A complaint filed in Chicago’s federal district court for the Northern District of Illinois alleges Wintrust Bank denied black applicants at a higher rate than white applicants; and, when black applicants were approved, it was at terms more burdensome than those for white applicants.
The named plaintiff of this case, Kathleen Bankhead, is described in the complaint as “a well-qualified African American home borrower and well-respected member of her community.”
The complaint asserts Wintrust offered Bankhead a mortgage to purchase a residential property that was at “a higher interest rate with less favorable terms and conditions” than offered to white applicants. According to Bankhead, Wintrust offered her less than ideal conditions for her mortgage because of her race and because she was purchasing a property located in an area that was majority-minority.
Wintrust offered Bankhead a locked rate of 3.25 percent which, according to the complaint, was a higher rate than the rates offered to white homebuyers. Bankhead also claims that Wintrust refused to grant her a “free float down” to allow her rates to decrease should market conditions permit, without having to pay a fee. The complaint also alleges Wintrust demanded several hundred dollars in fees to extend the rate lock.
The complaint seeks to obtain class certification, claiming that Bankhead’s experience with Wintrust is representative of the bank’s alleged treatment of many of black homebuyers who applied for home mortgage loans through Wintrust.
According to the complaint, Wintrust approved 59.5 percent of black mortgage applicants, compared to 73 percent of white applicants. The complaint also alleges that discrimination is evidenced by the interest rates assessed by Wintrust, where black borrowers saw an average interest rate of 3.31 percent compared to 3.21 percent for white borrowers.
The lawsuit asks the federal court to award compensatory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief in the form of a court order requiring Wintrust to implement new “policies and procedures to avoid racially discriminatory approvals, rejections, interest rates, fees, costs, credits, terms, conditions and other policies.”