On Monday, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) filed a formal complaint to the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging that foreclosed properties in white areas are much better maintained and marketed by U.S. Bank than those in neighborhoods of color. The week before the same group filed a similar complaint against Wells Fargo.
Earlier this month the NFHA announced the results of an undercover investigation into the ways the nation’s financial institutions are failing to maintain and market Real Estate Owned (REO) properties in black and Latino neighborhoods. A report of the investigation, "The Banks Are Back, Our Neighborhoods Are Not: Discrimination in the Maintenance and Marketing of REO Properties," (PDF) includes incidents of discrimination in the care and maintenance of properties in Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Dallas, Miami, Atlanta, Oakland, Calif., and Dayton, Ohio.