DOJ Says KleinBank Used Discriminatory Lending Practices

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – The United States Department of Justice has sued a Minnesota bank for allegedly engaging in mortgage lending practices that discriminate against minorities.

In a lawsuit filed Friday, the DOJ says KleinBank engaged in “redlining.” The DOJ says that’s when banks will actively deny or avoid providing credit services to consumers because of racial demographics or because of the neighborhood where they live.

A representative could not be reached for comment from The Associated Press, as the bank is closed for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.

In the lawsuit, the federal government alleges that from 2010 to at least 2015, KleinBank structured its home mortgage lending business to avoid serving neighborhoods where a majority of residents are racial and ethnic minorities.