Justice Department to expand redlining investigation efforts

By KEN SWEET
AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has announced a cross-government effort to investigate and prosecute redlining, the practice of banks discriminating against racial minorities or certain neighborhoods. It is the first major expansion of redlining investigations since the Obama administration. As part of the effort, the Justice Department as well as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also announced a new redlining case against Trustmark Bank for its treatment of Black and Hispanic borrowers in Memphis, Tennessee. Trustmark will be required to open a mortgage office in a majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhood in the Memphis area and contribute $3.85 million toward loan subsidies for borrowers in discriminated neighborhoods