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115 Banking L.J. 900 (1998)
Disparate-Impact Analysis in the Mortgage Lending Context

handle is hein.journals/blj115 and id is 898 raw text is: DISPARATE-IMPACT ANALYSIS IN THE MORTGAGE
LENDING CONTEXT
STEPHEN M. DANE
Lenders relying on written standards and criteria in making decisions as to whether to
grant a residential mortgage loan application run the risk of exposure to liability under
the civil rights law doctrine known as disparate-impact analysis. This article discusses
the fundamentalpriniples of the doctrine, identifies rpecific residential mortgage lending
practices and policies that are particularly susceptible to the doctrine, and suggests ways
that lending institutions can minimiZe their exposure to disparate-impact claims.
Alleged illegal discrimination by residential home mortgage lenders is
once again a hot topic for Congress, the federal regulatory agencies,
and the media. Statistical and academic studies analyzing mortgage
lending data receive wide publicity in the press. Congressional committees
conduct hearings on the subject yearly. Federal financial regulatory agencies
have restructured their examination criteria and procedures to focus more
on equal-access issues. The issue is spilling over into the courts. High-pro-
file lawsuits filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as lawsuits initi-
ated by private litigants, are putting the mortgage lending decisionmaking
process under the scrutiny of juries composed of average citizens.
Civil rights litigation against employers, municipalities, educational insti-
tutions, housing providers, and other industries has been a constant in the
courts for decades, but so far lenders have been able to avoid the substan-
tial costs and expenses associated with litigation in this area. The near future,
Mr. Dane is a shareholder in the law firm of Cooper, Walinski and Cramer, LPA, Toledo,
Ohio

900

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