Ameris Bank Agrees to Invest $9M in Jacksonville, Settling DOJ Redlining Charges

Ameris Bank, an Atlanta-based corporation with operations in seven Southeastern states, has agreed to invest $9 million in minority neighborhoods in Jacksonville, part of a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged redlining practices.

“As today’s case makes clear, redlining is not just a relic of the past,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement Thursday morning.

The Justice Department in 2021 launched a nationwide Combating Redlining Initiative, and has secured more than $107 million from lenders that were charged of discriminating against communities of color. The Ameris Bank settlement is the latest and came after the DOJ accused the bank of avoiding lending in predominantly black and hispanic neighborhoods in Jacksonville from 2016 to 2021.

Although Ameris operates 18 branches in Jacksonville, the bank has never had a branch in a majority-black and Hispanic neighborhood in the city, the DOJ said. Before a merger, in 2019, the bank closed two branches, including one in the downtown urban core, the department said in its complaint, filed in federal court. Zero loans were originated in that area.

The bank disputed the DOJ’s assertions.

“We strongly disagree with any suggestion that we have engaged in discriminatory conduct and are confident in our efforts to provide equal access to affordable mortgage products in the Jacksonville community and all the markets we serve,” Palmer Proctor, CEO of Ameris, said in a statement sent to Insurance Journal. “We cooperated fully with the Department’s inquiry and have entered into this settlement to avoid the distraction of litigation and because we share the Department’s goal of expanding access to homeownership in underserved areas.”

Proctor said the bank condemns discrimination and is committed to helping people in underserved communities gain equal opportunity to achieve homeownership, as well as access to banking services.

The settlement does not include any civil monetary penalties against Ameris, but bank officials agreed to expand lending to underserved communities. Its efforts will include:

• Investing $7.5 million in a loan subsidy fund for minority neighborhoods.
• Spending $900,000 on advertising and outreach targeted to those neighborhoods.
• Investing $600,000 to develop community partnerships to help increase access to residential mortgages.
• Opening a new branch in a minority neighborhood in Jacksonville.
• Hiring at least three loan officers dedicated to serving black and hispanic neighborhoods, and establishing a director of community lending position to expand loan programs in Jacksonville.

The consent order and investent plan could potentially result in more homeowner insurance policies sold in Jacksonville. Data from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation gives an idea of the market there: Property insurers that reveal their data said they had almost 113,000 residential policies in Duval County, home of Jacksonville, as of the second quarter of this year. That’s in a county with a total population of 1 million, 43% of which are black or Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.

Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the largest carrier in Florida, held more than 24,480 residential policies in Duval county in Q2.

On the other hand, increased lending efforts by banks could be complicated by escalating insurance premiums in Florida. Recent news reports have indicated that some Floridians have decided to avoid homeownership or to move out of state.

Ameris said it operates 164 financial centers in the Southeast. The publicly traded Ameris Bancorp holding company had $25.8 billion in assets at the end of Q2 2023.

Related: Rhode Island Bank to Pay $9M to Resolve Discriminatory Lending Allegations

Topics Florida