Navy Federal Credit Union accused of racial discrimination in its mortgage lending

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Navy Federal, the largest credit union in the U.S., is facing allegations of racial discrimination in its mortgage lending practices following a CNN investigative report.

Credit Union Navy Federal accused of racial discrimination

CNN recently reported that Navy Federal Credit Union, a financial institution that provides banking services to military people and their family members, pushed through home loan applications for 75% of the White borrowers, but less than 50% of Black borrowers who went out for the same loans were denied.

The report found that the nearly 29-percentage-point gap in Navy Federal’s approval rates was the largest among any of the 50 lenders that originated the most mortgage loans last year. The disparity remained even after accounting for applicants’ income, debt-to-income ratio, property value, and down payment percentage, CNN’s review found.

In total, the credit union rejected about 3,700 Black applicants for mortgages last year, potentially blocking them from homeownership just as interest rates spiked. And Navy Federal also approved Latino borrowers at significantly lower rates than White borrowers.

Class action lawsuit

A class-action lawsuit was filed Monday by multiple law firms, including attorney Benjamin Crump, alleging that Navy Federal discriminated against Black and Latino applicants.

Specifically, the suit accuses the lender of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which prohibit lending discrimination based on race.

The suit names two plantiffs but seeks to represent a broad class of potential plaintiffs: all Navy Federal minority residential loan applicants from 2018 through the present whose applications were denied, approved at higher interest rates or subject to less favorable terms compared to similar non-minority applicants, as well as those whose applications were processed more slowly than typical.