of the system, one way to stop that is to give everyone who does work and does qualify for credit the same level of opportunity. Not to rip minorities off and teach them that nothing they do right will matter because, hey they're minorities and ripping them off is simply going to happen. You teach people to work hard and contribute by giving everyone who does that a better chance to succeed in America than those who don't. REGARDLESS OF RACE.

For you to come on here defending illegal business practices because somehow you don't like minorities getting the same standards of qualifications as whites makes you a racist. Period.

This is not about the "poor."

Countrywide took applications that were identical in terms of risk and gave different mortgage terms based on race.

This was true for middle class and poor minority applicants.

It's not rocket science. They can't back up their "assessments" of loan applications with any method that would get them off the hook, so they had to pay up.

they weren't poor!! these people qualified for good loans and were told they qualified for crappy ones based on their ethnicity. am i the only one that can read?!

They QUALIFIED for normal low rate loans. They were good risk. Can you read?

Dr J - did you even read the article? I'm absolutely amazed that people have a problem with this decision. It can be nothing other than pure racism. There's no other explanation for it.

This is the point with the tea party racists. They don't care about facts. They turn everything into a racist rant. They don't care that the law was broken. They don't care if minorities lost their home through deceptive bank practices. All they care about is being white trash. As has been said many times, there is no shame in being uneducated and ignorant. The shame is in being proud of it. Voila. The Tea Party.

Yeah! Blame the guy who approved the loan, not the deadbeat who could not make the payments.

Also you might want to blame Fannie and Freddie as they told the banks they would GUARANTEE any loan they wrote.

That's your government!

Once again. Read the article. No, Really. Read the article.

Not all were deadbeats at the time they took out the loans. Many were employed and able to repay. They got screwed too.

If they were able to repay and lost their job, how is it they got screwed?

Had they not lost their job, they would have kept paying and all would be well?

They were the victims of fate.....nothing more or less.

However, everyone these days is a victim or sufferer of something, so why not?

No dubster...YOU read the article. Take your magical liberal unicorn blinders off and leave the commenting to the adults here who didn't buy a $450K house on a $50K a year salary, or those of us who can actually understand variable interest rates, or those of us who have an 800 credit score who bought what we could afford, or those of us who didn't buy a house with a 500 credit score at a 7.5% interest rate because a bunch of Liberals said we "had a right" to own a home. Personal accountability, or lack thereof, is the problem with this country...not BofA.

It's not about repaying the loan! Subprime was designed (poorly I might add) for low credit score individuals. There are higher rates for said buyers, but the article clearly states that even higher rates were given to those who were black and/or hispanic!!!!! At the time they took the loans, they were told the rates were high due to their poor credit score, so of course they did not know to question it, but just accept it and hope to get a home. Not to mention, I'm sure they weren't told that they could buy down their rate and the lender /broker probably gave them the higher rate so they could get their 3% Yield Spread Premium from the company that was going to buy the loans. Subprime loans were sold by the bulk and the YSP made alot of money for the brokers and agents.

@LoveBNamom

How does anyone know what the credit score is for these borrowers? Only the lender knows and they make the decision on whether to grant the loan based on that. Don't like what they are selling you? Move on to another lender.

I cannot understand why people today cannot take responsibility for their actions.

These borrowers signed the paperwork, they took the money, then they start whining about the interest rate and fees.

All of that is in the paperwork they signed.

If it isn't, then I would be behind them 100%, but my bet is that it is all there in black and white.

If you can't understand the very important documents you are signing...or can't afford, or are too stupid, to hire a lawyer to represent you at the closing, then why is that anybody's fault but your own? Let the Buyer Beware. A $300 fee for an attorney at the closing on a $100K plus investment, is pretty much a no-brainer, no?

@Really --- While I don't for a minute deny that buyers should be aware of what they are 'buying', they are also in a catch-22! If you remember rightly; having your credit run too many times (or what a creditor believes to be too many times), would lower one's credit scores. That being said; the potential buyer does not feel comfortable shopping around a rate because if their already low score dips lower, than they are again looking at still a higher rate or no loan at all! Of course the lender knows the buyers credit score, but the buyer has the right to obtain a copy of his/her credit, with their scores and go to another lender. The problem there; every lender requires their own credit report with whatever company they chose to get it from. Another ding on the buyers credit scores. Also, a lender will run a buyers credit before closing the loan so they can 'be sure' the credit score hasn't drop and that they have not obtained other lines of credit during the process of buying the home.

