Kristen Clarke, at podium, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, is joined with, from left, New Jersey First Assistant Attorney General Lyndsay Ruotolo, Pennsylvania state Sen. Vincent Hughes, Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro, Rohit Chopra, CFPB Director, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings and Jacqueline C.
“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,” said Kristen Clarke, an assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a prepared statement.
The redlining activity DOJ alleged happened between 2015 and 2019 — Trident stopped writing mortgages in 2020. Along with avoiding making mortgages in minority neighborhoods, the employees of Trident made racist comments about making loans to Black homebuyers, calling certain neighborhoods “ghettos.” One manager of Trident was photographed posing in front of the Confederate Flag.
Trident also agreed to hire mortgage loan officers in impacted neighborhoods as well as pay a monetary fine of $4 million. Since Trident no longer operates a lending business, a separate company will be contracted to provide the $20 million in loan subsidies, the DOJ said.