Discrimination Exposed

"King: It’s payback time for Toyota, other lenders who charged blacks, Asians and Latinos higher interest rates
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, February 4, 2016, 11:48 AM
ISTOCKPHOTO
Charging higher interest rates for non-white borrowers seems to be an industry standard.

Earlier this week, Toyota agreed to pay back $21.9 million to thousands of African-American and Asian borrowers when it was determined that dealers routinely charged customers of color higher interest rates than white customers with the same credit score and income level.

To be clear, this wasn't an aberration of some sort, but appears to be an industry standard.

Ally Financial, which was the main financing arm for General Motors, was forced to pay $80 million back to customers of color when it was determined they were charged higher interest rates on their car loans than white customers with the same income and credit scores. They also had to pay $18 million in fees over it.

Not to be outdone, Honda was forced to pay $24 million when it was determined they charged black and Latino customers higher interest rates than white customers with the same level of credit worthiness.

YUYA SHINO/REUTERS
Honda was forced to pay $24 million when it was determined they charged black and Latino customers higher interest rates.
Fifth Third Bank also got in on the game and was forced to pay back $18 million for illegal credit card and auto loan practices. It also charged African-American and Latino customers who had the same level of credit worthiness as white customers higher interests rates.

It's important to identify these lenders and their practices of racial discrimination, in part, because the prevalent belief in America continues to be that racism is on the decline. It isn't. It's just shapeshifting into socially acceptable behaviors that easily fly under the radar. Because we've incorrectly limited our understanding of racism to include people who say certain racial slurs, it was allowed to put on a shirt and tie and have virtually the same effect.

In 2012, Wells Fargo, the largest home loan lender in the country, agreed to payan astounding $175 million back to black and Latino borrowers it unfairly charged higher interest rates. Just like the auto lenders who were recently found to discriminate against borrowers of color, it was determined that Wells Fargo systematically overcharged African-American and Latino customers with the exact same credit worthiness higher interest rates than white customers. It didn't do this a few times, not even a few hundred times, it did it over 34,000 times.

BILL PUGLIANO/GETTY IMAGES
Ally Financial, which was the main financing arm for General Motors, was forced to pay $80 million back to customers of color when it was determined they were charged higher interest rates on their car loans than white customers with the same income and credit scores.
Amazingly, what Wells Fargo did pales in comparison to what Countrywide Mortgage did. Countrywide, owned by Bank of America, discriminated against over 200,000 black and Latino borrowers and was ordered to pay back over $335 million to borrowers. This is racism on an astronomical scale.

Hudson City Savings Bank did it.

First Tennessee Bank did it.

KACPER PEMPEL/REUTERS
Toyota agreed to pay back $21.9 million to thousands of African-American and Asian borrowers when it was determined that dealers routinely charged customers of color higher interest rates
Sage Bank did it.

M&T Bank did it.

PNC Bank & Suntrust did it.

In fact, the discrimination was so widespread that a recent study found that over 50% of African-Americans who took out home loans between 2004-2008 were discriminated against by being given artificially high interest rates when they had the same credit worthiness as white borrowers.

Yes, racism can occasionally still look and sound like it did in the 1950s, but modern day racism, in the New Jim Crow, looks like your friendly neighborhood banker.
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^^ good friend of mine worked at Range Rover. He said they would rip off anyone and everyone on interest rates if they didn't come in pre-approved with a set interest rate. Greed knows no color. Toyota may have targeted blacks and Asians, but you think they wouldn't rip me off if they could? Of course they would. Car salesman, policitians, lawyers... scum of the earth.

If they instructed the finance department to rip off certain groups, fine them for all they can, but if you go in having already spoken with your own bank, not much they can do.

 

Multiple multi-billion dollar corporations with lawyers of equal status, with resources unimaginable to most people, couldn't convincingly prove they gave equal interest rates to everyone.

If it was just a matter of who had pre-approval from banks, wouldn't that have been the first thing the defense would have shown? That everyone that didn't have pre-approval from a bank whether, white, black, asian, and latino, all got screwed equally?

 

If they did it, I'm all for them being fined. Hit em hard in the pocket. But again, I believe they'd screw over anyone they could. I know I got burned on my first car. Learning process. Now when I need a car, I go to my bank first. Get preapproved for X dollars and Y interest rate. That takes much of the haggling out of the equation. Then I visit KBB to find out what other people are paying in my area. Walk in prepared and they can't screw you.... as much. They're still car salesman and will squeeze blood from a turnip.

 

I don't get your point in relationship to the topic. Many people get financing through the dealership or the housing companies mortgage division. It's been found that these companies discriminate with higher interest rates for non whites. I'm skeptical of a lot of things, but why would you doubt that's true?

Racism is real. People do still discriminate, but if no proof is ever convincing, even after the companies with the best resources to fight false claims can't prove they didn't discriminate, what would you need to see to believe it to be true?

 

I don't doubt it's true. I'm saying they'll do it to anyone, if they can. On top of ripping off anyone they can, I'm confidant they also do as you say.

My wife paid full price for her first car. Why? Because she was gullible. I guess she could claim sexism. Doesn't change the fact she went into the negotiation unprepared. My point is they will rip off anyone. And I'm sure they have systematic discrimination. I'm not claiming it doesn't happen. I'm saying if I go to my bank and visit KBB and you do the exact same things, you'll get the same price as me. Where they are unscrupulous is when people come in unprepared -- and I agree with you, they will probably give me a better rate than you (but they'll rip us both off).

 

I get you now

 

This is funny, but not really.... and how is this still a thing?