This issue is ultimately about higher interest rates to african-american and hispanic homebuyers!!!! You seem to keep missing that point by using an argument of 'repayment'!!!!

Colleen there was some of that going as well through the mortgage crisis. But this is not what that is about. There was no doubt predatory lending and discrminatory practices were going on.

@Damien - Thank you!! I believe you do understand what I am saying, now maybe you can explain that to Really?-1735910. It's about predatory lending, not repayment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LoveBNamom

Seems like Colleen, REally and others of their ilk con not fully comprehend the article. Leave them be, methinks that they are just trolls, are part of the lunatic fringe.

@Pat, thank you, I was beginning to think that maybe I read the article wrong!!! Me thinks you are right!!! :)

Anyone with an 800 credit score should be intelligent enough to read the documents they are signing.

It's all right there! The loan you sign for is the loan you get.

Now, if you sign for a 4% loan and the bank charges you 6%, then yeah, you have a right to go after them, but if you signed for a 4% loan with an 800 score and later find that your neighbor has a 2% loan with an 800 score, you might want to consider refinancing with the bank they got their loan through.

To complain about "predatory" lending when you have an 800 credit score just rings hollow.

AMEN to that - as a single, intelligent Caucasian female WITH good credit, I was "sold" one of these loans, then when they raised the interest rates to unbelievably high marks, I sold my property, and everything was going along swimmingly, until the sale sat on a desk at Countrywide for MONTHS. Without lender's approval, my sale could not be consummated, they RUINED me by filing a foreclosure, only to approve the sale the very next day. I, for one, would love to see all involved in this scam incarcerated, including the agent who sold me the loan. And yes, I protested from the very beginning, but never dreamed that such rip-offs could even exist. And don't ask me whether I read the docs I signed, because I did. It was the "riders" that came later that they told me I HAD to acccept. Bull cookies to all of them, and they deserve what the court has ordered, if not more.

AMEN to that - as a single, intelligent Caucasian female WITH good credit, I was "sold" one of these loans, then when they raised the interest rates to unbelievably high marks, I sold my property, and everything was going along swimmingly, until the sale sat on a desk at Countrywide for MONTHS. Without lender's approval, my sale could not be consummated, they RUINED me by filing a foreclosure, only to approve the sale the very next day. I, for one, would love to see all involved in this scam incarcerated, including the agent who sold me the loan. And yes, I protested from the very beginning, but never dreamed that such rip-offs could even exist. And don't ask me whether I read the docs I signed, because I did. It was the "riders" that came later that they told me I HAD to acccept. Bull cookies to all of them, and they deserve what the court has ordered, if not more.

The above was meant to be a reply to the post below!

..

...and loaning money to a bunch of a$$holes who didn't deserve the loan in the first place based on their credit scores.

BlahBlah

Countrywide purposely lent money to people under trems they knew they couldn't meat because they knew they would turn around and sell those mortgages the next day at a same profit.

It was the buyers of the mortgage-backed securities who really got screwed.

Did you read the article? The people they are discussing did qualify for conventional loans and were discrimnated against. And learn how to spell........it's meet not meat.

so if you knew it was over valued why did you sign the loan?

The thing is, if the broker or lender can 'sell' the higher rate to the buyer; than they get a kickback (known as a Yield Spread Premium). If the buyer takes the higher rate, the broker /lender can get as much as 3% back from the bank that buys the loan. Alot of people did not know this and of course the broker /lender isn't going to tell them that!!! How many were dupped just by not knowing this? On top of that, they give you pages and pages of small print information, i.e. "Disclosures" with wording that can only be understood by attorneys! Wow, the system really sucks!!!!!!!!!!!!

Countrywide took applications that were identical in terms of risk and gave different mortgage terms based on race.

This was true for middle class and poor minority applicants.

It's not rocket science. They can't back up their "assessments" of loan applications with any method that would get them off the hook, so they had to pay up.

Rich

Read the article. These people were not a higher risk. That was the point of the lawsuit.

Or maybe you believe that every black or hispanic is a deadbeat.

Obviously, Really and Colleen believe that. According to their brilliant logic, all consumer protection laws should be banished so businesses can do whatever the hell they want. After all, only stupid people get taken advantage of.

