NEW YORK–More attention was pointed at the alleged mortgage lending bias at Navy Federal Credit Union when the Rev. Al Sharpton, founder and president of the National Action Network (NAN), joined attorney Ben Crump and nine alleged victims during a press conference to announce a class action lawsuit against the world’s largest credit union.
The press conference was held at National Action Network’s House of Justice in Harlem, where plaintiffs alleged they were “victims of practice that knowingly chose to treat clients of color unfairly based on their race or ethnicity,” according to AMNY.com.
‘Will Do Whatever is Necessary’
Sharpton said NAN would stand with Crump and offered “we will do whatever is necessary” to address the harm Navy Federal is accused of causing, including picket lines if requested.
“They fought for a country to come home and be discriminated against with something as basic as a mortgage,” Sharpton said during the event, referring to the plaintiffs who are or were members of the military. “The outrage that has been done to people that have served and protected this country to be treated in this way.”
Wide Disparity Alleged
As CUToday.info reported earlier, Navy Federal Credit Union had the widest disparity in mortgage approval rates between White and Black borrowers of any major lender, a trend that “reached new heights” in 2023, according to an analysis performed by CNN.
According to the report, Navy Federal approved more than 75% of the White borrowers who applied for a new conventional home purchase mortgage in 2022, based on the most recent data available from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. But less than 50% of Black borrowers who applied for the same type of loan were approved, CNN reported.
Navy FCU has said the data has been taken out of context and is not reflective of its policies.
‘Largest of Any Major Lender’
During the press conference, Crump cited the data in the CNN analysis.
“That’s a 29% Black-white approval gap, which is the largest of any of the major lending institutions in America,” Crump said, according to AMNY.com. “The complaint shows that Navy Federal must have known of the discrimination problems.”
During the press conference, the nine plaintiffs recounted their experiences and the “hardships they suffered because of the alleged discrimination — with a number of them breaking down in tears,” according to the report.
Among them was Christina Hill, who said she enlisted in the Navy in 1990, started banking with Navy Federal Credit Union since it had branches at her base, and shared that she applied for a loan in 2020 to make improvements to her home but was denied despite meeting all necessary qualifications, AMNY.com reported.
‘I Felt Defeated’
“I felt defeated. This is the first home I’ve ever owned. And I wanted to make improvements to leave the home to my family. My pride was shattered in Navy Federal, my bank for over 30 years would not give me a loan. I did not believe that,” Hill said as tears flowed during her face, according to the AMNY report.
Navy FCU Responds
In a statement to AMNY, a spokesperson for Navy Federal Credit Union said that they serve their members fairly, and will respond in court to the accusations made at the press conference.
“As a not-for-profit credit union, Navy Federal is committed to serving each and every one of our members fairly, and we work daily to help expand economic opportunity and access to credit for our diverse community of members,” the Navy FCU spokesperson said. “Black borrowers make up one in four of our members, and we are proud of the fact Navy Federal ranks first among large lenders in the percentage of mortgage loans made to Black borrowers. We have robust fair lending programs that perform testing and review policies, procedures and lending data, which help expand economic opportunity and access to homeownership. While it is Navy Federal’s policy not to comment on pending litigation, we look forward to responding to these claims in our forthcoming filings with the court.”
As CUToday.info has reported earlier, Navy FCU’s CEO recently met with members of Congress over the allegations. An earlier class action lawsuit was also filed.
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