NEWS FLASH

Bank of America Will Pay $335 Million To Settle Claim Its Subsidiary Discriminated Against Minorities | Bank of America will pay a $335 million settlement to address federal claims that its subsidiary, Countrywide Financial, “systematically discriminated against minority home-buyers at the peak of the U.S. housing boom.” The Department of Justice alleged that Countrywide charged higher interest rates and other fees to African-American and Latino home buyers compared to white home-buyers with similar financial backgrounds. The Los Angeles Times reports that Countrywide “frequently pushed minorities into risky subprime loans rather than into safer prime loans,” a practice that helped spark the economic collapse in 2008. Bank of America insisted that these practices occurred prior to Bank of America’s acquisition of Countrywide.