Because that is not the basis of why Countrywide charged Higher interest rates. The story CLEARLY states that these people had very good credit scores and stable jobs, yet, Countrywide victimized them by giving white applicants with similiar financial spreadsheet, a traditional 3-4% interest loan, while giving minorities with the same financials, a subprime loan. We are not talking about two different credit scores here. We are talking about the same!!!

The scumbags need to be thrown in the Federal Pen!!!

That's exactly what Really and Colleen think. That every minority is a deadbeat. And I sit here wondering whether either of them has a PHD or can speak 5 languages fluently and another dozen to some degree and is a department head at a University like my Chinese wife.

There is a problem in America and it's not that dissimilar to the problem in Afghanistan. The very least educated, most violent, loudest mouth in the nation is the religious fundamentalists. The only difference in the Taliban and the Tea Party is the Tea Party hasn't figured out a way to get away with cutting off our heads. Yet.

..yeah once they figure out how to make the mortage in China for 1/10th of the cost.

The problem is that many african americans and hispanics with great credit and great jobs where still charged higher interest rates than whites with less than perfect credit and less income and assets.

Discrimination? These were people with less than stellar credit regardless of their ethnicity.

aaahhh what article are you reading???

Did you read the article? People with certain thnicities were treated and charged differently than whites with the same credit profiles. I'm amzed whether on WSJ, CNN etc. how many stupid people there are out in the world. You don't read and just assume everything. It's a pathetic America.

Re-Read the article. Payment is for homeowners.

335 million divided among 200,000 people = 1,675 per minus whatever the lawyers take= a weeks worth of groceries -----Maybe, if you like ramen noodles. I guess these folks should feel like they just won the powerball, huh? Sounds like they're doing an anal exam with both their hands on your shoulders again.

...google the phrase "Home Ownership and President Bush", watch the video of Bush, then come back and appologize for your stupidity.

Weiser change your name to stupider.

Weiser - please tell me that you do not have children nor ever plan to have children. At least that way your racist gene pool will end with you.

Weiser, Change your name to Visor.

Witness the litany of idiots rushing to the defense of banks, who conned people into believing that they can afford higher mortgages, then collapsed the economy and had to be bailed out by We the People. In other words, they defaulted on us.

You people are nothing but bullies. It's easy to pick on the little guy - the outsider, isn't it?

Got your jollies?

Have a nice day.

That's cute I have a poor credit score: now how did I aquire that DOD Secret Clearance????

I'm with Ed.

Jail the bastards.

The Right is trying to bring back debtors prison ( along with a host of other Draconian things..Ask Gingrich), why not throw B.O.A. execs in prison?

I don't know that this is discriminating because if

...that' not all "you don't know". READ THE ARTICLE

Marie, it;s about people with IDENTICAL qualifications getting worse rates because of discrimination. It has nothing to do with good or bad credit....they had the same scores!

EXACTLY. /thread

After reading some of the comments, it seems that some did not read the article. The article states, "The settlement covers conduct between 2004 and 2008 before the acquisition by Bank of America, and involves a range of alleged wrongdoing including charging African-Americans and Hispanics higher interest rates and fees and steering some to more expensive subprime mortgages."

What does charging minorities higher interest rates have to do with buying a home that one cannot afford?

Edit: Last sentence should read, "What does charging minorities higher interest rates have to do with buying a home one cannot afford?

Mary, the bank has the right to charge those with poor or no credit higher interest rates to cover those who default, which in most cases, are the ones with bad credit. Same thing happens when buying a car, getting a credit card, etc. Somebody has to pay, and it's not going to be the responsible borrower.

Ok, I made a jump to the mortgages....

Either way, those people taking responsibility for buying a home should have done their homework and known their options. Read the fine print in contracts, single out those fees-that's what my wife and I did (I'm white and she's Korean). And if you have bad or little credit, you will be charged a higher interest rate-it's almost guaranteed...

And if you have bad or little credit, you will be charged a higher interest rate-it's almost guaranteed...

This article has nothing to do with folks that have "bad or little credit". For someone chooses to focus his comment around "read(ing) the fine print", you seem to struggle in with "reading compression" yourself.

Weiser: The article did not state that these people had "poor or no credit." Why did you assume that these people had poor or no credit?

Your an idiot. It's about greedy prejudiced bastards taking advantage of whoever they could.