A division of Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary HomeServices of America will pay a $4 million civil penalty and make more than $20 million available for loans in underserved communities as part of what the Justice Department is calling the second-largest redlining settlement in its history.
 | FRI, JUL 29, 2022 | | | |
Berkshire subsidiary settles racial discrimination case |
A division of Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary HomeServices of America will pay a $4 million civil penalty and make more than $20 million available for loans in underserved communities as part of what the Justice Department is calling the second-largest redlining settlement in its history. Trident Mortgage was accused of deliberately avoiding making mortgage loans to Black and Latino customers from at least 2015 to 2019 in some neighborhoods of Philadelphia, Camden, NJ, and Wilmington, Delaware. In a statement, an official at the DOJ's Civil Rights Division is quoted as saying, "This settlement is a stark reminder that redlining is not a problem from a bygone era. Trident's unlawful redlining activity denied communities of color equal access to residential mortgages, stripped them of the opportunity to build wealth, and devalued properties in their neighborhoods." |
Philadelphia skyline in 2015. REUTERS/Charles Mostoller/File Photo |
The DOJ says its complaint against Trident "alleges that loan officers and other employees sent and received work e-mails containing racial slurs and referring to communities of color as 'ghetto.'" An AP report cites a HomeServices statement in which the company says it "strongly disagree(s)" with accusations in the settlement, noting Trident did not admit to any wrongdoing. Trident stopped writing mortgages in 2020, so another company will be contracted to administer the settlement's loan subsidies. The AP notes that Warren Buffett "himself did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but historically has deferred any comment to Berkshire's subsidiary companies." |
BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET Some links may require a subscription |
|
|
BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Jul 29, 2022 |
Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly-traded U.S. stocks by market value, based on today's closing prices. Holdings are as of March 31, 2022 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on May 16, 2022, except for Apple, Bank of America, and U.S. Bancorp, which also include shares held as of Mar 31, 2022 as disclosed in New England Asset Management's 13F filing on May 14, 2022, and except for Occidental Petroleum, which is as of July 18, 2022. In addition to U.S. stocks, shares held as of December 31, 2021 of China's BYD, as listed in Buffett's 2021 letter to shareholders, are included. The price of those shares in U.S. trading is used to approximate the current market value of the position. The value of the stake as a percentage of the company's market value is fixed at what was listed as of December 31, 2021 in the letter. The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker. |
Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.) If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here. -- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch |
|
|
|
EmoticonEmoticon