Other People’s Money

Other Peopled Money

THE Justice Department’s case against Chevy Chase Savings Bank has set off warning bells in the banking industry. By claiming that Chevy Chase had violated the Fair Housing and Equal Credit Opportunity Acts without producing any evidence that any actual loan applicants were discriminated against, Justice is saying banks may no longer specialize in serving a market. Industry observers who followed the case closely believe the Justice Department was forced to make the nebulous claim of discrimination against a “community” because it failed to find any evidence of bias in specific loans issued. “Justice came up empty, so they went back and took another cut,” says one observer.

JA

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Jeff A. Taylor

Other Peopled Money

THE Justice Department’s case against Chevy Chase Savings Bank has set off warning bells in the banking industry. By claiming that Chevy Chase had violated the Fair Housing and Equal Credit Opportunity Acts without producing any evidence that any actual loan applicants were discriminated against, Justice is saying banks may no longer specialize in serving a market. Industry observers who followed the case closely believe the Justice Department was forced to make the nebulous claim of discrimination against a “community” because it failed to find any evidence of bias in specific loans issued. “Justice came up empty, so they went back and took another cut,” says one observer.