ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses various negotiating points in the injunctive relief portion of the consent decree filed in the case, in addition to offering more general comments on other portions of the decree and on Department of Justice’s (DOJ) mortgage lending discrimination initiative. Although “The Color of Money” series was controversial, many people in the banking and regulatory community had a difficult time explaining the disparities in the lending statistics. Based on “The Color of Money” series, DOJ launched an investigation into home mortgage lending practices of Atlanta-area institutions. DOJ insisted that Decatur Federal expand the thrift’s delineated community under the Community Reinvestment Act to include all of Fulton County, Atlanta’s largest county, which was 49 percent black. DOJ identified increased advertising in the “black” media and in predominantly black areas as a useful way to increase minority lending. In targeting mortgage production, DOJ identified a real and practical concern in generating more minority lending.
