The Department of Justice announced on Thursday June 16th it had reached a settlement with Midwest BankCentre. According to the agreement, the bank will open a new branch in a predominately African-American neighborhood and will provide $1.45 million in additional products, services, and outreach to African-American communities.
SLEHCRA applauds Midwest BankCentre’s commitments!
See the DoJ press release here.
Also check out some of the press on this story:
and BET
Check out the article in Bloomberg Businessweek about SLEHCRA’s work against redlining!
“A Renewed Crackdown on Redlining”
Download here [PDF]
Or look on page 32 of the Businessweek magazine!
Check out some upcoming events from our member organizations!
Join Justine Petersen on Saturday, April 2, 2011 from 10 am to 2:30 pm for Family Financial Fitness Fair at the Emerson Park MetroLink Station. Part of Money Smart Week Illinois. Click here for more information.
Join R.A.A! Committee on Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 1 pm to 4 pm for a Community Health & Resource Fair at Mt. Bethel M.B. Church, 1600 Belt Ave., St. Louis, MO 63112. Click here for more information.
Join the Equal Housing Opportunity Council on Monday, April 11, 2011 from 11 am to 1:30 pm for a Martin Luther King Jr. Luncheon and Auction celebrating 43 years of MLK’s Fair Housing legacy, as well as recognizing 2011 Open Door Award Recipients. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door and includes lunch. The event is at EHOC’s offices at 1027 S. Vandeventer Ave., 6th floor, St. Louis MO 63110. For advance tickets, you can send a check to EHOC or pay by credit card here.
Join the Human Development Corporation (HDC) on May 7th for a Resource Fair. Stay tuned for more information.
The Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC), a SLEHCRA member organization, recently released their report entitled “Redlined: A Fair Lending Analysis of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area.”
The report examines home mortgage lending trends in the St. Louis metro area, finding substantial decreases in lending to low-income and minority borrowers and communities over the last three years. African-American borrowers and neighborhoods are still more likely to be denied a loan, and are still more likely to receive a high cost loan than white borrowers and communities. The report also examines the performance of the top ten mortgage lending institutions.
Redlined: A Fair Lending Analysis of the St. Louis Metropolitan Area [google document]
Come hear from SLEHCRA members about our work on fair lending and community reinvestment!
Fair Access to Financial Services: What is the Problem and What Can We Do About It?
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 – 3:00-4:30pm
J.C. Penney Conference Center, Room 126
University of Missouri-St. Louis
One University Boulevard
FREE parking in Lot C
Panel:
Todd Swanstrom, Des Lee Professor of Community Collaboration and Public Policy Administration, University of Missouri – St. Louis
Mira Tanna, Metro St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council
Elisabeth Risch, Metro St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council
Ed Wartts, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Eddie G. Davis, Center for the Acceleration of African-American Business
According to a 2009 FDIC study the St. Louis metro area has the highest percentage of “unbanked” African American households in the nation (31 percent). A recent Equal Housing Opportunity Council (EHOC) Fair Lending Study has collected data on the practices of top St. Louis mortgage lenders and used the data to open up new dialogues with area banks. How is the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) being used in St. Louis? What is happening as a result of EHOC’s new discussions? How can neighborhoods use CRA to insure fair access to lending and financial services?
For more information, view the attached flyer or call 314.516.6392. This seminar is free. No registration required.
This seminar is brought to you by the Community Partnership Project at UM-St. Louis in cooperation with University of Missouri Extension.
We are pleased to announce new member organizations! Welcome!
If your organization is interested in joining SLEHCRA, contact us!
While the subprime mortgage boom and bust has been well documented, less attention has been paid to the practices of prime lenders, the brick and mortar banks that are now also struggling as a result of the subprime meltdown. These lenders are now eligible for taxpayer funds under the U. S. Treasury’s Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) that Congress authorized through the $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
In its Dec. 2008 study “Bailing Out on Community Reinvestment,” the Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing Opportunity Council examined the recent fair lending record of St. Louis-area lenders that have applied for or expressed an interest in applying for TARP funds.
EHOC sponsors a workshop on “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” for CDBG Administrators on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, from 9 AM to Noon presented by attorney Michael Allen.
Michael Allen is a partner with Relman & Dane in Washington DC. He was a lead attorney in the case Anti-Discrimination Center v. Westchester County, in which a fair housing agency sued a suburban county for misrepresenting that they were affirmatively furthering fair housing.
From 1995 to 2006, Allen was senior staff attorney and director of the fair housing program at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law and co-director of the Building Better Communities Network. From 1985-1995 he was a staff attorney and managing attorney at Legal Services of Northern Virginia. A nationally recognized expert on the disability provisions of the Fair Housing Act, Michael has litigated and lobbied at the federal and state levels, and appeared in national print and electronic media. He is a 1979 graduate of Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and received his law degree in 1985 from the University of Virginia. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Virginia.
The training is free and open to CDBG administrators for municipal, county or state government officials. To register, contact Mira Tanna at 314-534-5800 ext. 26 or send an email to [email protected] with “CDBG Registration” in the subject line.
Stella Adams has been confirmed as a featured speaker for the 13th Annual Regional Fair Housing Training event.
Stella Adams is a nationally recognized leader in the fair housing and community reinvestment arena. As executive director of the North Carolina Fair Housing Center, she helped recover over $60 million for victims of predatory lending and $3 million for victims of housing discrimination.
Adams has served on the Federal Reserve Board Consumer Affairs Advisory Council, on the board of the Community Reinvestment Association of North Carolina and the board of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.
Other speakers to be announced soon!
Registration is available online through acteva or you can send a check for registration with name, organization, phone number, email address, meal preference (meat or vegetarian) and any accommodations needed to:
EHOC / Closing the GAP
1027 South Vandeventer Ave., 6th Fl
St. Louis, MO 63110.
