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FirstBank Mortgage Partners to Pay $ 35,000 – Allegedly Denied Home Loan to Applicant on Maternity Leave

by | Sep 12, 2014

stressed woman with child(Jeff Sorg, OnlineEd) – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that Jackson, TN-based mortgage lender FirstBank Mortgage Partners will pay $35,000 to settle allegations that it violated the Fair Housing Act when it denied a mortgage loan to a couple because one applicant was on maternity leave. The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the terms, conditions, or privileges associated with the sale or rental of a dwelling on the basis of sex or familial status, including denying a mortgage loan or mortgage insurance because an applicant is pregnant or on maternity leave.

The agreement resolves a complaint filed with HUD by a married couple who alleged that after FirstBank had approved their application and scheduled its closing, FirstBank learned that the wife was on maternity leave and notified the couple within 24 hours of the scheduled closing that the loan was denied. The couple alleged that they then lost the opportunity to buy a home in Virginia. The couple allegedly also lost their current housing, requiring the wife and infant twins to move in with her parents while the husband moved to an apartment with their three-year old. According to the complaint, FirstBank did not consider the couple’s ability to make loan payments during the wife’s maternity leave, ignoring the husband’s salary and the wife’s short-term disability insurance payments.

Under the terms of the agreement, FirstBank Mortgage Partners will pay $35,000 to the couple that filed the complaint. The company will also adopt a national paternal leave policy and receive annual fair housing and fair lending training.

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  This article was published on September 12, 2014. All information contained in this posting is deemed correct and current as of this date, but is not guaranteed by the author and may have been obtained by third-party sources. Due to the fluid nature of the subject matter, regulations, requirements and laws, prices and all other information may or may not be correct in the future and should be verified if cited, shared or otherwise republished.

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