Jan. 20 (UPI) — Officials for Tennessee’s SouthEast Bank agreed to pay $1.5 million to settle federal claims accusing the bank of discriminating against black and aboriginal graduates seeking to refinance their student loans.
The settlement resolves claims made by the Department of Justice accusing the bank of engaging in lending discrimination by allegedly disproportionately discouraging or denying student loan refinancing requests made by black and aboriginal college graduates.
“Everyone in our country should have a fair chance and equal opportunity to refinance a school loan,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said Sunday in a news release .
“By rejecting graduates based on where they obtained the degree, SouthEast Bank’s policy denied and discouraged Black, American Indian and Alaska Native graduates seeking to refinance student loans for reasons that were wholly unrelated to their personal merit of ability to repay their loans,” Clarke said…