Associated Incidents
A group of U.S. senators are calling on the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to review the gap in mortgage approval rates between white applicants and Black and Hispanic applicants at Navy Federal Credit Union.
Navy Federal, the nation's largest credit union, has more than 13 million members, including servicemembers of all military branches, veterans, Department of Defense civilian employees, and their relatives. It was reported in December by CNN that Navy Federal was more than twice as likely to deny a loan from a Black applicant than a white applicant. Further, the CNN report said Hispanic applicants were around 85 percent more likely to be denied compared to white applicants.
"When denial rates for Black and Hispanic applicants at one institution appear to be drastically higher than the national average and higher than their rates for similarly situated white borrowers, it raises questions about whether its mortgage lending practices comply with federal fair housing and fair lending laws and regulations," the senators wrote to HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge and CFPB Director Rohit Chopra.
The letter was signed by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Jack Reed (D-RI), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Tina Smith (D-MN), John Fetterman (D-PA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), and Bob Menendez (D-NJ).
"As the regulators with primary responsibility for enforcing ECOA and the Fair Housing Act, we ask that you thoroughly review Navy Federal's mortgage lending practices and outcomes for compliance with all federal fair housing and fair lending laws and regulations. Navy Federal's members have made countless sacrifices in their service to our country. We must do all we can to ensure illegal barriers are not placed on their path to homeownership. Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue," they concluded.