MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES, January 18, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Patriot Bank, a small community bank with eight branches serving residents in Memphis and Shelby, Tipton and Fayette counties, has voluntarily collaborated with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve claims that the bank had not adequately met the mortgage credit needs in areas of Memphis. As one of the top mortgage lenders to minority areas in the Memphis market, the bank does not understand why the DOJ has pursued this matter. The bank entered into a Consent Order with the DOJ because the terms of the agreement affirm and adopt the programs and actions that the bank has already been implementing on its own for many years to help meet mortgage credit needs in the communities it serves, including its investment of $1.9 million in reaching and serving communities of color, as the Consent Order itself states.

“Patriot Bank has always acted to serve the home mortgage credit needs in minority neighborhoods, and the bank’s strong record speaks for itself and flatly contradicts any allegation of wrongdoing,” said John Smith, president and CEO of Patriot Bank. “We are proud of our record and strongly deny that Patriot Bank ever avoided originating home mortgage loans in Black and Hispanic areas of the Memphis market.”

As a small community bank, Patriot has become a leading mortgage lender in minority areas. In 2021 and 2022, Patriot originated a greater number of mortgage loans in Black and Hispanic areas in the City of Memphis than hundreds of other lenders, including some of the largest bank and non-bank lenders in the United States. Patriot ranked 14th out of 482 lenders in making mortgage loans in minority areas of Memphis in 2021 and 15th out of 534 lenders in 2022. In Tipton County, Patriot ranked first, second or third in making loans in minority areas in each year from 2015 to the present.

In 2021, Patriot took action to help overcome barriers to successful homeownership and started a special loan program to provide down payment and closing cost grants to borrowers seeking to purchase homes and to offer home improvement loans at a deeply discounted 1 percent interest rate. Under its program, Patriot has provided more than $1 million to cover down payment and closing costs and home improvement assistance for borrowers purchasing and improving homes in Black and Hispanic areas of the Memphis market. Most recently, Patriot partnered with a leading community development organization and the City of Memphis to finance a residential subdivision in a low-income and Black neighborhood in South Memphis – the first of its kind in more than 50 years.

Keith Barger, vice chairman of Patriot Bank and CEO of Patriot Bank Mortgage, added, “The Patriot team has worked hard over many years to increase access to the dream of homeownership in Memphis, and while we are a small and relatively new bank, Patriot has successfully developed deep connections with minority communities and organizations. The actions described in the Consent Order embrace the programs that Patriot has already had in place for years, and Patriot is pleased to continue with its existing initiatives that demonstrate the bank’s commitment to communities of color.”

About Patriot Bank
Patriot Bank is a full-service community bank that offers its customers a wide range of consumer, commercial and mortgage programs. Patriot Bank opened in October 2001 and has eight full-service branches in Arlington, Collierville, Millington, Memphis (Raleigh Springs) and Rosemark in Shelby County and Covington, Covington South and South Tipton in Tipton County. More information is available at patriot-bank.com.

This announcement is in reference to:
Case Name: United States of America v. Patriot Bank
Case Number: 2:24-02029
Court: U.S. District Court for Western District of Tennessee

Kim Cherry
Cherry and Company Public Relations
+1 901-230-8121
Kim.Cherry@CherryPR.co

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