NAACP Sues Mortgage Lenders

The NAACP is suing two major banks, claiming they engaged in racist lending practices.

The NAACP filed lawsuits Friday against two of the nation's largest mortgage lenders -- HSBC and Wells Fargo -- alleging "systematic, institutionalized racism" in their subprime lending.
NAACP CEO Benjamin Jealous says, "We are not seeking damages; we just want them to fix the problem." We have targeted these banks because we have gone through what we can get our hands on, and it seems like there's a real problem here," NAACP CEO Benjamin Jealous told CNN. Jealous said the group wants "transparency." "We want to see the books," he added. "We are not seeking damages; we just want them to fix the problem." [snip] Under subprime lending, people who don't qualify for lower interest rates can borrow money at higher rates. The NAACP argues that the companies gave subprime rates to African-Americans who qualified for better rates and gave better rates to white customers with similar credit histories.

No damages requested, just a "you stop that right now." Hmm. Maybe the NAACP doesn't think the banks would be able to pay in the first place.

The End Of Bears Stearns?

The shit is getting deep downtown.

Bear Stearns, facing a grave liquidity crisis, reached out to JPMorgan on Friday for a short-term financial lifeline and now faces the prospect of the end of its 85-year run as an independent investment bank.

With the support of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, JPMorgan said in a statement that it had “agreed to provide secured funding to Bear Stearns, as necessary, for an initial period of up to 28 days.”

For the next month, JPMorgan will work with Bear Stearns to reach a solution for its financing crisis. Options could include organizing permanent financing or, according to people briefed on the discussions, buying the bank for a discounted price.

Bear Stearns stock dropped 47% this morning. The bright side to the subprime crisis? Downtown apartments are about to become cheap and available.