June 26, 2018, Maryland – Today, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio, 18 other fair housing organizations, and two homeowners filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against Bank of America claiming the lender unfairly exposed minority communities to more crime, poor quality of life and economic harm by failing to maintain and market its foreclosed homes in predominately black and Latino neighborhoods.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland asserts that bank-owned homes in communities of color are more likely sites to have overgrown grass, unsecured doors, and attract health and safety problems compared to better maintained homes located in predominantly white communities.
The complaint is based on an eight-year investigation conducted by NFHA and 19 other fair housing organizations which examined the conditions of more than 1,600 Bank of America-owned foreclosed homes across 37 metropolitan areas, including Prince George’s County and Baltimore. The lawsuit also names as a defendant Safeguard Properties Management, the company that has been in charge of preserving and maintaining properties owned by Bank of America.
