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Some of these emails specifically mentioned certain locations and included language intended to deter loan officers from going to those areas . In addition , some of the emails included language intended to deter loan officers from lending to specific groups .
Most of these emails were forwarded to Trident staff from employees of Fox & Roach . Despite the origination of the emails , Trident staff was found forwarding the emails again to other Trident staff members , thus circulating the content further . It is not indicated whether Trident employees added anything to the emails to denounce the content , or if they simply forwarded them to another . The existence and company-wide spreading of the emails is problematic in itself , without indication of any disciplinary action or communication denouncing the content .
In 2019 , a photo of Trident ’ s Senior Vice President and General Sales Manager , who was responsible for hiring and overseeing loan officers , was circulated to Trident lending staff . In the photo , the Senior Vice President was seen posing with others in front of a Confederate flag . Although Trident learned about the existence of this photo , there was no disciplinary action against the Senior Vice President or the employees who circulated the photo .
Statistical Tools
The complaint includes far more detail and examples of these issues and explains many of the statistics and measuring tools used to determine how Trident ’ s lending practices were considered to be outright discriminatory . Much of the data was collected and aggregated over time and was compared on a yearly basis . Comprehensive population data was collected as well to determine Trident ’ s reach , and how far they were committing into different areas of the community they featured themselves in . Loans were individually analyzed and statistical significance was recorded .
Failure to Take Action Early Could Have Made a Difference
From 2015 to 2018 , Trident had multiple third-party vendors report their practices did not measure up to fair lending standards and their performance needed improvement . Trident took no meaningful action to remedy this , despite their knowledge of their discriminatory practices . The lack of action led to the Bureau pinning them with over $ 22 million in fines for those exact discriminatory practices .
This same phenomenon happened with Trustmark and Cadence in 2021 . Financial institutions often have third-party vendors come in and report on their practices before an actual CFPB examination to gather information on whether any of their current practices should be changed for better compliance . However , in most of these large fine cases , the financial institutions had knowledge and previous reports explaining exactly what the issues were and what needed to be changed . Yet , surprisingly , these financial institutions changed nothing about their practices . They continued to use the same practices , which led to discovery during an actual exam , which led to fines .
Moving Forward : Preventative Action is the Most Effective
Financial institutions have been on notice for a few months now that the Consumer Financial Protection Act ( CFPA ) has expanded their reach to almost all policies and practices that could be unfairly discriminatory . Special attention to these details and to third-party examinations is vital to avoiding disciplinary action from the CFPB or the DOJ . Further , Trident is not a unique or a rare case . Many institutions in the last few years have gotten in trouble for the exact same practices and lack of remedial corrections . There have also been numerous CFPB notices and blog posts describing how important ending individual and systemic discrimination is .
Examinations and reports are going to be a financial institution ’ s biggest tool in avoiding a bureau investigation . Moving forward , they should reconsider their practices and make changes where needed , particularly if those practices have been called out before .
Trident had the same opportunity as many financial institutions have when bad practices are first discovered ; they had the opportunity to change their lending behaviors and improve their marketing to avoid fines and disciplinary action .
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