DOJ: Buffett company discriminated against Black homebuyers

https://www.abc4.com/news/business/ap-business/doj-warren-buffetts-mortgage-company-redlined-in-philly/

DOJ: Buffett company discriminated against Black homebuyers

by: KEN SWEET, Associated Press
Posted: Jul 27, 2022 / 08:56 AM MDT
Updated: Jul 27, 2022 / 03:16 PM MDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A Pennsylvania mortgage company owned by billionaire businessman Warren Buffett’s company discriminated against potential Black and Latino homebuyers in Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware, the Department of Justice said Wednesday, in what is being called the second-largest redlining settlement in history.

Trident Mortgage Co., a division of Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America, deliberately avoided writing mortgages in minority-majority neighborhoods in West Philadelphia like Malcolm X Park; Camden, New Jersey; and in Wilmington, Delaware, the Justice Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said in their settlement with Trident.

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The practice effectively cut off entire communities from the primary pathway for wealth generation in the U.S.: homeownership. To this day, Black and Latino households are far less likely to own their home compared to their white counterparts.

The alleged redlining activity happened between 2015 and 2019 — Trident stopped writing mortgages in 2020. Along with avoiding making mortgages in minority neighborhoods, the Trident employees made racist comments about making loans to Black homebuyers, calling certain neighborhoods “ghettos.” One manager of Trident was photographed posing in front of the Confederate Flag. The marketing materials used by Trident involved exclusively white individuals, and nearly all of the company’s staff were white.

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