{"id":4060,"date":"2014-06-20T11:37:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-20T18:37:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4060"},"modified":"2014-07-08T19:26:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T02:26:00","slug":"bank-discriminated-hispanics-credit-card-lending-agrees-pay-169-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4060","title":{"rendered":"Bank That Discriminated Against Hispanic Consumers Agrees to Pay $169 Million"},"content":{"rendered":"

UTAH<\/strong> – The federal government announced Thursday that GE Capital Retail Bank, known as of this month as Synchrony Bank, \u00a0engaged in credit card lending discrimination against Hispanic consumers.<\/p>\n

\"Stop<\/a>As part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bank has agreed to pay $169 million to settle the case, according to officials.<\/p>\n

“The blatant discrimination that occurred here is unlawful and will not be tolerated,\u201d said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jocelyn Samuels for the Civil Rights Division. \u201cBorrowers have the right to credit card terms that do not differ based on their national origin, and the settlement today sends the message that the Justice Department can and will vigorously enforce the law against lenders who violate that right.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

GE Capital\u2019s settlement with the federal was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah. The court must approved the settlement, officials said.<\/p>\n

The settlement resolves claims that GE Capital violated the Equal Credit Opportunity Act by excluding borrowers, who indicated that they preferred communications to be in Spanish or had a mailing address in Puerto Rico, from two credit card debt-repayment programs, officials said.<\/p>\n

The settlement provides that the $169 million be used as \u00a0relief to about 108,000 borrowers in the form of payments and the reduction, or complete waiver, of borrowers\u2019 credit card balances, authorities said.<\/p>\n

GE Capital itself identified and reported the discrimination to the Financial Protection Bureau, was proactive in taking steps toward providing relief to affected borrowers, and has worked closely with the department and the bureau to further identify and compensate victims of the discrimination, officials said.<\/p>\n

Specifically, GE Capital has already provided the benefits of the offers or their equivalent value to approximately 84,000 borrowers, totaling $131.8 million in relief.<\/p>\n

Following the settlement, the bank will provide the remaining $37 million in payments, reductions and waivers to affected borrowers.<\/p>\n

According to the government’s complaint, the department alleges the following:<\/strong><\/p>\n