We note that, according to a recent article in Black Enterprise Magazine, "Through Urban Trust Bank (a black-owned bank), (Robert) Johnson created a new entity, Homeowners First Bank. Homeowners First is an advanced lending facility or a bank designed specifically to provide temporary, advance funding to mortgage servicers. Mortgage servicers are the middlemen, who may or may not be the same company as the lender, but who retrieve money from borrowers on behalf of lenders."
We feel this effort may be an attempt to profit, as the Washington Post noted, from the "unprecedented wave of foreclosures, charging distressed homeowners for help negotiating better loan terms -- a service provided for free or for a nominal fee by many nonprofits."
We should remember that Mr. Johnson has a history of not living up to promises made to the black community. Since it is irrelevant to the current discussion, we will ignore historical charges against the man, and focus on the bank.
Urban Trust recently abandoned efforts to maintain a banking presence in black neighborhoods of Washington, DC, preferring to concentrate on more profitable suburban Maryland banking markets.
But as we suggested earlier, we believe black and minority neighborhoods would not have been so heavily and negatively impacted by the subprime lending crisis if Urban Trust had moved to head the crisis off at the start, by offering responsible, non-subprime loans in minority communities. At least one black owned bank, Carver Federal, launched a special effort to do so in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Bottom line: we see this as a likely-to-be-ineffective attempt to profit from troubles in the Black community. We base this statement on our experience in
helping create a refinancing plan for victims of predatory lending in Minneapolis.
We feel this effort may be an attempt to profit, as the Washington Post noted, from the "unprecedented wave of foreclosures, charging distressed homeowners for help negotiating better loan terms -- a service provided for free or for a nominal fee by many nonprofits."
We should remember that Mr. Johnson has a history of not living up to promises made to the black community. Since it is irrelevant to the current discussion, we will ignore historical charges against the man, and focus on the bank.
Urban Trust recently abandoned efforts to maintain a banking presence in black neighborhoods of Washington, DC, preferring to concentrate on more profitable suburban Maryland banking markets.
But as we suggested earlier, we believe black and minority neighborhoods would not have been so heavily and negatively impacted by the subprime lending crisis if Urban Trust had moved to head the crisis off at the start, by offering responsible, non-subprime loans in minority communities. At least one black owned bank, Carver Federal, launched a special effort to do so in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
Bottom line: we see this as a likely-to-be-ineffective attempt to profit from troubles in the Black community. We base this statement on our experience in
helping create a refinancing plan for victims of predatory lending in Minneapolis.