Ameris Bank
Outcome
Ameris Bank agreed to a $9 million DOJ settlement in October 2023 for redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida from 2016 to 2021, including operating without a single branch in minority census tracts representing 20% of Jacksonville's overall area, generating loan applications from those neighborhoods at one-third the rate of comparable lenders.
Details
Ameris Bank — DOJ $9 Million Redlining Settlement, Jacksonville, Florida (2023)
Outcome: Ameris Bank agreed to a $9 million DOJ settlement announced October 19, 2023 and approved by a federal judge November 7, 2023, for redlining majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, Florida from 2016 to 2021, including the absence of any branch presence in minority census tracts that represented nearly 20% of Jacksonville's overall census tracts.
Ameris Bank, based in Atlanta, Georgia with significant operations in Jacksonville, Florida, was found by the DOJ to have engaged in a pattern or practice of redlining that discriminated against potential borrowers in majority-Black and Hispanic communities in its Jacksonville Community Reinvestment Act assessment area. The bank had deliberately structured its branch network to serve the credit needs of residents in majority-white neighborhoods and avoid serving the credit needs of residents in minority communities — with the most striking evidence being that Ameris did not have a single branch located in a majority-Black and Hispanic census tract in its Jacksonville assessment area, even though such tracts represented nearly 20% of the city's total census tracts.
The lending disparity data was equally stark: from 2016 to 2021, other lending institutions comparable to Ameris generated loan applications from majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods at three times the rate that Ameris did. The bank's failure to establish branch presence in these communities, combined with the absence of mortgage loan officers dedicated to serving those neighborhoods, created a systematic exclusion from mortgage lending services.
The $9 million settlement required Ameris to invest $7.5 million in a loan subsidy fund available to residents of majority-Black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville, spend $900,000 on advertising and outreach, and invest $600,000 in community partnerships providing mortgage credit access services. The bank was also required to open a new branch in a majority-Black and Hispanic Jacksonville neighborhood and employ at least three mortgage loan officers dedicated to serving those communities, along with a full-time Director of Community Lending.
Primary Source: DOJ — Combatting Redlining Initiative: Ameris Bank
How Crucible Prevents This
Crucible's instinct-observer hook would detect the geographic lending void — no branch presence in 20% of census tracts — and flag it as a CRA and fair lending risk. The pre-tool-check hook would require documented fair lending impact analysis before any branch network decision in the CRA assessment area. The quality-gate would flag marketing and outreach plans that failed to include minority neighborhood coverage.
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