Hudson City Bancorp will pay nearly $33 million to settle civil charges alleging the New Jersey-based bank wrongfully discriminated against prospective black and Hispanic home buyers, in a case that marks the largest ever redlining settlement in history, Reuters reported yesterday. The joint action by the U.S. Justice Department and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said that Hudson City Savings Bank tried to avoid locating branches and marketing mortgages in neighborhoods with a majority of black and Hispanic residents. If approved by the court, Hudson City will be required to pay $25 million in direct loan subsidies to qualified borrowers in the affected communities, plus another $2.25 million toward community programs and outreach and a $5.5 million penalty. The bank said it disagrees with the statistical analysis the government did of the loans at issue in the case, but wanted to avoid litigation.
